RTW Masters Swimming Club

Just a reminder that there is no swimming on Thursday (27th) this week due to primary school gala! A few swimmers are attending Haysden lake for an open water dip, feel free to join!

Sent to the paper today.

On Sunday 26 swimmers from RTW Masters made their way to Medway Park in Gillingham to compete against 20 other teams in the Kent County Sprint Championships.

The morning started with the first group of relays. The oldest mixed team of the day (combined age of the 4 swimmers of over 240 years) Hyunho Lee, Del Jenkins, Shauna King and Jon Exall, were the first in the pool. They were narrowly beaten by Tonbridge into 4th position by just 0.5s. The 120+ ladies (Sarah King, Emily King, Lydia Self and Becci Godfrey) then pipped Erith to the post to win a second place in an even closer race.

The first individual event was 100m back, the club’s most successful with 6 golds for Jaz Lambert (18-24), Owen Woodland (35-39), Richard Gardner (50-54), Brian Hunt (75-79) and James Stewart (80-84); and silvers for Hyunho Lee (55-59) and Emily King (35-39). 9 of the 14 gents raced in the 50 fly with a gold for Hunt, silvers for Mike Prime (55-59) and Simon Horler (45-49) and a bronze for Woodland and Niels Rasmussen (50-54). 7 of the 12 ladies took part in the same event, with Godfrey (45-49) and Shauna King (64-69) winning golds, Donna Trotman (50-54) winning a silver and bronzes for Lambert and Jenkins.

The morning finished with more relays including the very close ladies 160+ medley relay where Medway Maritime beat the team of team of Zena Hassel, Emily King, Godfrey and Trotman into 5th place by less than 0.7s.

Woodland then went home after the morning session to celebrate his birthday, having contributed 18 points to the team total.

The afternoon was long and hard for Shauna King who swam in all 6 events. She was able to watch daughters Sarah and Emily swim against each other in both the 50 and 100 breast, with Sarah winning the longer race, and her sister winning the sprint. Kerin Clapson, new to masters swimming and the RTW squad, swam in the same event in the 50-54 age group, winning bronze in both events. Other new masters swimmers were Gavin Brewer (40-44) who won a silver in the 100 IM, Michael Howely (45-49), Marcos da Silva (55-59) and Lydia Self (25-29) who took home two silver relay medals. In only her second competition, Camilla Wimble (35-39) took home her first medal, a bronze in the 50 free.

Another exhausted swimmer was Trotman, who was in the pool 10 times, in both the ladies 160+ and the mixed 72+ relay teams (free and medley with each) as well as her 6 individual swims.

The remaining members of the team were Andy Jessop (25-29) who took home a bronze in the very competitive 50 free, Dan Codman (50-54) who won silvers in the 50 and 100 breast, as well as a bronze in the 100 IM, and Steph Prime (55-59) who took two bronzes in the 50 and 100 breast.

The final relays yielded a comfortable bronze for the 160+ ladies, then it was time for the wonderful cakes that Hassel had baked to keep the team’s energy up, the photos and medal collection whilst the points were calculated. RTW Masters came second with a total of 538 points behind Erith’s unbeatable 624.

Coach Darren Richards was incredibly impressed with how hard the swimmers had worked ‘absolute swimming warriors’. Thanks also to volunteers Dan Godfrey and Jody Onslow who helped with timing and results production. Anyone who would like to take part in such events as a swimmer or a volunteer, please contact [email protected] – we would love to hear from you.

Standing behind:- Zena Hassell, Steph Prime, Richard Gardner, Gavin Brewer, Simon Horler, Dan Codman, Marcos da Silva, Donna Trotman, Hyunho Lee.
Standing:- Sarah King, Lydia Self, Kerin Clapson, Camilla Wimble, Becci Godfrey, Michael Howely, Jaz Lambert, James Stewart, Shauna King, Jon Exall, Del Jenkins, Brian Hunt.
Kneeling:- Emily King, Niels Rasmussen, Darren Richards, Mike Prime, Andy Jessop.

The very hard working team who went to Crook Log on a very hot Sunday for the Kent Distance Championships. No confirmed results yet (so no write up ready for the paper), just a photo of (L-R) Laine Watts, Mike Prime, Brian Hunt, Owen Woodland, Camilla Wimble, Darren Richards, Barbara Wiles, Jaz Lambert, Donna Trotman, Hyunho Lee, Richard Gardner, Dan Codman, Shauna King and James Stewart.
One of the highlights was watching one of our newest members Camilla Wimble, swimming her very first competition, 400 free, in the lane next to one of our most experienced swimmers, James Stewart who is back after a 5 year break.
More to follow ....

Who can spot this in the paper?
On Saturday 12 RTW Masters swimmers went to K2 in Crawley to compete in the South East Region Relay competition. !2 clubs from the region fielded teams, and freestyle and medley relays were swum over 200, 400 and 800m.
RTW started with a win for the 72+ age group of Simon Horler, Jaz Lambert, Becci Godfrey and Henri Choron in the Mixed 4x200m freestyle relay. Horler and Choron were then joined by Niels Rasmussen and Charlie Mogridge for the Gents 4x100m free 120+ age group where they came 2nd, with the 200+ age group of Adrian Pinington, Justyn Larcombe, Stephen Bottomley and Simon Jones winning their first gold medal.
Lambert and Godfrey were joined by Zena Hassell (who is new to the club and Masters competition) and Ruth Pullar, to win the Ladies 72+ 4x100m freestyle event. Hassell and Pullar then got straight back in the pool for the next event, the mixed 4x100m free where they were joined by Mike Prime and Hyunho Lee to win a bronze medal.
Lee also did a quick turn around to win a silver medal with Bottomley, Pinington and Jones in the Gents 200+ 4x50 free.
The ladies team then won another gold medal in the 4x50 medley, despite their ages adding up to 140yrs, rather than the required 72 yrs
More experienced swimmers Godfrey and Lambert then did a quick turnaround to enter the final event in the 72+ mixed 4x50 medley team with Choron and Modridge, coming first, whilst their team mates Pullar, Hassell, Pinington and Lee won a silver in the 200+ age group.
New Coach Darren Richards thanked all the swimmers for their amazing efforts, and Dan Godfrey and Steph Prime for their help as officials. RTW Masters brought home 5 team golds, 2 silvers and a bronze, finishing 4th in the overall competition, just ½ a point behind Brighton.
Back row:- Ruth Pullar, Zena Hassell, Jaz Lambert, Simon Horler, Hyunho Lee, Charlie Mogridge, Mike Prime and Stephen Bottomley.
Front row:- Niels Rasmussen, Henri Choron, Darren Richards, Simon Jones and Becci Godfrey.

Would you like to win this wonderful Batman drinks bottle? Come along to the St John's sports centre open day on Saturday 24th Feb - 10 - 2pm. Check out the RTW Masters table where we will be having a quiz to identify British Olympic Gold swimmers.
Lots of other challenges and free stuff for the kids to do too.
https://tinyurl.com/yyn6udq6

Over the weekend 16 swimmers from RTW Masters competed in the 2 day Long Course gala at the 50m pool at K2 in Crawley. The team managed to pick up an impressive medal haul with a total of 4 gold, 13 silver and 12 bronze medals overall. Young swimmers new to Masters, Ryan Rahbi and Jemima Rudd-Jones won 2 silver and a bronze, and 2 silver and 2 bronze (and a club record for 200m fly) respectively. Other club records were set by Tim Price (800m free), Mike Prime (50, 100m and 200m breast) and Shauna King (100m back, 50m breast and 200m IM). However the undoubted star of the show was Brian Hunt who not only set new club records in 50 and 100m free, 50, 100 and 200m back, 50 fly and 200IM, and won 1 gold, 5 silver and 1 bronze medal, but also set a British Record in the 50m backstroke.
Other medal winners included Liz Price (1 gold, 1 silver), Tim Price (1 gold, 1 silver), Richard Gardner (1 gold, 2 bronze), Del Jenkins (1 gold), Mike Prime (2 silver, 1 bronze), Simon Horler (3 bronze), Becci Godfrey (1 bronze) and Shauna King (1 bronze). Many other swimmers produced some excellent times, but were up against some stiff opposition - these included Aimee Leuluniu, Alice Houghton-Rose, Donna Trotman, Andy Jessop and Dan Codman. Congratulations to all swimmers.

Photo of Brian Hunt, new British Record Holder 75-79, 50m Backstroke (LC)

On Sunday the Inter-Counties Masters swimming championships were held around the country. 36 Kent swimmers travelled to the London Aquatics Centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to compete agains teams from Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire, Middlesex, Oxford & N Buckinghamshire and Berkshire and S Buckinghamshire. The competition was fast and furious, with each team fielding swimmers in each age group from 18-25, to 75+.
Two swimmers were selected from RTW Masters swimming club, Shauna King and Brian Hunt. After 75 events the Kent team placed 6th with 1603 points, just 34 behind rivals Sussex in the London event.
For the first time since the completion started in 2000, all 33 counties entered teams. Devon won the national competition with a total of 1972 points, followed closely by Hampshire (1929) and Middlesex (1730). Kent placed a very respectable 11th overall. Team Manager Glen Isaacs was very pleased with the swimmers performances and with how many Kent clubs were represented in the team.

4 RTW Masters swimmers travelled to Sheffield for the National Championships at the weekend. Long time friends and rivals, Lizzie Price and Becci Godfrey competed in the 45 – 49yrs age group, whilst Joe Malone and Simon Horler competed in the 30 – 34 and 40 – 44 yr age groups respectively. Malone set new RTW Masters club records in all 5 events knocking huge chunks off his previous personal best times. Horler also came very close to the club records he set earlier in the year. Price set 3 more club records, and also won a silver and two bronze medals against a field of 40 in her age group. Godfrey also broke her personal best times in her events. Coach Andy Jessop was very pleased with these performances against very stiff opposition, and is looking forward to taking a larger team to the championships next year. If you are an ex junior national swimmer and miss the adrenaline rush of racing, please contact [email protected] for further information about joining the club.

Sent to Courier Oct 2023

Runners up (by one point!) to Erith at the Joker gala last night. Go team RTW!!!

Kent Champs July 2022 (sent to Courier)

On Sunday RTW Masters competed in the Kent Swimming Championships at Medway Park. 21 swimmers competed in 50m and 100m individual events, and free style and medley relays. Medals were awarded for first to third places in each age group (18-24yrs, 25-29yrs etc) and points were awarded; 6 for 1st place to 1 point for 6th place. Making their debut with the club with Emily Westcott, Ruth Pullar and Tom Brookes.
The team’s most popular race was the 50m freestyle which was entered by 16 swimmers (Henri Choron, Andy Jessop, Brookes, Simon Horler, Tim Price, Daniel Codman, Jon Exall, Adrian Pinington, Abi Westcott, Jaz Lambert, Pullar, Libby Gorin, Jess Knott, Becci Godfrey, Donna Trotman and Shauna King), but the most successful was the 50 fly which generated 6 golds (Godfrey, Trotman, Barbara Wiles, Brookes, Owen Woodland and Pinington), 3 silvers (Gorin, Choron and Horler) and 3 bronze medals (Westcott, Knott and Price), plus 4th (Lambert), 5th (Kim Fenner) and 6th places (Jessop) resulting in a total of 83 points. The tightest race was the men’s 18-24yrs 100m freestyle where Choron came joint first with a swimmer from Erith. All the swimmers who entered the 100m butterfly won medals - gold for Choron, Horler, Richard Gardner, Westcott and Fenner; and silver for Price and Hyunho Lee.
Wiles produced an Event Best Performance in the 100m breaststroke in the 60-64yrs age group, and the most successful swimmer with 34 points was Choron who won 4 gold and 2 silver medals. Each swimmer could enter up to 6 events resulting in a maximum of 36 points. As well as Choron, those who managed this were Trotman 30pts, Lambert 23pts, Horler 31pts and Price 26pts. Wiles and Brookes won golds in every event they entered (5 and 4 respectively).
The team entered 10 relay events and on the final race of the day the 72yrs+ mixed medley team came 2nd ahead of Erith by just 8 1/100ths of a second - a stunning effort by Jessop, Westcott, Choron and Lambert at the end of a hot and tiring day.
With an excellent total of 523 points RTW Masters took second place to Erith’s outstanding score of 609 points.
It was wonderful to be back to ‘normal’ competition and to welcome over half a team who have never won this event with us before.
Each team is now required to supply an official for the day, so we would like to thank Olivier Choron for taking on this role for us.
Anyone wishing to join us as a swimmer or an official, would be most welcome, so please contact us on [email protected]