The Masters Swimmer’s Podcasts

Torpedo Swimtalk

Conversations at the heart of masters swimming

Torpedo Swimtalk has earned its place among the most beloved swimming podcasts in the masters swimming community. It brings warmth and genuine curiosity to every conversation, interviewing masters swimmers and coaches, elite age group competitors, and record holders from around the world. The show explores what keeps adult swimmers motivated across decades, how veterans approach periodisation and recovery differently from their younger counterparts, and the personal stories behind some of swimming’s most remarkable late-career performances. Episodes are accessible to swimmers of all levels, making it an ideal starting point if you are new to swim podcasts.

Pursue Potential Podcast

Unlocking the athlete mindset for lifelong competitors

The Pursue Potential Podcast takes a performance psychology lens to competitive swimming, examining the mental frameworks that allow athletes to keep improving well into their thirties, forties, fifties and beyond. Episodes draw on interviews with sports scientists, high-performance coaches, and masters athletes who have found ways to train smarter rather than simply harder. Topics range from goal setting, strength training, handling race-day nerves, to building sustainable training habits and bouncing back from injury. For the masters swimmer who wants to understand the ‘why’ behind their performance, this show offers genuinely actionable insight. Check out the excellent video content from these providers, Aquatic Sports Performance.

Freestyle Media

Swimming culture, stories, and the wider aquatic world

Freestyle Media takes a broader view of the sport, blending interviews, storytelling, and commentary that covers everything from grass-roots club culture to the upper reaches of competitive swimming. Masters athletes feature regularly, and the show does an excellent job of showing the continuum between recreational and elite participation. The production quality is high, the conversation is engaging, and episodes often surface perspectives from parts of the swimming world — open water, triathlon transition, para swimming — that do not always get airtime on more narrowly focused shows.

Unfiltered Waters

Honest, unscripted conversations about the sport we love

As the name suggests, Unfiltered Waters leans into candid, free-flowing discussion rather than tightly scripted interviews. The result is a show that feels like an honest conversation between passionate swimmers rather than a broadcast, which gives it an intimacy that fans appreciate. Topics range from training philosophy and meet preparation to the politics of the sport and the quirks of pool culture. Masters swimmers will recognise themselves in many of the discussions, and the lack of filter means opinions are genuinely expressed rather than carefully hedged.

Propulsion Swimming

Technical depth for the swimmer who wants to go faster

Propulsion Swimming is the show for the analytically minded masters athlete who wants to understand the mechanics of speed. Episodes dig into stroke technique, underwater work, starts and turns, and the biomechanics of efficient swimming with a level of detail that repays careful listening. Coaches and sports scientists appear alongside competitive swimmers, and the show does not shy away from complexity. If you have ever wanted a genuinely deep explanation of how to improve your distance per stroke or reduce drag through better body position, Propulsion Swimming delivers.

The Aqua Pod

Community, competition, and the joys of adult swimming

A podcast by Scottish Swimming, The Aqua Pod celebrates the community side of masters swimming as much as the competitive side. The show captures the camaraderie of swim clubs, the experience of training alongside people of wildly different ages and backgrounds, and the particular pleasure of a sport you can practise for a lifetime. Episodes feature a mix of competitive masters athletes and recreational swimmers, and the tone is inclusive and encouraging throughout. For anyone who wants a podcast that reminds them why they got into the water in the first place, The Aqua Pod delivers that with genuine affection for the sport.

Making the Most of Your Listening

The beauty of swimming podcasts is that they fit naturally into the rhythms of a training life. Long car journeys to swim meets, foam rolling sessions, early morning commutes before a dawn practice — all of these become opportunities to absorb coaching insights, hear from inspiring athletes, and deepen your connection to swimming.

Consider keeping a small notebook nearby when you listen to these swimmign podcasts. Masters swimmers are typically motivated, detail-oriented athletes, and you may find that a single observation from an interview — a cue for your catch, an idea about how to structure your taper, a mindset shift for approaching a target time — can have a meaningful impact on your training.

