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Leicester Masters Club Activities...
Midlands Inter Counties; Birmingham November 2024
Four of our swimmers were selected to represent Leicestershire at the recent Midlands inter-county meet.
The competition took place at the Sandwell Aquatic Centre - a fabulous facility built for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games in 2022.
Linda, Jane, Cath and Rachel all took part in multiple events, swimming individually and on relays, helping Leicestershire to 4th place from the 9 counties of East and West Midlands.
Linda swam 50m individual in every stroke, and deserves a special commendation for tackling the 50 fly for the first time, with no prior notice.
It is difficult to put into words how hard it is to step up to do a stroke you’ve never done before, mentally as well as physically.
Sometimes it really isn’t about winning (or losing), it’s stepping up and showing what a true athlete and team captain stands for. We decided that Linda was our Swimmer of the Meet for all of the above reasons. 👏🏻
Jane was lucky to scrape a 2nd place in the 50 breaststroke. The winner in the next lane set a new British record. Jane also swam 3 relays.
Cath was called upon to swim the individual 50 free. It's the first time she has raced the event as a master- and she swam a super speedy 32.67. She also put in impressive splits on 2 relays.
Rachel turned in her trademark fast 50 fly, and pulled in more points for the team on the 140+ medley relay. She also helped Linda with some last minute butterfly technique coaching.
The combined results from all the other regional inter-county meets will be published in the next week, so swimmers can see how they ranked nationally.
There was good team spirit amongst the Leicestershire team as a whole, but LMSC swimmers really looked out for each other.
Jane & Rachel
Birmingham University Masters Meet; 6th October 2024
A great afternoon and evening was had by six Leicester Masters swimmers at the swim meet on Sunday.
A fantastic total of 23 medals in Gold, Silver and Bronze was achieved by Catherine Davies, Gez Sutton, Linda Dootson, Andy Botterill and Simon Glover. It was an event that was often dominated by the University swimmers (some trying to achieve national and international records) but everyone who took part received a warm welcome. It was agreed by all that the pool was great to swim in, even though the surface around the pool was very slippery.
Special mention to Cath Davies who achieved third place in the overall women’s points total!
Also big thanks to Helen our coach who attended to give us great support throughout.
Linda Dootson - Team Captain
Leicestershire Masters Open Meet - 15th September 2024
PB and Medal Fest for LMSC
On Saturday September 15th, Leicester Masters swimmers achieved 22 PB’s and over 44 medals at the Leicestershire Gala on Saturday. This was a tremendous achievement by the 16 members who entered.
There was also tremendous support from those who were not swimming as we received the loudest cheer of the meet when our relay teams were announced! Thank you to all those that attended, including our team manager Steve and Tom who helped with giving split times and making sure everyone was ready for their race. Time sheets are available to download here
Special mentions go to Cath Davies who was in her first competitive event for the club and she came first in her age group, received five gold medals and three personal best times.
Our coaches showed that they are also brilliant swimmers with Pete Farmer coming first in his age group, five gold medals and six personal best times. Helen Atton and Jo Beedham also received gold medals and Helen a personal best for her 50m Breastroke and Mel for a personal best in her 50m backstroke.
Other swimmers that received PBs include Dan Goodwin, Andrew Cooke, Simon Glover, Eleanor Morton and Ian Bannister. Other swimmers that achieved gold medals include Sian Davis, Jane Mc Carren, Geraint Griffiths, Linda Dootson and Andy Botterill.
As Team Captain, I am really proud of everyone that took part. Here’s to the next one!
Linda Dootson (Team Captain)
Cheshire County Masters Meet & Weekend Away; 13th July 2024
Linda: 1st in 50m breaststroke and 50m Freestyle.
Geraint: 1st in 50m Fly, 2nd in 50m breaststroke and 100m individual medley, and 3rd in 50m free.
Nopy: 1st in 400m individual medley and 2nd in 50m free.
Jo: 2nd in 100m individual medley and 3rd in the 50m breaststroke.
Helen: 3rd in the 400m Freestyle.
Ladies Medley Team (Jo, Linda, Nopy, Eleanor): 2nd
Ladies Freestyle Team: (Jo Linda, Helen, Nopy): 2nd
...and best of all the whole team came joint 4th out of 20 teams that qualified for the Top Club Competition!
A huge thanks to our team managers: Steve, Tom and Daksha!
Well done LMSC!!!!!!
Time sheets are available to download here
Evening Meal & Country Walk - Marple Aqueduct; 14th July 2024
AGM and Social Evening: 22nd June 2024
A great evening was had by all as the formality of the Club AGM was combined with a social evening at The Old School, Belgrave, Leicester. Complete with raffle, free food, and the Swimmers' Swimmer of the Year Awards.
Many thanks to Lindsay who finally stepped down as Club Secretary after 20 years. Lindsay's incredible contribution to the Club over the years was acknowledged by inviting her to take up the post of Honorary President!
Leicester Masters Swimmers' Swimmer of the Year Awards 2024
Competitive Female Swimmer: Linda Dootson. Over the past 12 months, Linda has continued to push herself, despite the set-back of injury, and has been our team's greatest cheerleader.
