Beds ASA Masters Newsletter

October 2020


Contents
Introduction
Swim England response to coronavirus outbreak

Beds ASA Executive Committee Contacts

Stronger Affiliation

The Most Common Cancer – Report by John Bellis

Competitions

--- Now to 31 Dec 2020: Just Swim Challenge 30

Out-of-Pool Activities
New Records
Latest Ranking for Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2020

Links

Introduction
Since the last newsletter I've found that my clothes have shrunk. Does that sound familiar? Getting up early for that early morning swim, just to remember it's not on? Giving up on waving some lightweight free weights around at home alone? Even walking to the pool and looking at it shut up? These are common experiences for swimmer during lockdown.

This swimming newsletter provides mostly “non-swimming” information on the latest position on Masters swimming for swimmers affiliated to Bedfordshire clubs. Regrettably the Covid-19 pandemic has put an end to most competitions, but pools are gradually reopening, since the end of August, and training and club swimming is re-starting. Unfortunately, some pools have not re-opened and it is known that the Lewsey Park Pool in Luton is still closed. Previously used by Team Luton as one of their training pools, it is uncertain whether it will ever reopen. Nationally Swim England are requesting support from swimmers to get pools re-opened.

See:- https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/open-pools-campaign-beginning-battle/


Swim England response to coronavirus outbreak
Swim England is continuing to both follow and contribute to Government and Public Health England guidance over staging events in the light of the coronavirus outbreak. They have produced “Return to the Pool Guidance” documents
See:- https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/pool-return-guidance-documents/

and are developing Plans to enable competitions in all disciplines to resume.

See:- https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/plans-events-resumption/


Beds ASA Executive Committee Contacts

This section is intended to give you an idea of what goes on behind the splashing to ensure it continues throughout the county. The following picture shows the Beds ASA Executive Committee, who are all volunteers, at one of their monthly online meetings that have continued to meet throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, and even had an extra meeting in August because of the pandemic, which is traditionally a “month off” for swimming activities.. They are there to help you and can all be contacted by email at addresses shown on the county website.

See below or, for latest at:- https://bedscountyasa.com/executive-committee/

The minutes of the meetings are also online, so you can get details of the work going on. Mostly the committee are working on “Junior” swimming – things like the county championships, but there is a little bit about Masters.




New faces appear at meetings, so I do not recognise all those present but have checked them from the minutes of the meeting.


Row1

Lindsey Wright – Team Luton SC representative

Paul Clarke – Masters Secretary, Bedfordshire Representative on East Region Masters Committee, Beavers Masters representative

Elsa Crick – Leighton Buzzard SC representative

Joanne Stalley – Age Group and Championship Secretary, East Region Welfare Officer, Modernian SC representative

Paula Ellison – Dunstable SC representative


Row2

Phil Pelling - Secretary, Bedfordshire Representative on East Region Management Board

Rosemary Currell – Past President, Dunstable SC representative

Mark Hickmott – Flitwick Dolphins SC representative

Gerry Metcalf – Past President, Past Treasurer, Member of East Region Management Board

David Metcalf – Past President, Vice Chairman of East Region Management Board, East Region Swimming Officials' Manager

Phil Winder – Past President and Secretary


Row3

Lorraine Harwood – Dunstable SC observer

Sandra Grant – President Elect, Disability Secretary, Open Water Representative, Flitwick Dolphins SC representative