The swimming podcasts listed here vary in style, depth, and focus, which means there is something for every type of masters swimmer. Subscribe to a few, follow the ones that resonate, and enjoy the extra lane that swimming podcasts open up alongside the one you already occupy in the water.

The post Podcasts for Masters Swimmers – Dive into the Content appeared first on Spencer Swim Team London.

The event kicked off with the Open Water Swimming, on Hudayirat Island, with perfect conditions and a water temperature of 21 degrees. Michael Read and Jamie McKay were competing in the 5k and won gold and silver respectively, while Tony Cherrington and Alan Parkins both won gold in the 2.5k and Amanda Heath took silver in the 1.5k.

On to the pool events, where everyone medalled in all their events, with some great swims.

Individual Race Results

Michael Read – 85+ age group

GOLD 5k, 400m, 800m free and 200m & 400m IM, SILVER 100m, 200m free

Tony Cherrington – 80+ age group

GOLD 2.5K 50m, 100m, 200m 400m free

Alan Parkins – 65+ age group

GOLD 2.5k, 50m, 100m back, 100m fly, SILVER 800m free, 200m back

Jamie McKay – 40+ age group

SILVER 5k

Ivan Nechunaev – 35+ age group

GOLD 50m free (lifetime best of 24.16), 50m fly, SILVER 100m free, 100m fly

Amanda Heath – 65+ age group

GOLD 200m breaststroke, 400m IM, SILVER 1.5k, 50m, 100m breaststroke, 200m IM

Esther Iseppi – 65+ age group

SILVER 100m fly, 200m breast

This was an amazing achievement for Esther, as she slipped and fell the evening before the pool events, badly injuring her wrist. 3 days later, she was able to race tentatively, starting in the water and having to work hard to catch the rest of the field. Sadly, she had to miss her other events.

The event presentation was extremely professional, with competitors announced individually as they walked out from the call room, and the medal presentations were highly choreographed.

Media Coverage

The media were keen to record stories from competitors, with Spencer swimmers featuring in some of the videos shared during the event and on social media. Check out some of the videos below by clicking the links.

Spencer Swimmer’s Stories (video)

Michael’s story

Esther’s story

Esther and Amanda’s story

The Masters Games are quite different from other International Masters swimming events, encouraging athletes of all abilities from around the world to unite in competition and friendship. The medals were truly stunning and the message on the medal box inspirational: “Wellness is the real victory”.

Read more about International Masters Games Events here:

https://www.imga.ch

Athletes are encouraged to participate in, watch and support other sports and one of the highlights was a trip to the camel race track (to spectate, not race!)

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We spoke with three of our swimmers to share their experiences and achievements.

Josh’s Incredible English Channel Swim

We’re proud to celebrate one of our own Josh, who took on the legendary English Channel.

“Training for the English Channel felt almost more gruelling than the swim itself,” Josh says. Preparation started two years in advance, building cold water resilience and even putting on extra insulation. When Covid closed pools, he improvised: “I was sneaking into a friend’s garden, tethered to a bungee cord, in water often below 5°C. January, February, March hardly tropical but it paid off.”

Training included long Dover weekends, with one brutal session: “7 hours on Saturday, 6 on Sunday to mimic the Channel distance. Fun times!”

The Swim

Josh had the first swim slot of the week, though the weather was tricky. “At 10pm, I jumped in 50 metres offshore, stood alone on a dark pebbly beach, waiting for the horn. No lights, no company just the cold.”
His feeding plan was simple: no feeds for two hours, then hourly, then every 45 minutes toward the end. Around hour four, nausea hit. “I got cold and told my crew they reminded me quitting wasn’t an option. Thirty minutes later, I warmed up and felt much better.”
He swam without a watch, counting strokes to keep focused (Coach Steve would have approved!). Around 2am, something large bumped him. “Pretty sure it was a seal but let’s call it a shark for dramatic effect.” Jellyfish stings provided the occasional distraction!

