RTSC Masters fielded a team of 14 swimmers for the Masters World championships in Riccione, Italy which were held this month from 9th to the 16th June.

The following swimmers took part:

• Jill Complin (70-74)
• Tony Pepper (70-74)
• Barbara Boxall (55-59)
• Lesley Cook (50-54)
• Tom Enright (50-54)
• Keith Oddy (45-49)
• Martin Lane (40-44)
• Dawn Palmer (35-39)
• Gary Wraight (35-39)
• Kay Hamilton (30-34)
• Kira Neal (25-29)
• Tina Oddy (25-29)
• Michelle Curry (25-29)
• Mark Billyard (25-29)

For a small club team we managed to generate the most noise and definitely had the best team spirit (see pic below) and anyone who was swimming always had the support of other members of the team.

Unusually for this champs the relays were given their own separate day, which was a great deal of fun for all competitors, RTSC had the following relay results, all relays were 4x50m:

• 240-279 mixed medley (Tony, Jill, Tom, Barbara) 18th.
• 160-199 mixed medley (Dawn, Keith, Kay, Martin) 30th
• 160-199 men freestyle (Mark, Keith, Tom, Martin) 35th
• 160-199 mixed freestyle (Gary, Barbara, Michelle, Tom) 36th
• 160-199 men medley (Keith, Gary, Mark, Tom) 46th
• 120-159 women medley (Dawn, Tina, Kay, Kira) 21st
• 120-159 mixed freestyle (Mark, Kira, Dawn, Martin) 10th
• 120-159 women freestyle (Kira, Michelle, Kay, Dawn) 9th

The standard in all age groups was very high and each team gave a great account of themselves but special mention has to go to the two teams who took two top ten places, bearing in mind many of the teams are amalgams of clubs who get together especially for these events whereas we are a club team. In the individual events the first three places are given the usual gold, silver and bronze medals but 4th to 10th are also given medals, so top ten are medal winners. But bearing in mind that there were over 9000 competitors and each age group had between 100 - 400 competitors you will see that many of the swimmers gained creditable placings and several swimmers were outstanding in consistency across many distances.

• Jill won silver in the 400m and 100m Freestyle and bronze in the 800, 200 & 50 freestyle, a fantastic medal haul.
• Tony ranked 20th, 22nd and 22nd in the 50, 100 & 200 backstroke respectively.
• Barbara took 10th in the 400 free, 14th in 200 free, 13th in 100 free and 15th in 50 free.
• Lesley placed 25th in the 400 free and 18th in the 3k open water swim.
• Tom placed 65th in the 400 free, 73rd in 200 free, 86th in 100 free, 81st in 500 free and 25th in 200 fly.
• Keith placed 46th in 200 breast, 62nd in 100 breast, 64th in 50 breast and 69th 200IM
• Martin took tenth in the 50 free, 26th in 100 free and 32nd in 200 free.
• Dawn took 4th in 200 and 400IM, 6th in 100 back and 9th in 50 back and 18th in 100 free.
• Gary placed 49th in 200IM, 40th in 200 breast and 59th in 50 breast.
• Kay placed 12 in the 3k open water swim, 15th in 800 free, 20th in 400 free, 15th in 200 fly, 36th in 100 fly and 16th in 400IM.
• Kira placed 25th in 400 free and 30th in 50 free.
• Tina placed 60th in 100 breast and 54th in 50 breast.
• Michelle took 10th in 200 back and placed 11th in 100 back, 12th in 400IM and 18th in 200IM.
• Mark placed 14th in the 3k, 22nd in the 800 free, 28th in 400IM, 48th in 200IM, 15th in 200 fly and 44th in 100 fly.
• This gave the club a remarkable tally of 12 medals in total plus two top ten finishes in the relay.

There were several side bets between the swimmers with Kira taking honours over Tom for better 50 free times over the relay day and Tina besting keith by getting within 5 seconds of his time. Martin took honours by beating Tom's individual 50 free time by over 4 seconds. Every one had a great week and showed what a great team spirit RTSC has and we are all looking forward to the Europeans in Eindhoven next year and the World's in Montreal in 2014.

Saturday 5th/Sunday 6th May - Masters Long Course National Championships - Sheffield

RTSC Masters sent a team of ten swimmers, Barbara Boxall, Dawn Palmer, Kay Hamilton, Kira Neal, Michelle Curry, Martin Lane, Gary Wraight, David Ebanks, Mark Billyard and Tom Enright to this year's long course nationals in Sheffield over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

There were many fine individual and team performances but the Women's team of Dawn (Breaststroke), Kay (Butterfly), Kira (Freestyle) and Michelle (Backstroke) in the 120+ 4x100 Medley Relay needs special mention as they broke the British Record!

