Tick, tock…boom. On a weekend when we saw the clocks go back, Spencer swimmers had their eyes fixed on the times flashing up on the jumbo scoreboard looming over the competition pools at Ponds Forge, Sheffield, during the 2024 GoCardless Swim England Masters National Championships. 

The swim meet produced an outstanding level of swimming with an incredible 119 British records, 44 European and 17 World records, many exciting races, inspiring swims, and countless personal achievements by 1600 swimmers across all age groups. 

The Spencer team contributed to the records tally thanks to the explosive performances of Daniel Cotton, who was in imperious form, claiming four gold medals, all in British record times, plus a silver medal in the 200m freestyle (2:02.77). Becoming National Champion in the 50-54 age group in 200m backstroke (2:11.09), 200m IM (2:14.86), 100m backstroke (1:00.92), and 400m IM (4:49.20) – makes him the most successful male swimmer from Spencer at the meet and crowns a great 2024 in the pool. 

Amanda Heath, who is no stranger to British and International records, once again showed her versatility and excellence with an equally impressive medal haul, winning gold medals in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke (yes, the triple), 200m IM, 200m backstroke (age group best time) – all season’s best times. To add to this impressive collection of golds, Amanda also stepped onto the podium and collected silver in the 200m freestyle, and bronze in the 100m backstroke in the women’s 65-69 age group.   

But the team was performing well, and medals were collected elsewhere, with Matthew Taylor bagging himself a well-deserved bronze in the men’s 55-59 age group with a master’s lifetime PB of 2:37.95 in the 200m backstroke. He narrowly missed out on medals, collecting fourth spots in 100m (1:12.45 – PB) and 50m backstroke (33.40). He also carried his freestyle form through from Crawley recently to produce a 2:21.88 in a master’s lifetime PB. 

After a lengthy hiatus, Spencer Coach Graham Huntingford was back in competition mode, in only his second competitive swim as a master’s swimmer. After contributing to the relays, Graham put it all together in the 50m freestyle to swim an impressive 26.3 seconds in the male 45-49 age group. 

Relatively new Spencer member Alex de Tullio also flexed his competition muscles again as he continued working towards finding his best form after returning to the pool earlier this year. Playing an outstanding team role in the men’s relays, Alex was also showing some remarkable form in his individual events too, swimming the 50m (30.91), 100m (1:06.83) and 200m (2:31.90) breaststroke in the men’s 30-34 age group. We’re all excited to see Alex get stronger and faster in the months ahead. 

Another recent and very welcome addition to the Spencer team is Lauren Willcox, who delivered some excellent swims. A string of season’s best times, including 2:12.88 in the 200m freestyle (women’s 35-39 age group) secured her gold, as did 4:42.51 in the 400m freestyle and a 1:10.00 in the 100m backstroke meant she would narrowly miss out on gold and collect silver. 

Moving into the 60-64 women’s age group this year, Diane Ridings took just 1:30.98 to scoop a fantastic silver medal in the 100m breaststroke. She then backed it up with a bronze medal performance in the 50m breaststroke, touching in 41.18 seconds. 

On the meet’s final day, Frances Baker saved the best until last, winning silver in the most enduring of contests, the 400m IM. Frances swam an impressive 7:10.61 in the women’s 60-64 age group, some 11 seconds ahead of the bronze medallist.  

Having had a head-scratching first day in the 1500m freestyle and 200m back (losing to a childhood clubmate), Simon Berry did what all good athletes do. He returned the following day and left it all out there in the 800m freestyle to come home in a very satisfying 10:35.80 in the men’s 50-54 years, recording a season’s best time. With belief restored, Simon was back on Sunday, where he replicated his good form with a 5:10.37 in the 400m freestyle. 

Robyn Le Friec placed second in women’s 30-34 age group for 200m fly in a very impressive 2:30.77 and in the 100m fly, showed the importance of a strong finish by claiming bronze by two one-hundredths of a second in 1:08.00. 

Moving into the 70-74-year-old men’s age group this year, Godfrey Admans delivered some of his best times for several years, with a superb 1:25.78 for the 100m backstroke, earning him a silver medal and 38.9 seconds in the 50m backstroke, seeing him just off the podium in 4^th place. 

Suzanne Maidment hauled in a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle in a time of 5:38.93 in the women’s 55-59 years age group after a strong weekend of swimming across all her events. 