The Finish

As dawn broke, Josh knew he was closing in on France. His crew urged him to sprint for the finish, though it felt like the shoreline never got closer. “I could see it and swam straight for it, but the boat guided me to a restaurant ramp to avoid rocks.” He finally reached the ramp, much to the surprise of the early morning diners, before swimming back to the boat for the return trip to Dover, where family and friends waited to celebrate his achievement.

Aftermath

Saltwater left him with a throat full of needles and a doubled uvula. “Explaining to the pharmacist at Boots that I’d just swum to France was… interesting, especially when they suggested a saltwater rinse!”

Josh calls it “the best experience of my life”, meeting inspiring swimmers and conquering a challenge few dare attempt.
We’re incredibly proud of Josh and his phenomenal achievement. Here’s to the next adventure!

From Lockdown to Lake Annecy: Emily’s Open Water Adventure

Over the past few years, Emily’s open-water journey has grown from a lockdown hobby into a true passion. She first discovered the joy of sea swimming during Covid, often heading out alone along the wild west coast of Scotland. That love for adventure soon led her to SwimTrek holidays starting with 5 km days and, more recently, taking on longer 7 km routes.

While Emily has dipped her toes into events like the Seahorse Swim in Dorset and the Southeast Region Open Water Championships, her focus so far has been on swimming for the pure enjoyment, freedom, and fitness that open water brings saving her competitive edge for the pool.

This summer, she completed her biggest challenge yet: a self organised two-person relay along the full 18 km length of Lake Annecy in France.

Emily credits the Spencer community for helping her continue to grow drawing on the advice of seasoned open-water swimmers and building strength and confidence through club training, especially the endurance sessions at Dulwich.

                                   Emily in Scotland in 2020

Hannah’s 33.3km Open Water Adventure in Croatia

Hannah’s passion for open water swimming has grown rapidly over the past two years. What began as a spontaneous 5k race with just a week to prepare soon became a full-blown love for the sport.

Earlier this year, Hannah took on her biggest challenge yet: the Ultra 33.3km Challenge in Croatia, swimming across four days. She followed a 16-week training plan, covering 24–30km per week in the pool, combined with strength work and weekly sports massages to manage a shoulder injury.

Reflecting on the experience, Hannah says, “Training taught me so much—not just about my body, nutrition, and rest, but also about staying accountable, motivated, and disciplined. Those lessons carried me through the challenge.”

The challenge itself was unforgettable. “The first two days were brutal—a storm rolled in, waves and winds were ridiculously high, and breathing became nearly impossible. But the final two days were magical: crystal-clear water, calm crossings, and even a dolphin sighting!”

Hannah’s results were impressive:

• 4th in her Age Group
• 5th Female Overall
• 34th out of 160 swimmers
• First British Female across the line

Beyond the statistics, Hannah highlights the community spirit. “I’ll never forget feeling mentally defeated on Day 2, and having Andy Donaldson swim up to encourage me—it unlocked something in me. Those moments, and the shared struggle with everyone else, made it so special.”

Day 3, an 11km solo swim, was her proudest moment. “Being surrounded by the stunning Croatian coastline, I felt a real sense of pride in how far I’d come. It taught me the biggest lesson of all: to believe in myself.”

We’re proud of everything our Spencer swimmers have achieved and inspired by what’s still to come.

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Whatever you say, this event is never without its little adventures!!

The Third Spencer Mile was a challenge in many ways.  An initial 25 entrants were reduced to 19 by illness and lack of fuel. Thorpe Park on Sunday 26th September was somewhat grey and the absence of any lake staff on time was somewhat worrying.  However, water was around 17/18 degrees after a very nice September (water temperatures have been down at 12/13 at this time of year to my knowledge)

The course looked rather odd with two proper buoys and a torpedo in the distance. As agreed the course was four laps of the lake, swum in waves to prevent too much contact at the early corners. As it turned out the torpedo buoy appeared either to have a very long anchor or to be drifting!!!!  In the end the measured distance was a new distance of the post Brexit “mile” of 1900 metres, but it was still a great race.

