January 2017

Contents
Introduction
Masters Competition Programme for 2017
Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2016 Final Results
New Records
The Club Scene
-- Beaver Masters
-- South Beds Masters
-- Team Luton at the Nationals
East Region Masters Activities for 2017

Introduction
Christmas and the New Year have flown by and a new season is upon us. This newsletter tidies up the activities of 2016. The final results of the year-long 2016 National Masters Decathlon are now out and Bedfordshire has acquitted itself well with South Beds Masters Women’s team in 8^th place, Team Luton Men’s team in 15^th place and individuals Liz Woolner in 17^th. place and Dave Cartledge in 18^th. place. Looking ahead, those whose birthdays end with a 2 or a 7 its a time to relish because a new age group opens up opportunities to make a big impression. The first major meet at Crawley in January should see a host of new Bedfordshire Masters LC Records and maybe even British records.

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

1. 22^nd. Suffolk Masters Valentines at Sudbury, 19 February 2017, entry closing date 21^st. Jan 2017
2. Norfolk Long Course Masters, 13 May 2017, entry closing date 24^th. April 2017
3. Newmarket SC Open Masters at Newmarket, 23 April 2017, entry closing date 14^th. April 2017
4. British Swimming LC Masters at Aberdeen, 16 June 2017
5. FINA World Masters Swim, 14-20 August 2017, entry opening date January 2017
6. East Region Masters Champs at Newmarket, 1 October 2017
7. ASA National Masters at Sheffield, 27-29 October 2017
8. East Region Heat of the Masters Inter-County Competition at Newmarket, November 2017.

Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2016 Final Results
The 2016 National Decathlon results were finalised on 17^th. January 2017. . Below are the final rankings extracted from the national results, for all beds swimmers and clubs.

Out of 459 clubs with women’s teams nationally,

Putteridge are 99^th.

Team Luton are 142^nd.

Beaver Masters are 225^th.

Biggleswade are 260^th..

And Leighton Buzzard are 433^rd

Out of 501 clubs with men’s teams nationally,

Modernian are in 30^th place,

South Beds Masters are in 46^th place,

Putteridge are in 99^th place,

Flitwick are in 129^th place,

Beaver Masters Bedford are in 341^st place,

Biggleswade are in 440^th place,

Bedford Water Polo are in 451^st place

And Linslade are 496^th.

New Records
Since 2^nd October 2016, the following Beds Masters short course records have been set at the Nationals

Beaver Masters
Training sessions continue as usual at Trinity Sports and Leisure Centre, Bedford.
At the Etwall Eagles (Derbyshire) Masters Meet in November, Paul Clarke (70-74) broke the Meet record for 100M Butterfly

Report by Paul Clarke

South Beds Masters
South Beds Masters Swimming Club are seeking a new coach to start in 2017. We are looking for a dynamic and enthusiastic individual to lead the coaching and development of the masters team. We are a successful club with achievements ranging from local to international level with a broad range of swimmers. The team is highly supportive and sociable and we attend many competitions throughout the year. We require a coach for Monday evenings 19.30-21.30 and to attend open meets throughout the year. For more information please contact Joanne Holder (Chairperson) at sbmscchair@gmail.com or John Bellis (current coach) at john.bellis123@btinternet.com.

The club held their annual dinner and presentation evening at the Leighton Buzzard Golf Club in January,

and the following swimmers won awards:-

- Janet Masters won the Swimmer of the Year trophy.

- Carla King won the Swim of the year, for her 59.8 100 freestyle swim at the Nationals in Sheffield.

- Arron Moore won the Best Newcomer award.

SBM member 70 year old Margot Anderson traveled to Burghausen in Bavaria, Germany for the World Ice Swimming Championships in the beginning of January, where the water temperature was a chilly 2 degrees, with the air temperature at minus 12 degrees.

Report by John Bellis

Team Luton Masters at the 2016 Nationals
The October 2016 Nationals yielded two champions in Graham Powell and Dave Wright with nine medals, two East Region and six Beds County Masters’ records for Team Luton. The 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 6 Bronze medals may have been the headline news but they were accompanied by a further seven 4^th places and seven 5^th places. We actually achieved a fantastic grand total of 39 Top Ten finishes between the club’s ten competitors.

To bring the 2016 season to an end, six of our swimmers then competed in Derbyshire at the Etwall Eagles Masters in November. Having won the Top Non - Midlands club trophy for the past two years, the odds appeared to be stacked against us this time. East Leeds had finished second in 2015 but this year three of their four swimmers featured in the Top 20 of either the Men’s or Ladies National Decathlon competition.

A great team effort produced a grand total of 126 points, six more than the club’s winning total in 2015. By competing over a multitude of strokes and distances, we convincingly beat East Leeds only to lose out to Banbury in the top Non – Midlands team award. It transpired that the Oxfordshire team had few, if any, competitors in their age groups thus helping them to gain maximum points from all their races. In contrast, there were as many as two dozen swimmers in some of the forty year old age group events in which four of our team were competing.

Second place was a highly commendable team performance particularly considering this was the first competitive season as Masters for both Lorraine Sadler and Sharon Collins, whilst Jonathan Pennell was making his competitive Seniors’ debut for the club. On this occasion Mark Wareham, John O’Rourke and Alastair Gibb were the "veterans" representatives for Team Luton.

Our Men are set to finish in the top 20 of the National Team Decathlon for the third successive year with their highest ever points total. This year Malcolm Barton has won the accolade of securing the 4^th team member spot as a result of him competing in events across all of the six qualifying categories, the very purpose of the competition. However it is Karen Mackenzie, Glenda Mayes, Lorraine Sadler and Eloise Turner who also deserve special mention with a jump of over 80 places in the Ladies Team competition. With a number of new Masters joining the club also looking to compete, our coaches Pauline and Jane already have all of our training heads focused on next year!

Report by Alastair Gibb

The East Region will be running the regional champs and the ER Heat of the Inter-Counties Masters Competition as usual this year. Additionally they are planning a Masters Open Water Development Day and an ER Masters Decathlon Competition (similar to the Bedfordshire one) and for which you will be entered automatically. There will be prizes. It is planned to complete the competition after the Nationals and award the prizes at the Inter-Counties meet. To keep up to date with these developments you should subscribe to the ER Masters Newsletter, which can be done on the ER website.

A separate email giving more details about this is being sent out shortly.