In the 75-79 age group, Peter Stevens seemed to be Spencer’s busiest swimmer, taking on team relay duties and an extensive individual program. Peter managed medals of all colours in the following races: 800m freestyle (bronze), 400m freestyle (gold), 200m breaststroke (silver), and 1500m freestyle (bronze).  

With the assistance of some intense physio work, Guy Emerson shook off the effect of a back injury that prevented him from swimming during the first two days of competition to claim a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke in the men’s 60-64 age group. 

Karl Simpson produced master’s lifetime personal best times in the 50m freestyle (28.7), 100m fly (1:16.19), and 200m freestyle (2:20.26) and equalled his PB in the 100m freestyle (1:02.7). In the final session, after a strong weekend, he came home in the 400m freestyle in a season’s best time. 

Elsewhere, the team performed impressively in the relays without winning any medals. Also, breaststroke specialists Rebecca Pritchard and Fiona Wiggins delivered impressive swims across the meet, achieving PBs in several different events. Rebecca wiped 4 seconds off her 200m PB. Helen Cumber achieved four PBs and slipped just out of the medals in the 50m backstroke. Luca Milana and Sally Ritchie both showed encouraging signs of their best form in their selected events, too. 

It was a monumental three days of competitive swimming, with many incredible individual performances. The medals and times are the rewarding dividends of many months of hard training. But it isn’t only about podiums and personal bests, as many other accomplished goals don’t appear on the scoreboard, and every master’s swimmer goes home proud of their achievements. It was a privilege to be part of such a great community of passionate swimmers giving their all, and hopefully, many more Spencer swimmers can enjoy the fun experience in 2025. 

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Report by Karen Bassett/Willem Heskes

A small in numbers, but great in ambition, Spencer team travelled to Swansea for three days of racing at the Wales National Pool. This was a long meet: starting at 8.25am on Friday morning and finishing at 5pm on Sunday afternoon.

The racing was very competitive and fast, as expected, with Spencer swimmers raising up to the challenge and coming back with 18 gold, 13 silver and 10 bronze medals.

Spencer swimmer of the meet was the incredible Dan Cotton who broke three British Records, 200 back, 200 free and 200 IM. Notable mentions include Guy Emerson, who after a long journey back to fitness won a fantastic gold in the 50 back. And our legendary Amanda Heath who won 5 golds, 200/100/50 breaststroke, 200 IM and 400 IM.

There was success in the relays too with golds and silver medals.

A superb meet, and a great chance to race together as a team. Looking forward to the next competition!

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The recently finished World Aquatics Masters Championships Kyushu 2023 in Japan, saw a strong Spencer squad compete superbly, winning a total of 23 medals: 11 gold, 11 silver and 1 bronze. The medals were won across a multitude of events, ranging from open water, relays and individuals.

Starting with the 3k Open Water events, on day 1, we saw Amanda Heath win silver (65-69), Tony Cherrington win silver (80-84), Peter Stephens came 5th (75-79 ), and finally Alan Parkins was 11th (60-64).

Day 2 of the pool swimming delivered 3 golds and a silver for Spencer. Kath Tunnicliffe won both 200 back and100 free (70-74) Amanda and Esther were 1-2 in the 100 breast (65-69) Tony Cherrington 4th in 100 free (80-84), Peter 22nd (75-79)

Day 3 of the pool swimming and a deja-vu with another 1-2 for Amanda and Esther, this time in the 400 IM. In the 200 free, Tony Cherrington won silver, Peter Stephens was 10th and Suzanne Maidment 13th. Then it was silver for Jack Marriott in the 50 fly and 20th for Alan Parkins

Day 4 of the pool swimming, 8th August. Esther and Amanda swam different events, still taking gold (Amanda 200 IM) and silver (Esther 100 fly). In the 50 free Kath won gold, Tony was 9th and Suzanne 24th

Day 5 was relay day. Men’s 280+ 4×50 free took silver. Guy Emerson, Peter Stevens, Tony Cherrington, Alan Parkins. Same team were 4th in the 4×50 medley. Mixed 280+ 4×50 free winners, Alan Parkins, Kath Tunnicliffe, Tony Cherrington, Esther Iseppi.

Day 6 had all events delayer by 4 hours due to a typhoon passing close by. When things resumed, we saw 3 more golds for the girls: Amanda in the 200 breast and 200 fly, and Kath in the 100 back. Esther took silver in the 200 breast and bronze in the 200 fly (to make sure she had the full set!).

Day 7, 11 August, was the final day. Tony won another silver in the 400 free and Kath won silver in the 50 back. Suzanne Maidment took 16th place in the 400 free and Guy Emerson 11th in the50 backstroke.