Two men and two women fought out the first places with Alan Parkins pipping Clive Benson, both in suits and Jess Campbell beating Georgie Quayle on time. However, in a unique innovation, I had decided to implement a handicap system, adding 10% to wetsuit times, which saw Georgie’s time pip Jess in the adjusted variant and indeed end up as the overall winner on adjusted times.

All good fun.

The full list of winners (everyone was a winner!) is below, with most of the swimmers in an age category of their own.  There were some great individual battles and swimmers of the day must include the highly impressive Alain Renders and Willem Heskes.  

The real disappointment was the over officious kayaker lifeguard who ushered two of our swimmers out 10 minutes early.  “I was only following orders!!!”  I have heard that excuse before and it didn’t cut much mustard then.

Sincere congratulations to Robyn MacCrae on her first open water race.  She managed to keep up with Godfrey, so well done.

Following this we had the hat ceremony and another excellent barbecue from Michael and Mila. Thank you to everyone for their donations of cake and sweet things.

For those in the club for whom this event was too cold, too far or whatever else, they missed another fabulous club event and party.  This event is now a core part of the calendar and I look forward to running the fourth event in 2022.

See you there.

Congratulations everyone.

Steve Baker

Full Results

The post Spencer Mile 2021 appeared first on Spencer Swim Team London.

The third annual Spencer Mile is now ready to enter. All the details you need are below!

Date:               Sunday 26th September 2021

Venue:             Thorpe Park Lake. Thorpe Lakes, Thorpe Road, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 8PH

Course:             4 x round 400m loop.

Time:                8.30am briefing.  9.00am first wave. 

 Swimmers must be registered prior to swimming.  Late swimmers will not be permitted to compete.

Organisation

The event will be swum in waves of similar ability based on previous results. Waves of ideally 5/6 will start 30 seconds apart.

The swim will start in the water by the pier of the lake. Swimmers must touch the pier on each lap and must swim around the outside of each buoy, keeping the buoy to their left.  Swimmers finish by touching the pier at the end of their fourth lap.

Timing:              Manual.

Categories:       Wetsuit and skins.  Age groups based on every 5 years from 20+.  

Entry

Entries made by email to Steve Baker (sbaker50@btinternet.com). Please provide your DoB and whether wetsuit or skin category.

Price:               £20 each to include entry, prize, refreshments.

Payment:          Please confirm your entry by emailing Steve for bank account details for payment.

No cash will be taken on the day!  

Prizes              

Prizes for first, second and third in each age group. 

Special overall award for skins v suits where wetsuits get a 10%-time calculation penalty.    1 men, 1 women.

Party!

We will be holding a barbecue and light refreshments at the lakeside straight after the racing.  This will be from 10am till lunchtime.  Drinks will be available but warm beverages are available from the lakeside café.

Donations: Intentions to offer a cake or similar will be very gratefully received.  Please advise intention to Steve in advance either in person at training or via email.

The post Spencer Mile 2021 – Entries Now Open! appeared first on Spencer Swim Team London.

Coaches Report from Steve Baker

The second staging of the Brockwell relays took place on Thursday 22^nd July 2021 with a team of 10 Spencer swimmers.

As the winners of the inaugural event in 2019 we had expectation and objective to retain the trophy.

I am personally delighted that we were able to mix members of longer vintage with new swimmers and of course mixing from various venues. The morale and spirit lift that this offers to swimmers and the club is massive. Of course, a round of tonic water helped in the pub also.

The event was competitive and we did not have every race our own way.  It was also good to know that whilst we did not win every front crawl race, we smashed the other strokes.

We also had fewer swimmers than Serpentine, Windrush and the Clapham Chasers so well done on the stamina.

Well done Olegas for stepping up to management duties and the assistant manager, Agne.   Thanks also for the long-distance travelers, Georgie from Hertfordshire and Mel from South Wales!!

Swimmers.

Over 120                                                                                  Under 120

• Lisa Hibberd                                                                  Sarah Tripp
• Sue Swaine                                                                    Georgie Quayle
• Emily Hayter                                                                  Mel Thomas
• Rebecca Pritchard                                                         Thomas Holmes
• Willem Heskes
• Luca Milana

Results.

