28 September 14
On Saturday, 27th September 2014, 28 Trafford swimmers covering an age range of 50 years attended the Cheshire Sprint Meet in Macclesfield. They were to return to Sale with The Tom Walker trophy for top club and 58 Gold Medals. Richard Symons was presented with the trophy, a poigniant moment for those that knew Tom as he sadly passed away earlier in the year.
Richard Symons recieving Tom Walker from Cheshire President Alan Freeman
Star of the meet was Rachel Barton who knocked 2.75 seconds off the British Record in the 100m Individual Medley. She is now currently the holder of 13 Individual British Records over 2 age groups. Rachel was a clear winner of teh Claire Dickinson salver awarded to the top lady swimmer at the meet. Other swims of note in the Women's races, came from the experienced, Lucy Lloyd-Roach and Laura Bowden who both collected 4 golds. Helen Sadler added to Trafford's haul with 3 golds herself. Notable swims also came from Becky Kirby and Emma Bisset who picked up gold medals in their respective races.
Rachel Barton recieves Claire Dickinson Salver for top lady swimmer from Cheshire President Alan Freeman
The Men were not to be left out. Our veteran swimmer, Neil MacKinnon weighed in with 3 golds of his own. Richard Symons emulated his World Championship distance medley race in the 400m Individual Medley with a Gold and that after picking up the gold in the 400m freestyle as well. He showed he can still turn out a fast 50 with a gold in the 50m Butterfly as well. Sprint specialist, Nev Barton showed that he can compete with the distance boys also with a gold in the 400m Freestyle as well as his 50m Free. Other swims of note came from Alec Johnson and Paul Barnard. They picked up a couple of golds each. Great swims considering Paul is carrying a knee injury and Alec had swum the gruelling 400m Free to a third place losing out to some fierce opposition.
It was nice to see the younger team members coming to the fore as well. Dan Burrows picked up 3 golds and Rachael Gorman collected 4 medals from her swims. Also Coach Craig Ward showed us he hasn't lost his speed with a gold in the 50m Butterfly. He will need to improve on his freestyle times before nationals though. Maybe a bit of practice what you preach and get some training in!!
The rise of the newer members continues as well with 6 swimmers joining the squad from the Club Pool group. These swimmers are rapidly learning their racing craft and finding out that Masters' swimming is a great deal of fun as well. They joined their fellow ex Club pool swimmers, Tiq Rahman and Mike Boyle. These guys both swam admirably with medals in the 400m Free. They have shown the way for swimmers from the Club Pool to advance and join the full Masters' Squad in the main pool.
As usual after any meet a Social event is a necessity at Trafford Masters. This was no exception. 28 swimmers and supporters descended on the Massala Lounge in Sale and one of Amir's curries was eaten.
All in all a great Saturday. Afull set of results can be seen on our results page here: http://www.tmbsc.co.uk/pbs-results
