Contents
Introduction
Masters Competition Programme for 2016
East Region Masters Development Day 2016
Norfolk Masters Long Course Meet
Beds County Masters Records 2016
Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2015 Final Results
The Club Scene and Masters Training Sessions
-- Biggleswade Masters
-- Team Luton Masters Results
-- Putteridge Masters/Seniors Results
-- Flitwick Dolphins Masters

Introduction
Happy New Year. 2016 will be a special year because the European Masters Championships will be held in London. For Beds swimmers, there are additional opportunities to prepare in Long Course facilities. There will be an East Region Masters Development day at Basildon and the Open Norfolk County Champs will be held Long Course at Norwich just two weeks before the Europeans. There are also the GB Champs in April.
A new year gives a chance for those who have moved up an age group o break a few records, and already we have some claimed at the SER Masters LC Champs at Crawley.
Also the 2015 National Masters Decathlon Results are in, and we have two new winners of the Bedfordshire ASA Masters decathlon Challenge.

Masters Competition Programme for 2016
The following are local competitions in the East Region:-

• St Ives SC Masters and Seniors Sprint Open Meet, Masters, Senior Age Group &16 &17yrs Open Meet at St Ives Leisure Centre (4x25M) Entry closing date: 12^th March 2016, Competition date: Saturday 2^nd April 2016.
• East Region Masters Development day at Basildon on 23rd April (See details below)
• Newmarket Swimming Club, 3rd Masters, Senior Age Group & 16 & 17yrs Open Meet at Newmarket Leisure Centre (25M), Exning Road, Newmarket, Entry closing date Tuesday 12th April 2016, Competition date: Sunday April 24th 2016
• Norfolk Open Long Course Masters Competition (including Norfolk Masters Closed Championship), at Norwich Sports Park (UEA), Entry closing date: 14^th April 2016, Competition date: 7^th May 2016.
• European Masters Champs, London (50M) Competition date 25^th May 2016- 29^th May 2016
• East Region Masters Champs at Newmarket, Competition date 1st October 2016, Schedule is now on the ASA website and the East Region website.

East Region Masters Development Day 2016
The details and booking forms for the Masters Development day on 23rd April at 12.30pm – 8pm at Basildon Sporting Village, Cranes Farm Road, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3GR Basildon are attached and are on the East Region website. We have Steve Bratt, Head Coach at Otters Masters SC leading the pool session. ALL Masters swimmers are advised to book early. There is a charge of £16 for the day.
Information from David Robinson, East Region Masters TSC Manager

Norfolk Masters Long Course Meet
Good news, Sally Lelean has managed to get the UEA Pool, Norwich in Long Course mode for the Norfolk Masters on 7th May 2016 which is two weeks before the Europeans. The hope is people will be able use this as some last minute practice before the Europeans.
The entry pack is attached and is also on the East Region website at:
http://www.eastswimming.org.uk/swim/index.php/masters-swimming/mastersclub-county1/cat_view/131-masters-club-county-events
Information from David Robinson,

Beds County Masters Records 2016
John Bellis continues as our records keeper for 2016, and record claims should be sent by post or email to him, as detailed on the Beds ASA website. The start of a new year is a great opportunity for those moving up an age-group to break records. The first major meet of the year, SE Region LC Meet at Crawley has started with twenty seven new record claims.

Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2015 Final Results
At the end of 2015, with the Regional and National Championships completed, the standing of the Beds ASA Masters Decathlon 2015 is as below. The Beds results were extracted from the National results, with national position in brackets. In the tables below, the last column contains the number of qualifying swims.

Beds Women Masters Points Ranking at the End of 2015
Christine Ayres (South Beds) has won the Beds Ladies Decathlon for the third time. She finished in 39^th place nationally. She was closely followed by club mate Janet Masters.
1680 ladies competed nationally.

In the ladies club team results, out of 431 clubs in the national rankings,
South Beds Masters finished in a creditable 10^th place in the National rankings with 16355 points.
Putteridge in 117^th place,
Biggleswade ladies were in 162^nd place,
Flitwick in 182^nd place
Beaver Masters in 224^th, place,
Team Luton in 415^th place, and
Modernian in 429^th place.

