As the early Friday medal news started trickling down in our WhatsApp group, it quickly became clear that the formidable Spencer squad in Sheffield had a couple of things on their minds: to be the best they could possibly be, and to bring as many medals as they possibly could.
Sue Lauder and Peter Stephens got gold and silver in the 800m freestyle, with Karen Bassett just missing out in 4th. Soon after we heard of the first relay medal in the 4x200m FS with Laura K, Abba, Peter and Simon. Followed by golds in the gruelling, arguably hardest event of all, 400IM for Andrew Chamberlain and Amanda Heath, and, this time, a bronze for Karen.
A dizzying sequence of medal winning performances continued to be shared in our chat group, medals in 100m backstroke for Simon and Helen, and although she was swimming for a different club, her medal was pretty much forged in our training sessions.
Many more fantastic swims took place throughout the Championship, with British and European records for Amanda, more relay success with gold in the 4×100 medley for Sally, Becca, Abba and Laura K and then Di’s record breaking racing.
World Record hat-trick
Di Ford was the standout swimmer in this Sheffield edition with 3 World Records, an incredible hat-trick sweep across all breaststroke events. What an inspiration for all.
Spencer likes to punch above its weight and at Sheffield, our squad was, at one point, third overall, finishing fourth in the end: a superb achievement.
Sheffield in numbers
We took part in 75 races in Sheffield, winning 23 gold, 13 silver and 8 bronze. Let that sink in: 75 events = 44 medals!
Records: 9 GB, 4 EURO, 3 WORLD. An amazing 4th place as a club.
Thank you coaches
We must thank our coaches for their commitment, continued support and advice. Thank you head coach Astrid, coaches Steve and Graham.
Special thanks go to Karen Bassett for organising relays, liaising with swimmers, collecting results, swimming superbly and overall generosity.
| EVENT | NAME | AGE GROUP | POSITION | RECORD | ||
| 101 | W | 800 FS | Sue Lauder | 80-84 | 1st | |
| 101 | M | 800 FS | Peter Stephens | 75-79 | 2nd | |
| 101 | W | 800 FS | Karen Bassett | 55-59 | 4th | |
| 201 | X | 4 x 200 FS | Laura/Abba/Peter/Simon | 200+ | 3rd | |
| 202 | M | 400 IM | Luca Milana | 50-54 | 5th | |
| 202 | M | 400 IM | Andrew Chamberlain | 50-54 | 1st | |
| 203 | W | 400 IM | Karen Bassett | 55-59 | 3rd | |
| 203 | W | 400 IM | Amanda Heath | 65-69 | 1st | GB |
| 204 | M | 100 BK | Godfrey Admans | 65-69 | 4th | |
| 204 | M | 100 BK | Simon Berrey | 50-54 | 3rd | |
| 207 | W | 50 BR | Muriel Hitchcock | 85-89 | 1st | |
| 207 | W | 50 BR | Diane Ford | 80-84 | 1st | GB EUR WORLD |
| 207 | W | 50 BR | Rebecca Pritchard | 35-39 | 13th | |
| 207 | W | 50 BR | Amanda Heath | 65-69 | 1st | GB |
| 301 | M | 4 X 100 MED | Godfrey/Luca/Simon/Peter | 240+ | 2nd | |
| 302 | W | 4 X 100 MED | Sally/Becca/Abba/Laura | 120+ | 1st | |
| 303 | M | 200 FS | Peter Stephens | 75-79 | 2nd | |
| 303 | M | 200 FS | Ross Needham | 40-44 | 7th | |
| 304 | W | 200 FS | Sue Lauder | 80-84 | 1st | |
| 304 | W | 200 FS | Laura Kerrigan | 35-39 | 9th | |
| 304 | W | 200 FS | Emily Hayter | 35-39 | 8th | |
| 305 | M | 100 FLY | Clive Benson | 60-64 | 2nd | |
| 306 | W | 100 FLY | Amanda Heath | 65-69 | 2nd | GB |
| 306 | W | 100 FLY | Abba Newbery | 50-54 | 5th | |
| 308 | W | 4 X 50 FS | Emily/Abba/Laura/Sally | 120+ | 5th | |