O120 Free           2nd                                          U120 Free           2nd 

O120 Br               1^st Dead Heat                           U120 Br               1st

O120 Med          1st                                            U120 Med           1st

Cannon                2^nd

OVERALL 1^st

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After a gap of over 20 months, Spencer Swim Team got the chance for the first open competitive event in the water.

Three mixed teams of different ages competed in the South London Relays in the crazy but great fun 16 length relay event.  Each swimmer swimming 4 individual lengths, one at a time.  Sounds easy but in a 100yard pool it can be tough.  Start too fast and the jelly legs kick in pretty soon.

Following our three-age group clean sweep in 2019, we came back this year with two golds and a silver.  The Met Police, who consider this event their own, managed in a very tight finish to beat our 150+ team into second place.

Detailed results.

The Junior team (100-150 years) won the overall event in a time of 19.06, 25 seconds ahead of the next team in their group (The Met Police) and of course winning their age group of 4 teams.  As an added bonus, the junior team was on average 8 years older than the Met Police team.

The Middle team (151-200) were beaten into second place in their group of 16 by the Met Police by 37 seconds.  Overall, the middle group were 3^rd.  Their time was 20.21.

The Oldies team (201 +) won their group of 8 by 86 seconds and were 5^th overall.  So, the only teams to beat the oldies were the other Spencer teams and the Police. Their time was 20.56. 

Given the training over the past 18 months these are very good times. Congratulations to all 12 swimmers and our three erstwhile supporters, Georgie’s mum, Agne Petrikas and Luca Milana for braving the monsoon conditions. The water was a very pleasant 20ish, the air was warm and wet.

30 teams lined up in a 33-yard-wide pool and astonishingly there was only one clash of heads during the event.

Teams

1^st place in 100+ Age Group            Olegas Petrikas, Sue Swaine, Georgie Quayle, Olivier Geleoc   (146 years)

2^nd place in 150+ Age Group           Laura Mason, Alain Renders, Barbara Halls, James Draper        (180 years)

1^st place in 200+ Age Group            Willem Heskes, Lisa Hibberd, Ed Hill, Steve Baker                        (226 years*)

*(The age of the whole team, not just Steve!!!)

Felafels all round rounded off the evening and great fun was had by all.

The post South London Midsummer Relays 2021 appeared first on Spencer Swim Team London.

All fake news of course.  It was windy, cold air, warm water and there were numerous waves of socially distanced swimmers at 2-minute intervals that took to the water.  Two swimmers with other commitments did the swim prior to the group!!

What was in effect the only competition most swimmers will have this year, the swimmers braved c15 degrees, mostly in wetsuits to do the swim.

A very fast 22.11 minutes saw Simon Berry win the overall event.

Tracy Wheeler was first woman home in 24.19.

Frist female skin was Lisa Hibberd in an impressive 26.56 and first male skin was Rob Tate in 24.45.

Rob had already decided the event was too easy so cycled on to Thorpe and of course back again.

The course was twice round an 800 track. Cleary marked but made tricky by a headwind on the way back.  Whilst chilly it was by no mean cold, although FINA would not have liked it!

It was great to see so many swimmers making the effort in what was our second annual mile and of course rearranged as a venue due to the cancellation of the Thames swim due to the current disease restrictions.

Congratulations to each and every one of the competitors.

We return to the pool with this one under our belt and only 10 months to train for Spencer Mile 3.

The post Spencer Mile 2020 appeared first on Spencer Swim Team London.

Over the past couple of years, we have upped our game however and this year we hit a new high by the winning of the gold medal at all three senior age groups.  The only one we didn’t compete in was the under 100, we could have but are only allowed three teams.

There is of course always more devil in the detail.

The three teams were called:

Spencer Youf    (100-150)                       Georgina Quayle, Sue Swaine, Olivier Geleoc, Rob Tate.