Beds Men Masters Points Ranking at the End of 2015
David Cartledge (Modernian) has won the competition for the first time and achieved a National top 10 place. Well Done Dave.
The winner for the previous three years, and his Modernian club mate Marcel Scholten was in second and Graham Powell (Team Luton) in third. Good all-rounder Alastair Gibb (Team Luton) is in fourth place. Richard Lewindon, top points scorer of South Beds is in fifth place, Lewis King, top points scorer of Putteridge is in 7^th place, Ian Murray, top points scorer of Flitwick is in 13^th place. There were 2247 men competing nationally,

For the men's teams, out of 482 clubs in the national rankings,
Team Luton with 16321 points, finished in 13^th place ahead of
Modernians in 26^st place,
Putteridge in 37^th place,
South Beds in 63^rd place,
Flitwick in 154^th,
Leighton Buzzard in 297^th,
Beaver Masters in 315^th,
Biggleswade in 320^th, and
Bedford Water Polo in 345^th.

The Club Scene and Masters Training Sessions

Biggleswade Masters
The training times have changed to the following:
At RAF Henlow Swimming Pool (25M):
* Wednesday 6.30pm-8.00pm
At Biggleswade Saxon Pool (25M):
* Friday 6.00am-7.30am
* Sunday 5.30pm-6.30pm
Report by Louise Jarvis

Team Luton SC Masters Organisation
Type of provision: Club with a Masters Section
Disciplines: Swimming, Open Water, Tri-athletes
Contact Email: masters@teamluton.com
Web Site: www.teamluton.com
Description
Team Luton has over two dozen Seniors and Masters with a range of ages including some youthful over 60¹s. More than half compete in regional and national swim meets, three train for triathlons and two (so far) have been tempted into open water competitions. Friendly banter is a regular feature of the squad¹s training sessions held at times that are the envy of many other Masters. Coached by a former World Masters champion, Pauline Harrington, the competitive swimmers hold numerous East Region and County Masters records, with five winning medals in National competitions in 2015. The men have finished in the Top 20 for the last 2 years in the British Masters Team Decathlon and amongst the females two of our ³debutantes² in the past 12 months were double medallists. View the Masters section of the club¹s web site for more information.
Team Luton Masters Squad Training Sessions
The club¹s Masters squad has six training sessions each week in dedicated lanes.
At Inspire (configurable to 25m and 50m)
* Tuesdays - 5:45am to 7:15am (25m)
* Wednesdays - 5:45am to 7:15am (50m)
* Thursdays - 7:00pm to 8:30pm (25m)
At Lewsey Park Pool (25M)
* Wednesdays - 7:25pm to 8:25pm
* Saturdays - 8:00am to 9:00am
* Sundays - 3:30pm to 5:00pm
A number of the competitive swimmers also meet and train at quieter times in public lanes.
Jane Cattle assists Pauline Harrington, taking the Masters squad training on Thursday evenings at Inspire.
Report by Alastair Gibb
Team Luton Masters Results
In their new white and black T-shirts, Team Luton¹s Masters had a great start to 2016. They won seven gold, three silver and two bronze medals at the South East Region Long Course Masters Championships, held in Crawley at the end of January. In the process the squad set six new Eastern region and ten new Beds County records.
Special mention goes to 43 year-old Karen MacKenzie who won the 100m Backstroke in the 40-44 year age group on her Masters competitive debut.Karen¹s time of 1:25:78 was just 0.67 seconds outside the County record for her age group. Having finished ninth in the 100m Freestyle, Karen ended her first swim meet winning the 50m Backstroke by over two seconds. Her time of 39:35 seconds was a new Beds County record. Karen has only been training twice a week but is seeking to juggle the kids¹ school run now that she has got the competitive bug.
Dave Wright was also in record breaking form, having just moved up into the 55-59 years age group, His winning time of 5:10:69 in the 400m Freestyle was over nine seconds faster than the old Beds County record. Dave proceeded to set new Eastern region and Beds County records finishing second in the 200m Butterfly in a time of 2:54:55. In a further demonstration of his endurance training over the winter, Dave Wright took over three seconds off the East and Beds County records winning the 400m Individual Medley in a time of 6:15:06.
In his first races in the 60-64 years age group, Graham Powell established new Eastern Region and Beds County records over 50m, 100m and 200m Backstroke. His winning times of 34:21 seconds, 1:16:28 and 2:49:82 were further encouraging signs of the club¹s training programme which is focussed on the European Masters in May.
In the same age group, Colin Mayes claimed two silver medals (100m and 200m Breaststroke) and two bronze medals (50m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley). Colin¹s time of 1:28:12 in the 100m Breaststroke was a new East Region and Beds County record. He also set a new Beds County record in the 200m Individual Medley and snipped 0.19 seconds off his age group¹s 50m Freestyle county record.
John O¹Rourke finished just outside the medals in the 45 ­ 49 year age group, coming 4th over 400m Freestyle, 4th in the 200m Backstroke and 5th in the 200m Freestyle.