Also nominated: Jane McCarren, Ruth Smith, Nopy Martin, Sian Davies and Cath Davies
Competitive Male Swimmer: Geraint Griffiths. Over the last 12 months, Geraint has continued to enter gala after gala and winning medals in almost every event entered. He is always encouraging of other team members and is a true inspiration to "just keep going"
Also nominated: Andrew Cooke, Pete Farmer, Andy Botterill, Daniel Goodwin and Liam Griffiths.
Non - Competitive Male Swimmer: Tom Martin. Over the last 12 months, Tom has barely missed a training session. He has seriously improved his technique and stamina and pushed himself to move up a lane. He is also greatly appreciated in his role as Team Manager.
Also nominated: James Andrews, Alex Papanikolaou, Mark Lint, Barry Twigg and Sheridan New
Non - Competitive Female Swimmer: Daksha Chohan. When Daksha first joined Leicester Masters, it was because she had lost her confidence swimming in deep water. Now, she is a regular open water swimmer and has learned to swim breast stroke and back stroke.
Also nominated: Nikolah Ibbertson, Jeanette Foster, Renee Heath, Rosemary Bullock, Lindsay Prince, Jemma Nicholson and Jose Mills
Coaches' Swimmer of the Year: Simon Glover. Over the alst 12 months, Simon has made enormous progress in technique and fitness, resulting in time improvements in every meet entered.
Also nominated: Daksha Chohan, and Tom Martin
Unsung Hero: This award has been voted on by the committee members and recognises the hard work and dedication behind the scenes of the club.
Nominations: Helen - For administering the coaching side; Jane - For setting up club records, going back to the start of the club, for every event in every stroke, in every age group; Steve - For his work poolside a Team manager, for taking over the website at short notice, for continuing to maintain our SwimMark accreditation; Jo - For giving up her swimming time to coach; Tom - For organising social events and Team management.
Winner: Steve Dootson
Derbyshire Masters Long Course Championships; 7th April 2024
Yet another great success for the Leicester Masters team at the Derbyshire Masters Long course championships.
There were PBs all round from all three members who attended; Joanne Beedham achieved 2 gold and a silver medal, Andy Botterill achieved 2 silver medals and Sian Davies achieved 2 silver and a bronze medal.
Brilliant stuff what a team!
Linda Dootson (Team Captain)
Swim England West Midlands Masters Championships; 30th March 2024
Congratulations to our swimmers on their brilliant performances at the Swim England West Midlands Championships. Nora the Narwhal was thrilled to get the chance to pose with some of our medals!
It was a great event for pb's in particular. Six of our swimmers gained pb's:
Sian Davies (2); Geraint Griffiths (2); Linda Dootson (2); Simon Glover (2);
Andy Cooke (2); and Jane McCarren (1).
There were 7 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals awarded to the team - well done Guys!
A special mention goes to Jane for consistency of times in the 400m freestyle event - 14 of the 16 lengths being within half a second of 22 seconds!
Linda Dootson - Team Captain
Time sheets can be viewed or downloaded here. Timing courtesy of Steve Dootson, assisted by Andy Cooke
Calverton & Bingham Masters Meet; 24th March 2024
Great success at the CABSC masters swimming meet with 12 competitors taking part.
It was a great team event with Leicester masters swimmers winning the Mens Freestyle Relay, Womens Freestyle Relay and the Mens Medley Relay.
There were also personal bests from Nopy Martin, Joanne Beedham, Eleanor Morton, Jane McCarren, Liam Griffin and Dan Goodwin.
The swimmers were all in good spirits with 3 first places from Jane McCarren and Dan Goodwin and Nopy Martin with two first places.
This event is always a friendly affair and mascot Narwhal also featured in the photos!
Thanks also to Tom Martin as Team Manager, assisted by Daksha Chohan for great organisation.
Linda Dootson - Team Captain
Birmingham University Masters Meet; 2nd March 2024
On Saturday 2nd March at the Birmingham University Masters there was great success for Leicester Masters swimmers.
Seven swimmers entered and all received medals. For the LMSC team, it was a special achievement as we came 4th overall in the Ladies events and 5th overall in the Men’s, out of 39 teams entered!
There were 4 PB results -Andy Botterill in the 50m freestyle, Liam Griffin in both the 200m and 50m Freestyle and Simon Glover in the 50m Freestyle. In total 10 gold, 5 silver and 3 bronze medals!
Well done everyone!
Linda Dootson - Team Captain
Etwall Eagles 18th Masters Open Meet; 25th November 2023
Twelve Leicester Masters Competitive swimmers entered the Etwall Eagles Meet. This is one of Leicester Masters target events and all who entered agreed that it was a fun and worthwhile event this year.
Special mentions go to:
Simon Glover who achieved a first in the sprint backstroke and as a result qualified for the SKINS competition. I was also impressed with the amount of sprint races he entered and came first.
Nopy Martin who achieved 3 PB’s in 100 Butterfly, 50 free and 100 Breast and 4 second places and one 3rd place in her age group.
Well Done Team!
Oh and mascot Narwhal was also in evidence in the photos!
Linda Dootson - Team Captain