Lesley Batson – Development, Putteridge SC representative

Sue Felce – President (Chairman), County Welfare Officer

Linda Watson – Modernian SC representative


Row4

Sam Ferguson – Central Beds SS representative

Marie Murray – Dunstable SC representative

Chris Haden - Competition Swimming Secretary, Putteridge SC representative

Marian Mason – Team Luton SC representative

Louise Mackie – East Region Masters Manager, Officials’ Secretary



The current committee members (Nov 2019 to Nov 2020) contact details are

Executive Officers

Name

Email contact address

President

Mrs. Su Felce

president@bedscountyasa.com

President Elect

Mrs. Sandra Grant

secretary@bedscountyasa.com

Secretary

Mr. Phil Pelling

secretary@bedscountyasa.com

Treasurer 

Mrs. Pat Dowsett

treasurer@bedscountyasa.com

bedsasatreasurer@gmail.com

County Secretary’s

Name

Email contact address

 Any vacant post emails are diverted to the County Secretary

Age Group and Championship Secretary

Mrs. Jo Stalley

county_championships_secretary@bedscountyasa.com 

Competition Swimming Secretary

Mr. Chris Haden

competitions@bedscountyasa.com

Development Secretary

Mrs. Pat Dowsett

education@bedscountyasa.com

Disability Secretary

Mrs. Sandra Grant

disability@bedscountyasa.com

Diving Secretary

Mr. Jon Bush

diving@bedscountyasa.com

Master’s Secretary (Swimming)

Mr. Paul Clarke

masters@bedscountyasa.com

Officials’ Secretary (Swimming)

Mrs. Louise Mackie

officials@bedscountyasa.com

Open Water Representative

Mrs. Sandra Grant

openwater@bedscountyasa.com

Synchro Secretary

Ms. Jo McKeown

synchro@bedscountyasa.com

Water Polo Secretary

Vacant

secretary@bedscountyasa.com

County Welfare Officer

Mrs. Su Felce

welfare@bedscountyasa.com

ASA East Region Representative

Mr. Phil Pelling

bedsrep@eastswimming.org


Stronger Affiliation

At the July meeting, an issue was raised about Stronger Affiliation (to Swim England) which some clubs were failing to meet. It was noted that some “Masters Only” clubs were encountering problems with meeting the evolving nature of swimming and the new Swim England ‘Stronger Affiliation’ process and requirements. This relates to Swim Mark and much of the requirements apply to clubs with junior swimmers, and consequently have been overlooked by the Masters Only clubs The clubs are working on meeting the requirements by the end of the year. The Beds ASA offered help (contact the Secretary).


The Most Common Cancer– Report by John Bellis


Prostate Cancer by John Bellis

Those of you who know me, will know that I have Prostate Cancer.

I have just finished a twenty-day course of Radio Therapy at Churchill Hospital in Oxford, and six weeks down the line, you are required to have a blood test.

The Oncologist is pleased, and he thinks that it has been caught in time. Only further blood tests (I have my next one in three month’s time) will let us know if I am clear.

I think that I am one of the lucky ones, as it was found at an early stage, due to me having regular blood tests for my PSA (prostate-specific antigen) number at my GP’s surgery.

I asked for these blood tests about ten years ago, after one of my old school friends died of prostate cancer.

You can have an annual PSA blood test, and mine was found to be OK in the first instant. After a few years, it started to go slowly up, and my GP said the I should have a blood test every six months, and to keep a check on it.

As it continued to rise slowly, I was sent to Milton Keynes Hospital for a Biopsy, which confirmed that I had Prostate Cancer, but only very small. I was put on “Watch and Wait”, with continued blood tests, and after another Biopsy , confirmed that it was still growing slowly, I was sent for my Radio Therapy treatment, which hopefully will be a success.

The reason that I am writing this, is to try and make people aware of Prostate Cancer, which has now overtaken Breast Cancer as the largest form of Cancer in the country. PSA blood tests are available to any man aged 45 and older at your GP surgery, and you should have these annually.

So if you, your husband or partner, your father, father in law, or any of your friends fall into this age band, then get them to contact your surgery for a PSA blood test.

Do not leave it for another day, do it now.

My Brother in Law complained of back pain for years, and my sister nagged him for years to go and see his doctor about it, which he did not. When he eventually went to his doctor and had a blood test, his PSA number was off the scale. He had prostate cancer and it had spread into his bones, and he was riddled with it and was told that there was nothing that they could do for him.

He died last year.

If he had had a blood test when he first had back pains, he may still have been alive today.



Competitions
Currently there are no Masters competitions in the Swim England Masters Calendar until April 2021.