The Masters meet at Bracknell in March will see another of our female members making her competitive debut. After several years of Sunday afternoon swim sessions, Sharon Collins will be stepping out of her running shoes and on to the starting blocks, alongside some of our more experienced male Masters competitors. With Karen MacKenzie, Eloise Turner and Glenda Mayes all due to compete at the GB Long Course Championships in Sheffield at the start of April, Team Luton¹s women are clearly destined to improve significantly on their 2015 points total in this year¹s British Swimming Team decathlon!

The Masters squad has also welcomed new members Darren Hale and Jasmin Ballingall and the return to swimming of a former Luton club member, Kirsten Gillard. Darren competed in trials at the end of January for the Invictus Games, recording PBs in all four of his events. The team selection will not be known until April but Darren has appreciated all aspects of the training including the stroke development, starts and turns and race management received from Pauline Harrington and Jane Cattle. Pauline’s experience is very telling and she inspires me to try harder and improve my swimming. Welcome comments although neither coach might fully appreciate having also being likened to slave drivers!
Report by Alastair Gibb

Putteridge Masters,/Seniors and Triathletes
All Senior Age Group and Masters sessions are coached by Lesley Batson and we have now reached 50 members in total. We cater for competitive swimmers which is approximately 2/3 of them and includes an actively competing Triathlete Section that represented GB in 2015 and is also accredited to Triathlon England and Modern Pentathlon England
Report by Lesley Batson

Flitwick Dolphins Masters
It was another successful competition for Flitwick Masters swimmers at this year’s East Region Masters with a 28 medal haul consisting of 8 Gold, 6 Silver and 14 Bronze. This year Flitwick fielded its largest team of 8 with 4 swimmers new to the event all of whom won medals, Owen Jones (Gold, Silver & Bronze) Simon Dove (Gold & 2 Bronze), Keith Mulholland (Gold & Bronze), Judy Thompson (Gold & 4 Bronze). But this year’s star was undoubtedly Bank of England Employee Dan Gorgescu who started his own Gold Reserve with 4 Golds plus a couple of Bronze medals. Noreen Weighell got her first individual medal with a silver in the 50m Breaststroke plus an additional Gold & Bronze in the mixed team relays. Chairman Nigel Halford in what was probably the most competitive age group improved on his previous year’s times and won a silver & 3 bronze. However Ian Murray was unable to repeat his success of previous year although still managed a Gold, Silver & 3 Bronze.
The team hopes for greater success next year and has 5 Masters entered to compete at the Olympic Pool in London in the LEN European Masters.

The new pool in Flitwick is completed and due to open to the public on February 29^th with the first Masters session on Wednesday 2^nd March. The pool is part of a new leisure centre catering for many sports and other activities and serves the local area. Clubs based at the pool are Flitwick Dolphins and Mid Beds Swim Squad.
The pool is 8 lane, 25 Metres, which is an improvement over the old pool which was 4 lanes, 25 Metres. There is also a smaller learner pool available.