(All photos and text provided by Amanda Heath, edited by Willem Heskes)

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Spencer’s superb squad produced a string of splendid swimming at the Bracknell Masters Short Course 2022. The club finished 5th in Top Club Points, a very notable achievement.

Sally Ritchie 
Gold: 100 IM 
Silver: 50 BCK
Bronze: 50 FREE 

Sarah Tripp 
Bronze: 100 BRST and 50 FLY

Fiona Wiggins
Gold: 200 BRST
Bronze: 100 BRST and 50 BRST

Laura Mason
Gold: 50 BRST; 100 BRST; 200 IM
Silver: 100 IM

Robyn Le Friec
Gold: 50 Fly; 100 Fly; 200 Fly and the Trophy as the Top scoring 200 Fly swimmer!
Silver: 200 Free

Amanda Heath
Gold: 200 Free; 100 BRST; 200 BRST

Godfrey Admans
Silver: 50 Bck and 100 IM

Luca Milana
Silver: 200 IM
Bronze: 100 BRST

Oliver Lungley
Gold: 50BRST; 100 BRST; 100 FREE
Silver: 50 FREE
Bronze: 50 FLY
In the top swimmer rankings placed 9^th! 

Medley Relays

Sally Ritchie, Sarah Tripp, Robyn Le Friec, Jess Campbell
Silver: Womens 120+ 

Olegas Petrikas, Luca Milana, Oliver Lungley, Ross Needham
Bronze: Mens 120+

Freestyle Relays

Sally Ritchie, Laura Mason,Jess Campbell, Robyn Le Friec
Bronze: Womens 160+

Olegas Petrikas, Luca Milana, Oliver Lungley, Ross Needham
Bronze: Mens 120+

Mixed Fly Relay 120+

Oliver Lungley, Olegas Petrikas, Sally Ritchie, Robyn Le Friec
Bronze: Golden Fins (fun name of the team)

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Spencer’s most senior and distinguished swimmers shone at the Swim Wales Masters Long Course, 5-6 March, bringing home 30 medals, 18 of them gold, and a World Record.

Alan Parkins 60-64
4th 1500 free, 7th 800 free

Amanda Heath 60-65
Gold 200 breast (WR), 200 free, 50 free

Godfrey Admans 65-69
Silver 100 back, 50 free

Grace Isaac 90-94
Gold 50, 100, 200 back

Muriel Hitchcock 80-84
Gold 50, 100, 200 breast, 50 back, 50 free

Peter Stephens, 75-79
Gold 1500 free, 50, 100 breast, 50 back, 50 fly; Silver 100, 200, 400, 800 free

Simon Berrey, 50-54
Silver 1500 free, bronze 800 free

Sue Lauder 75-79
Silver 200, 400 free; bronze 800 free

Suzanne Maidment 55-59
Bronze 50 free, 4th 200 free, 5th 50 breast & 800 free, 6th 400 free

Women’s 280+ 4×50 free – Gold
Suzanne Maidment, Muriel Hitchcock, Sue Lauder, Amanda Heath

Mixed 280+ 4×50 free – Gold
Alan Parkins, Peter Stephens, Sue Lauder, Amanda Heath

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A group of Spencer swimmers braved the first competition of the year, facing down K2 Crawley for the South East Regional long course Masters champs.

Despite losing our long course training pool last year at Crystal Palace, there were some amazing performances. We brought home nearly 40 medals and the incredible Amanda Heath marked her move into the 65/69 age group by smashing British and World records.

We were pleased to be joined by some of our ‘out of towners’ including Peter who traveled from Cornwall.

Other highlights included a gold in the men’s 240+ 4x50m Free relay and a nail-biting finish in the women’s 72+ 4x50m IM relay to pip Tunbridge Wells to the win.  