| 401 | W | 4 X 50 MED | Sally/Becca/Abba/Karen | 160+ | 6th | |
| 402 | M | 4 X 50 MED | Simon/Peter/Clive/Godfrey | 240+ | 3rd | |
| 403 | W | 400 FS | Sue Lauder | 80-84 | 1st | |
| 403 | W | 400 FS | Karen Bassett | 55-59 | 3rd | |
| 403 | W | 400 FS | Emily Hayter | 35-39 | 5th | |
| 404 | M | 400 FS | Peter Stephens | 75-79 | 2nd | |
| 404 | M | 400 FS | Simon Berrey | 50-54 | 5th | |
| 405 | X | 4 X 50 FS | Ross/Sally/Abba/Clive | 160+ | 7th | |
| 405 | X | 4 X 50 FS | Godfrey/Di /Peter/Karen | 280+ | 1st | |
| 501 | X | 4 X 100 FS | Ross/Emily/Laura/Clive | 160+ | 4th | |
| 502 | W | 200 FLY | Amanda Heath | 65-69 | 1st | GB EUR |
| 502 | W | 200 FLY | Abba Newbery | 50-54 | 4th | |
| 504 | W | 50 BK | Sue Lauder | 80-84 | 2nd | |
| 504 | W | 50 BK | Sally Ritchie | 30-34 | 7th | |
| 505 | M | 50 BK | Godfrey Admans | 65-69 | 8th | |
| 506 | W | 100 BR | Muriel Hitchcock | 85-89 | 1st | |
| 506 | W | 100 BR | Diane Ford | 80-84 | 1st | GB EUR WORLD |
| 506 | W | 100 BR | Rebecca Pritchard | 35-39 | 7th | |
| 506 | W | 100 BR | Amanda Heath | 65-69 | 2nd | GB |
| 507 | M | 100 BR | Luca Milana | 50-54 | 11th | |
| 601 | X | 4 X 100 MED | Godfrey/Di /Karen/Peter | 280+ | 1st | |
| 601 | X | 4 X 100 MED | Simon/Becca/Clive/Laura | 160+ | 2nd | |
| 602 | W | 200 BK | Amanda Heath | 65-69 | 1st | |
| 603 | M | 200 BK | Godfrey Admans | 65-69 | 3rd | |
| 603 | M | 200 BK | Simon Berrey | 50-54 | 2nd | |
| 604 | W | 50 FS | Sally Ritchie | 30-34 | 13th | |
| 605 | M | 50 FS | Godfrey Admans | 65-69 | 14th | |
| 605 | M | 50 FS | Clive Benson | 60-64 | 8th | |
| 606 | W | 4 x 200 FS | Abba/Laura/Karen/Emily | 160+ | 3rd | |
| 607 | M | 4 x 200 FS | Simon/Godfrey/Peter/Clive | 240+ | 2nd | |
| 703 | M | 200 IM | Peter Stephens | 75-79 | 2nd | |
| 703 | M | 200 IM | Luca Milana | 50-54 | 5th | |
| 703 | M | 200 IM | Andrew Chamberlain | 50-54 | 1st | |
| 704 | W | 200 IM | Karen Bassett | 55-59 | 4th | |
| 704 | W | 200 IM | Amanda Heath | 65-69 | 1st | |
| 705 | M | 50 FLY | Clive Benson | 60-64 | 5th | |
| 706 | W | 50 FLY | Abba Newbery | 50-54 | 7th | |
| 707 | M | 1500 FS | Peter Stephens | 75-79 | 2nd | |
| 801 | W | 1500 FS | Karen Bassett | 55-59 | 5th | |
| 803 | W | 200 BR | Muriel Hitchcock | 85-89 | 1st | GB |
| 803 | W | 200 BR | Diane Ford | 80-84 | 1st | GB EUR WORLD |
| 803 | W | 200 BR | Rebecca Pritchard | 35-39 | 4th | |
| 803 | W | 200 BR | Amanda Heath | 65-69 | 1st | |
| 804 | M | 100 FS | Peter Stephens | 75-79 | 1st | |
| 804 | M | 100 FS | Godfrey Admans | 65-69 | 7th | |
| 804 | M | 100 FS | Clive Benson | 60-64 | 6th | |
| 805 | W | 100 FS | Sue Lauder | 80-84 | 1st | |
| 805 | W | 100 FS | Emily Hayter | 35-39 | 3rd | |
| 805 | W | 100 FS | Sally Ritchie | 30-34 | 15th | |
| 806 | X | 4 X 50 MED | Godfrey/Di /Karen/Peter | 280+ | 1st | |
| Total races swum = 75 | Gold | 23 | ||||
| Total medals = 44 | Silver | 13 | ||||
| Bronze | 8 | |||||
| GB | 9 | |||||
| EUR | 4 | |||||
| WORLD | 3 | |||||
| Spencer swimmers swimming for another club (there are probably others whom I am unware of!) | ||||||
| 205 | W | 100 BK | Helen Cumber | 30-34 | 2nd | SCOTTISH |
| 504 | W | 50 BK | Helen Cumber | 30-34 | 3rd | |
| 604 | W | 50 FS | Helen Cumber | 30-34 | 9th | |
| 706 | W | 50 FLY | Helen Cumber | 30-34 | 5th | |
| 306 | W | 100 FLY | Esther Iseppi | 65-69 | 1st | |
| 502 | W | 200 FLY | Esther Iseppi | 65-69 | 2nd | |
| 506 | W | 100 BR | Esther Iseppi | 65-69 | 1st | EUR |