Sensational Spencer stuns in Sheffield

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.

EVENTNAMEAGE GROUPPOSITIONRECORD
101W800 FSSue Lauder80-841st
101M800 FSPeter Stephens75-792nd
101W800 FSKaren Bassett55-594th
201X4 x 200 FSLaura/Abba/Peter/Simon200+3rd
202M400 IMLuca Milana50-545th
202M400 IMAndrew Chamberlain50-541st
203W400 IMKaren Bassett55-593rd
203W400 IMAmanda Heath65-691stGB
204M100 BKGodfrey Admans65-694th
204M100 BKSimon Berrey50-543rd
207W50 BRMuriel Hitchcock85-891st
207W50 BRDiane Ford80-841stGB EUR WORLD
207W50 BRRebecca Pritchard35-3913th
207W50 BRAmanda Heath65-691stGB
301M4 X 100 MEDGodfrey/Luca/Simon/Peter240+2nd
302W4 X 100 MEDSally/Becca/Abba/Laura120+1st
303M200 FSPeter Stephens75-792nd
303M200 FSRoss Needham40-447th
304W200 FSSue Lauder80-841st
304W200 FSLaura Kerrigan35-399th
304W200 FSEmily Hayter35-398th
305M100 FLYClive Benson60-642nd
306W100 FLYAmanda Heath65-692ndGB
306W100 FLYAbba Newbery50-545th
308W4 X 50 FSEmily/Abba/Laura/Sally120+5th
401W4 X 50 MEDSally/Becca/Abba/Karen160+6th
402M4 X 50 MEDSimon/Peter/Clive/Godfrey240+3rd
403W400 FSSue Lauder80-841st
403W400 FSKaren Bassett55-593rd
403W400 FSEmily Hayter35-395th
404M400 FSPeter Stephens75-792nd
404M400 FSSimon Berrey50-545th
405X4 X 50 FSRoss/Sally/Abba/Clive160+7th
405X4 X 50 FSGodfrey/Di /Peter/Karen280+1st
501X4 X 100 FSRoss/Emily/Laura/Clive160+4th
502W200 FLYAmanda Heath65-691stGB EUR
502W200 FLYAbba Newbery50-544th
504W50 BKSue Lauder80-842nd
504W50 BKSally Ritchie30-347th
505M50 BKGodfrey Admans65-698th
506W100 BRMuriel Hitchcock85-891st
506W100 BRDiane Ford80-841stGB EUR WORLD
506W100 BRRebecca Pritchard35-397th
506W100 BRAmanda Heath65-692ndGB
507M100 BRLuca Milana50-5411th
601X4 X 100 MEDGodfrey/Di /Karen/Peter280+1st
601X4 X 100 MEDSimon/Becca/Clive/Laura160+2nd
602W200 BKAmanda Heath65-691st
603M200 BKGodfrey Admans65-693rd
603M200 BKSimon Berrey50-542nd
604W50 FSSally Ritchie30-3413th
605M50 FSGodfrey Admans65-6914th
605M50 FSClive Benson60-648th
606W4 x 200 FSAbba/Laura/Karen/Emily160+3rd
607M4 x 200 FSSimon/Godfrey/Peter/Clive240+2nd
703M200 IMPeter Stephens75-792nd
703M200 IMLuca Milana50-545th
703M200 IMAndrew Chamberlain50-541st
704W200 IMKaren Bassett55-594th
704W200 IMAmanda Heath65-691st
705M50 FLYClive Benson60-645th
706W50 FLYAbba Newbery50-547th
707M1500 FSPeter Stephens75-792nd
801W1500 FSKaren Bassett55-595th
803W200 BRMuriel Hitchcock85-891stGB
803W200 BRDiane Ford80-841stGB EUR WORLD
803W200 BRRebecca Pritchard35-394th
803W200 BRAmanda Heath65-691st
804M100 FSPeter Stephens75-791st
804M100 FSGodfrey Admans65-697th
804M100 FSClive Benson60-646th
805W100 FSSue Lauder80-841st
805W100 FSEmily Hayter35-393rd
805W100 FSSally Ritchie30-3415th
806X4 X 50 MEDGodfrey/Di /Karen/Peter280+1st
Total races swum = 75Gold23
Total medals = 44Silver13
Bronze8
GB9
EUR4
WORLD3
Spencer swimmers swimming for another club (there are probably others whom I am unware of!)
205W100 BKHelen Cumber30-342ndSCOTTISH
504W50 BKHelen Cumber30-343rd
604W50 FSHelen Cumber30-349th
706W50 FLYHelen Cumber30-345th
306W100 FLYEsther Iseppi65-691st
502W200 FLYEsther Iseppi65-692nd
506W100 BREsther Iseppi65-691stEUR

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