Individual medal winners were:

• Barbara - bronze in the 100m and 200m Freestyle.
• Dawn - gold in the 200m IM, silver in 50m and 100m Backstroke, bronze in the 400m IM
• Kay - silver in the 200m Butterfly and 800m Freestyle
• Michelle - silver in the 400m IM and bronze in the 200m IM
• Martin - silver in the 50m Freestyle
• David - silver in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke
• Mark - gold in the 200m Butterfly, 800m and 1500m Freestyle, silver in the 400m IM and 400m Freestyle, bronze in the 200m IM and the 50m and 100m Butterfly

Team medals won were:

• Women's 120+ (Dawn, Kira, Kay and Michelle) - gold in the 4 x 100m Medley (new GB record) and also gold in the 4 x 50m Medley and silver in the 4 x 50m Freestyle and 4 x 100m Freestyle
• Men's 120+ (Martin, Gary, David and Mark) - gold in the 4 x 50m and 4 x 100m Medley and bronze in the 4 x 50m and 4 x 100m Freestyle.
• Mixed 120+ (Dawn, Kira, David and Mark) - gold in the 4 x 50m medley and silver in 4 x 100m Medley
• Mixed 160+ (Barbara, Michelle, Martin and Tom) - bronze in the 4 x 100m Medley
• Mixed 120+ (Dawn, Kira, Martin and Mark) - gold and (Kay, Michelle, Gary and David) - silver in the 4 x 50m Freestyle

1st April - Mixed Emotions

We had some good and bad news over the weekend.

David Ebanks took silver in the Essex Age Group Champs for the 50m Breaststroke on Sunday, with a time of 29.99 just outside his best.

This came along the same day as the sad news of the passing of one of our older members, Paul Alvarez. Paul has been a member of the club for quite some time and has been involved in teams breaking British Records.

Saturday 17th/Sunday 18th March - Welsh Masters Open - Swansea

Five swimmers from the masters section travelled to Wales this weekend to compete in the Welsh Open at Swansea:

Gary Wraight and Kay Hamilton led the charge with both taking 4 out of 4 golds. Gary won the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke and the 50m Freestyle, breaking two PBs in the process. Kay won gold in the 400m, 800m and 1500m Freestyle and 200m Butterfly.

Martin Lane won gold in the 50m Breaststroke and spver in the 50m and 100m Freestyle

Barbara Boxall won silver in the 100m and 200m Freestyle and claimed 4th place in the 50m Freestyle.

Tom Enright won gold in the 50m Freestyle, bronze in the 100m Freestyle and silver in the 200m Freestyle.

Barbara, Kay, Martin and Gary took gold in the 4 x 100m Freestyle 160+ mixed relay in a new Welsh Record.

Saturday 28th/Sunday 29th January - SE Region Masters Long Course Champs - K2 Centre,Crawley

Our Masters Section looks set for another good year with all who competed coming home with at least one medal:

• Dawn Palmer came home with 4 golds (400m and 200m IM, 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke) and 1 silver in the 200m Breaststroke
• Gary Wraight won 3 golds in the 50m and 200m Freestyle and 200m Breaststroke and silver in the 50m Breaststroke
• Alyson Fordham won three golds in the 50m, 100m and 400m Freestyle
• Kira Neal won gold in the 400m Freestyle
• Barbara Boxall won silver in the 100m Freestyle
• Janos Leigh won 2 golds in the 50m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle
• Tom Enright won silver in the 100m Freestyle and bronze in the 50m Freestyle

Several members of the club are now looking to Riccione where they will be heading in June to compete in the Masters World Championships.

28th to 30th October - British Gas ASA National Masters and Senior Age Group Championships - Ponds Forge, Sheffield

Romford Town swimmers claimed four British Records amongst a plethora of titles and medals.

Alyson Fordham set 3 new British Records in the 55-59 years age group:

• 100m Freestyle: 1:06.63
• 100m Individual Medley: 1:19.70
• 50m Freestyle: 29.92

Martin Lane, Kira Neal, Dawn Palmer and Mark Billyard combined to set a new British Record of 3:54.39 in the 120-years 4x100m Mixed Freestyle.

5th -10th September - European Masters Championships - Yalta, Ukraine

There was more success for Romford Town swimmers on the international stage as two Masters members returned from the Ukraine with European medals

Kay Hamilton (30 - 34 year age group), swam a 4 event programme, including the 800m Freestyle, 200m Butterfly, 100m Butterfly and a gruelling 3km sea swim. This produced her first ever European Championships medals, a 800 Freestyle silver, in a time of 10.51.90, and a 200 Butterfly bronze, in a time of 3.02.50. The sea swim was tough, navigating large quantities of jellyfish, waves and currents to finish fourth in a time of 47 minutes.

Mark Billyard (25 - 29 year age group) completed the 200m Individual Medley, 800m Freestyle, 200m Butterfly, 100m Butterfly and 50m Butterfly events and the 3km open water. This was his first ever European Championships and he managed respectable placings, ranging between 4th and 6th across each of his events. In the 3km open water sea swim, and came 5th in the age group with a time of 41 minutes.