Spencer Stewarts (151 – 200)                  Mel Thomas, Jess Campbell, Laura Mason, James Draper

Spencer Oldies (201 plus)                         Lisa Hibberd, Ed Hill, Willem Heskes, Stephen Baker

The competition amongst the 40 teams was really good and Spencer did their best to make it a fight all round.

The young team were overall fastest team with a time of 18.23, beating even the first placed team in the under 100-year category.  This is a fabulous time of 68.9 average 100 yards.  Their winning margin in their age category was 1 minute and 16 seconds, so over a length.  A fabulous performance.

The second age group made life more interesting, winning in a time of 20.35, 16 seconds ahead of the second placed home team and the following three teams, places 2-4 were only separated by 3 seconds.  A fantastically close race for such an event.

The oldies named Goldies decided that following their 2018 victory an improvement was required and won in 20.32 a winning margin of 1 minute and 15 seconds.

However, the detail here is that they managed to beat the younger Spencer team by 3 seconds.  Life in the old ones yet!!!

The last length must have been really exciting as no fewer than 7 team finished between 20.32 and 20.59 with 4 finishing within 8 seconds of each other.

For the record, the young team won out of 11 teams, the middle group out of 18 and the older team out of 7, but without rubbing it in would have won the middle group as well, so oldies we got the fifth fastest time out or 40 teams including the under 100 team., so very well done indeed.

Just to complete the stats, the young teams time was almost the same as last year with the oldies posting an improvement of 18 seconds.

Enough stats for one night.

Well done everyone.  Here’s to a double treble in 2020!!!!

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So many swimmers, so many winners.  Most important what a lovely stretch of river and a lovely race.  It started in 50’s dreamland at the Sea Scout headquarters.  For you youngsters, the 50s was last century!  After the safety announcements we all got in for the obligatory 5 minutes treading water and acclimatizing.  A rapid start and an 800m stretch of green on both sides of the river.  After the halfway point we got to the hard-standing area with rowing boat sheds for the Oxford colleges.  Another 400m saw the start of the final stretch.  A well laid out series of pencil buoys of 200 m upstream and then a sprint finish on the other side to a hard landing.  The whole race bar the final 200m was upstream but to the Spencer swimmers this mattered little.

To put a smile on everyone’s face, the sun had its hat on, and the weather was just perfect.  Just enough cloud to guard against burn and enough sun to make it warm.

Overall men’s winner was Tristan Slater in an absorbing race against Rob Tate.  Tristan won by a short head but had the advantage of a suit so both men won their categories and had a fantastic race.

Sue Swaine was the women’s overall winner and unusually for her did not wear a suit, well done Sue, a convert!!!!!

Lisa Hibberd was the overall senior women’s winner.

Your ever so humble coach was first in the infinity category and second in the senior men’s.  That’s over 55 if you need to know!!!! 

Very impressive swims were recorded by James Draper in 6^th, Luke Schuberth in 8^th, Willem Heskes in 11^th and  Ed Hill in 12^th.  James and Luke in rather dapper rubber suits with Willem and Ed in hairy pink versions.  Well done Willem and Ed.

Luca Milana completed his first ever open water race and swim in water below 26 degrees.  Forza Luca.

Luca of course had a good introduction to open water swimming by pulling the coach back by the trunks and having the temerity to cut across him during the race.  Naughty Luca!

Making up the team on the day were Jane Turner and Sara Luder who had a good personal race, Michael Barnett, Nicola Malin, Mel Thomas.  14 swimmers in all.  There were three withdrawals for various reasons.

Mel had made the trip all the way from Cardiff to compete.

Well done everyone on your efforts, please see the attached spreadsheet for results and times.

In terms of the open event of which we were a part, we had no fewer than 8 in the top 20 and when you consider there were lots of suited swimmers in the race that’s a great achievement.  The total entry was 120 swimmers, so we made up a little over 10%.

Following the race there was exceptionally good cakes with tea and coffee from the organisers.  We then trekked back to a lovely spot on the river for a picnic.  What a fab event that was.

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