Just Swim Challenge 30

Swim England organise the Just Swim Challenge 30, racing against the clock! How far can you swim in 30 minutes? You can enter as an individual or as a team of four. Results are recorded in each age group. You can do several swims and submit the one with the best distance. You may need someone, e.g. on the side of the pool, to time you and check your distance or use a “wearable” timer. Special rules apply for swims in open water. There are awards for the first three in each age group. You can check your distance against the archive of past results.

Full details are at https://www.swimming.org/members/just-swim-challenge-30/

I notice that the closing date is not given, and a message “This event is currently closed for any further submission “ indicates either that it is completed or it may reopen later this year. If you wish to enter, you will need to check which.


Out-of-Pool Activities

While competitions are at a standstill, there are other swimming-related activities, workshops and courses that may interest you.


Here are some listed on the East Region website



New Records

No new short course or long course records have been set since the March Newsletter.


Latest Ranking for Beds Masters Decathlon Challenge 2020
The pandemic has brought this competition to a standstill, with only 3 Months done and only sixteen Masters swim meets' results included. The problem is whether to cancel the competition or not. The rules do not say anything about these circumstances, so pending a decision the intermediate results are provided below.

Here are the scores for the year up to 26 April 2020 (latest results).


The top Beds women’s ranking

Rank

Swimmer

Beds Club

Age

Points

1 (52)

Christine Ayers

South Beds

67

2840

2 (77)

Julie Moinet

South Beds

56

2525

3 (85)

Elizabeth Woolner

Flitwick

53

2465

4 (88)

Frances Merridan

South Beds

26

2450

5 (103)

Janet Masters

South Beds

80

2336

6 (106)

Jodie Armstrong

Team Luton

38

2311

7 (120)

Hayley Newman

Flitwick

32

2232

8 (150)

Lauren Grice

South Beds

21

2068

9 (252)

Kelly Cooke

Team Luton

44

1712

10 (270)

Carla King

South Beds

37

1655

11 (325)

Michelle Neal

Team Luton

40

1471

12 (365)

Heather Patrick

South Beds

58

1376


The top Beds women’s team ranking is :-

Rank

Beds Club

Points

1 (14)

South Beds Masters Swimming Club

10151

2 (36)

Team Luton Swimming

6824

3 (68)

Flitwick Dolphins SC

4697


The top Beds men’s ranking

Rank

Swimmer

Beds Club

Age

Points

1 (72)

David Cartledge

Modernian

60

2720

2 (89)

Paul Clarke

Beaver Mast

78

2602

3 (146)

Marcel Scholten

Modernian

54

2214

4 (162)

Ian Stoughton

Team Luton

61

2142

5 (289)

Malcolm Barton

Team Luton

65

1730

6 (326)

Samuel Fox

Flitwick

42

1609

7 (487)

Christopher Marshall

South Beds

64

1265

8 (489)

Peter Iles

South Beds

67

1264

9 (593)

Sam Bradley

Team Luton

27

1068

10 (759)

Colin Mayes

Team Luton

65

783


The top Beds men’s teams are ranked

Rank

Beds Club

Points

1 (60)

Team Luton Swimming

5723

2 (83)

Modernian SC

4934

3 (91)

South Beds Masters Swimming Club

4653

4 (155)

Beavers Masters Bedford SC

2602

5-(216)

Flitwick Dolphins

1609



Links
Beds County ASA Website Masters: https://bedscountyasa.com/category/masters/
East Region Website Masters: https://www.eastswimming.org/masters/
Swim England Masters Hub: https://www.swimming.org/masters/
Back copies of Beds ASA Masters Newsletters can be found at https://bedscountyasa.com/406/
And Earlier ones in the Archive at http://www.swimsite.freeuk.com/beds/news/news.htm
You can Subscribe to the Beds Masters Newsletters by email here: https://bedscountyasa.com/406/

Paul Clarke
Email: swimsite@freeuk.com

Archive: www.swimsite.freeuk.com/beds