Meet a member – Jack

Jack discovered fly when he was eight and 50m fly is still his favourite event. He swam at school and went to nationals a couple of times but serious swim training did not start until university. Jack trained full time at Loughborough for a year in the lead up to London Olympics but just missed qualifying for the 100m fly – coming second in 52.49 but just missing the Fina A time – an amazing achievement on the back of just 11 months of proper training. Work as a civil/structural engineer then got in the way for a bit (he is currently helping to design the new Chelsea FC stadium), but a quick 50m free at a school old boys’ swimming match encouraged him to investigate masters swimming, and he joined Spencer. The World Masters Championships in Budapest caught his eye, and on the back of one session a week (Wednesdays at Putney) and some gym work Jack broke a 21 year old British record to win gold in the 25-29 50 fly in 24.27. He is definitely a sprinter – his Loughborough coach once entered him for a 200 fly LC, to help his 100 fly, and we can all feel the pain of his splits – 26, 32, 38, 45. His Loughborough coach also used to set widths of underwater kick, holding a brick and with huge sponges tied around the waist, on 5 seconds rest – not something masters swimmers are likely to agree to! Jack has definitely got the swimming bug again, and his sights are now on the 2018 European Masters Championships in Slovenia and getting under 24 seconds before he ages up.

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