Spencer swimmers were out in force at the first major meet of the season, the South East Region Masters Championships, at Crawley K2 on 17th/18th January 2026. This one is always a test for the squad, as it comes quickly after a training-interrupted Christmas break, and swimming long-course is not something all our swimmers are used to.
For some, it was a chance to make their mark in their new age group, for others, it was a chance to dust off the cobwebs and make a line in the sand for the rest of the year, and for most, it was a chance to catch up with teammates and have some fun racing.
Firmly in the first category was Chris Dunn, who has aged up to the 80-84 age group – he certainly made his mark on the record books with World Records in the 200m and 400m freestyle, a European Record in the 800m freestyle (knocking nearly a minute off the old record, and narrowly missing the WR), plus British records in the 50m & 100m freestyle and 100 & 200 backstroke. In total, he won an amazing 9 gold medals! Chris’s results are as follows:
Chris Dunn (80/84)
200m freestyle 2:38.32 – Gold, British, European & World record
100m freestyle 1:13.89 – Gold, British record
100m backstroke 1:29.19 – Gold, British record
50m freestyle 32.25 – Gold, British record
400m freestyle 5:42.79 – Gold, British, European & World record
800m freestyle 11:55.54 – Gold, British & European record
200m backstroke 3:11.53 – Gold, British record
50m butterfly 48.15 – Gold
50m breaststroke 50.58 – Gold
This inspiring performance by Chris pushed other Spencer swimmers to deliver the goods, too.
Jess Campbell made a speedy appearance on Saturday morning to sweep up a gold medal and Scottish record in the 55-59 women’s 800m freestyle in a time of 11.14.88.
Esther and Amanda were up to their usual tricks, entering the same events, and taking 1-2 in the 50m, 100m & 200m breast and 400m IM, with Amanda taking an additional gold in the 200m IM.
More Spencer 1-2’s came from Matthew Taylor and Simon Berrey in the 55-59 men’s 50m back and Robyn Le Friec and Katarina Read in the 35-39 women’s 50m fly. Matthew also took bronze in the 800m free and 4th place in the 200m, while Simon won the 200m back, adding silver in the 100m back and 4th place in the 100m free. Robyn made it a double gold with a win in the 100m fly and Kati won the 200m IM.
More Spencer medals came from Helen Cumber, who won gold in the 30-34 women’s 100m back, and silvers in the 50m and 100m free. It was silvers all round for Suzanne Maidment, who came 2nd in the 200m & 800m free, and 200m breast. Jen Kelly won silver in the 400m free and was 7th in the 50m free, while Luca Milana brought home bronze in the 200m IM.
Simon summed up the weekend “Aside from the record breakers, there were some mere mortals racing at Crawley this weekend, me included… Times not important, but I still managed a gold and 2 silvers. However, being an out of towner, the best of all was catching up with people I only see at meets like this.”
Full Results and times are in the following link: