News

A team of 4 Stroud Masters swimmers travelled to Henleaze Lake in Bristol for the annual 2000 metre Gloucester County Open Water Championships where competitors are not permitted to wear wetsuits. Back: Sean Kinsey, Mark Partridge Front: Lorraine Savagar, Jessica Wooddisse Jessica Wooddisse put in an exceptionally strong swim to finish in second place overall and took gold in her age group setting a new age group record by 30 seconds.

Mark travelled to the Rother Valley Country Park just south of Sheffield to compete in the Masters National Open Water Championship. Mark Partridge The 3km non-wetsuit event, swum around a 1km course, attracted 47 male and female competitors on what turned out to be a sunny but slightly windy day. The water temperature was a balmy 18 degrees centigrade with the headwind providing a bit of a challenge and some choppy conditions as swimmers navigated the 400m finishing straight.

On 9th July a team of 4 swimmers from Stroud Masters tackled the 1 and 2 mile Tri Ferris Big Swim. William Lee, Lorraine Savagar, Helen Legg, Lewis Saunders Returning for the 1 mile event after their 2010 debut were Lorraine Savagar and Will Lee. Lorraine, now a regular open water swimmer, arrived at the event relaxed and with breakfast in hand whilst Will, through a combination of hardiness and accidentally misplacing some equipment, elected to swim without a wetsuit.

Stroud Masters swimmers Jessica Wooddisse, Mark Partridge and Scott Nelson had a very successful trip to the British Masters Long Course Swimming Championships held at Leeds recently. Jessica made a great start to the three day competition by winning a gold medal in the 1500m on the first day and only missed out on breaking the nineteen minute barrier by just over a second. This was the first of three gold medals won by Jessica during the competition, the others being achieved in the 400m and 800m freestyle events, both again swum in personal best times.

Stroud Masters swimmers, Lewis Saunders, (50-54yrs), and Richard Searle (45-49yrs), took part in the inaugural Cotswold 113 Middle Distance Triathlon, a distance more commonly referred to as either Half Ironman or a 70.3 after the total distance entrants complete in miles. Lewis Saunders, Richard Searle The 360 competitors started to arrive for the event at the un-earthy hour of 3.45am in readiness for the prompt 6am mass start. The event, which took place on Sunday 26th June was held in and around the Cotswold Water Park and consisted of a gruelling;

Results from Waterland Aquathon Series Tracy Gwyer, Kenny Roberts, Greg Clements, Jon Arnold, Lewis Saunders Position Name Swim T1 Run Total Time 2 Geoff Twinning 9:39 17:36 27:15 11 Kenny Roberts 13:54 16:57 30:51 19 Jon Arnold 11:54 20:55 32:49 20 Greg Clements 12:42 20:10 32:52 28 Lewis Saunders 14:19 19:43 34:02 47 Tracy Gwyer 14:33 23:01 37:34

Geoff Twinning and Richard Searle braved the chilly waters of Salford Quays on Sunday 15th May to take part in round one of the British Gas 2011 ‘Great Swim Series’. Approx 2000 swimmers signed up for the event, but the 14.4oC water temperature may have put some off on the day! Overall 1239 swimmers finished the 1 mile (1609 metres) course, with approx 250 swimmers starting in each wave. Geoff: 20.

Last weekend a team of five swimmers from Stroud Masters SC travelled to South Wales to swim in the annual Welsh Capital Masters Swim Meet held at the International Pool in Cardiff. Mark Partridge, Jessica Wooddisse, Greg Clements, Kerrie Aldridge, Lorraine Savagar As usual the team departed from their home turf in Stroud with what they thought was plenty of time to travel the relatively short distance to the Welsh capital.

Mother’s Day saw the annual Gloucester Masters Open Meet attended by a strong contingent of Stroud Masters swimmers. The only mother on the team, Lorraine Savagar, took home three silver medals in freestyle, butterfly and backstroke events. Following her lead Lewis Saunders gained silvers in the 400m freestyle and 100m backstroke and completed his morning with two further events. Joining him in the 400m was Greg Clements who took a bronze medal and gained personal best times in butterfly and the 100m freestyle.

At the end of March, Jessica, Mark and Will competed at the Royal Navy Masters Open Meet at Millfield School. William Lee, Jessica Wooddisse, Mark Partridge Mark and Jessica got the meet off to a flying start taking golds in the 100m butterfly. Mark took a second gold in the butterfly sprint and silver medals in his other two events. Jessica followed suit with a gold in the butterfly sprint then achieved silver and bronze in her other two events.