GOLD

800 free: Peter Stephens

50 back: Guy Emerson, Godfrey Admans

Men’s 4×50 free relay 240+

100 breast: Esther Iseppi, Amanda Heath (British Record), Diane Ford

200 IM: Amanda Heath (European Record), Esther Iseppi

100 back: Helen Cumber, Godfrey, Guy Emerson

50 breast: Amanda Heath (British Record), Rebecca Pritchard, Diane Ford, Esther Iseppi

200 fly: Abba Newbery, Esther Iseppi

100 free: Abba Newbery, Diane Ford, Guy Emerson

200 breast: Esther Iseppi, Amanda Heath (World Record)

200 back: Helen Cumber, Amanda Heath

4×50 women’s 4x 50 IM relay

SILVER

50 fly: Oli Lungley

400 free: Peter Stephens

400 free: Sue Lauder

50 breast: Oli Lungley

50 free: Oli Lungley, Godfrey, Peter Stephens

100 free: Oli Lungley

100 fly: Abba Newbery

BRONZE

800 Free: Sue Lauder

200 free: Sue Lauder

50 free: Helen Cumber, Abba Newbery, Guy Emerson

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Venue: Ponds Forge.                Date: 29-31 October 2021

A return to the water for national competition at Ponds Forge after two years out. The event was of course eagerly anticipated and followed on from the Regionals in early October. Both events were significantly changed from their previous incarnations.

Ponds Forge saw significant Covid regulations including mask wearing by officials, one-way poolside systems, participants and coaches obliged to sit in the balcony.  These had a somewhat depressing impact and somewhat sterilized proceedings.

The number of older age swimmers in general was much reduced, possibly due to concerns over pandemic, travel difficulties etc.

The competition in the pool was dominated by very strong contingents of younger swimmers under 30 mainly with Loughborough University and Town absolutely dominating events.  In some they had the top 8 swimmers in an event.

There were numerous records broken at that younger age especially in freestyle evets.

Spencer saw somewhat of a transition of the team.  18 Spencer swimmers participated with 7 debutants.  We only had 4 swimmers over the age of 65, an unusual situation for Spencer.

We swam 11 relays and won medal in the 120+ mixed freestyle relay and 120+ women’s 400 freestyle relay

Top honours went to Fran Baker who won 5 medals including 3 golds, Peter Stephens with 4 including 2 golds, Di Ford with 2 golds and Georgie Quayle with 4 bronze medals.  The relay team of Mel Thomas, Rebecca Pritchard, Olegas Petrikas and Oliver Lungley won bronze in the 120 years 200 mixed freestyle relay.  The women’s 4 x 100 Freestyle team of Georgie Quayle, Sally Richie, Laura Kerrigan and Mel Thomas also brought back a bronze.

This meant we had 6 debutant medalists.

Agonizingly close results for Clive Benson who missed out on a medal in the 100 fly by 0.03 of a second and Anders Christenson by 0.1 second in the 50 free. 

There was much to celebrate with numerous PBs within the team.  Luca Milana moved up to 6^th in the 400 IM.

Disappointingly we had to withdraw from numerous relays due to non-availability of key swimmers.

The event proved to be a strong bonding session with the traditional Friday and Saturday evenings out.

Stephen Baker, Club Coach

Team List.

Women: Georgie Quayle, Fran Baker, Sally Richie, Emily Hayter, Mel Thomas, Rebecca Pritchard, Di Ford, Hajnalka Racj, Fiona Wiggins.

Men: Peter Stephens, Oliver Lungley, Ross Needham, Olivier Geleoc, Luca Milana, Clive Benson, Anders Christensen, Olegas Petrikas, Simon Berrey.

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A grey day on Saturday 2^nd October saw the return to pool racing for Spencer Swim Team at the South East Regional Masters Swimming Championships.

It did not start well with numerous withdrawals for various reasons including sickness and fuel shortage.

It was fantastic to see a competition pool again despite the restrictions of lack of spectators or ability to mill around on the pool side.  The K2 at Crawley is a very well lit and attractive pool complex.

All 14 Spencer swimmers managed to get in on the medal act.

Golds:

Simon Berrey 1, Peter Stephens 1, Amanda Heath 3, Godfrey Admans 3, Helen Cumber 2

Rebecca Pritchard 1, Barbara Halls 5, Di Ford 2, Clive Benson 4, 

Women’s 160 years 200 Medley

Silvers:

Simon Berrey 2, Peter Stephens 1, Rebecca Pritchard 1, Fiona Wiggins 4, Michael Barnett 4, Emily Hayter 2

Women’s 160 years Fee team, Men’s 160 years Free and Medley teams.

Bronzes:

Olegas Petrikas 3, Godfrey Admans 1, Emily Hayter 1

Ross Needham in the men’s teams.

Please forgive me if I have missed any medal count!!

Stand out performances included a PB 5.03 for Simon Berrey in the 400m Free, an outstanding time and Barbara Halls haul of 5 golds.

We move on to the Nationals in 4 weeks and wish a speedy recovery to all those laid low

Steve Baker.

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