Search [4]

Sudbury Valentines Masters Meet - 14th February 2004 - 9th Sudbury Masters Valentines Meet[2]

Rachel Walkowiak with photos from Carl

(Kingfisher Leisure Pool, 25 m)

Hi ho hi ho it's off to Sudbury we go, via Bury St. Edmunds? Liz Reid driving one car with Paula and Carl, closely and carefully followed by Alan driving, Ivan and myself. Thanks guys for driving. We arrived at the pool in plenty of time to meet Phil and Peter. Thanks to the supporters as well.

The day started off really well, most taking part in the 200m freestyle, I chickened out of that one. For all results refer to the table at the bottom, little pb's- personal bests if you hadn't guessed.

I have absolutely no idea of the order of the events, still drunk from the night before, now suffering long-term memory loss. Liz and Paula looked after me, and being the master meet virgin, it was very kind of them. This was my first meet since 1996, so I was a little apprehensive. I had a great day though and set all my personal bests and now have something to work on. Please may I remind anybody that if you are going to take part in a gala, do not give blood the night before. It does not aid your swim.

So who did well?

Paula Collier won the 200m freestyle with a personal best of 3:02.39, and another personal best of 42:24for the 50m butterfly, leaving her in good stead for winner of her age group. After 2 more gruelling events this left her winner. I won't tell anyone she was the only person competing in her age group, but well done.

Sadly the guys let the team down, is this the first time? No one entered the 50m backstroke. Sorry Phil, although your time was good it didn't count towards the Impington club points, swimming for Cambridge is a sin! So next time I want to see lots of hands up, when is the next gala Carl?

I must also admit, however, no ladies swam the 50m freestyle. Shame on us.

Myself, Paula and Liz all entered the 100m Individual Medley, bringing some fantastic times in. I have absolutely no idea what's good or not. Do we have any comparisons?

Liz came 2nd in the 50 butterfly beating her opponent by an astonishing 47 seconds, beating her personal best by 2.9 seconds. Liz also won the 50m breaststroke by 2.1 seconds, beating Vicky Buck from Sudbury, well done!

Peter Rank- won 200m freestyle 2.55.00 and 50 m freestyle 34.37, still recovering from his motorcycle accident, when back to full health I expect he will be entering all the events.

Carl Myhill got personal best in the 200m freestyle, 2.48.65 and 100m medley, 1.29.55 beating his time by 1.5 seconds. Ivan Scott swam well to get personal bests in all three events. I could see those legs kicking.

Alan Slade improved his 50m freestyle with a personal best of 34.87 seconds and a good time of 3:01.57 for the 200m freestyle.

Carl, Alan and Ivan, who were born in the same year, 1968 (sorry guys) competed in same category (no surprises then), 50m freestyle. Each finishing the race with only 5.32 seconds between them, no competition there!

There was no disqualifications- Philip Robinson that was a very dodgy backstroke turn, you must show us how to do it. Reading other reports, this seems to be a setting of trend.

Instead of medals, which I hear is very popular, winners of their age groups, received Allens of Kingsbury, Swimwear Specialists gift vouchers.

Impington had great representation that day and we did really well, ending the competition in an overall position of 3rd with 2nd visiting team.

Once again, with no more surprises, the evening ended with a curry in Bury St. Edmunds, with the ladies receiving red carnations by the curry house.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this and I have hopefully encouraged you to take part in the next event..........but just to end it I wanted to add a few uninteresting facts:

• The oldest swimmer, competing at the Sudbury meet was born in 1929, making them 75 years old.
• There were approximately 21 teams competing at the Sudbury meet, including Colchester, Stow Market, Bishops Stortford, Great Dunmow.
• The first modern Olympic Games had only four swimming events, three of them freestyle. The second Olympics in Paris in 1900 included three unusual swimming events. One used an obstacle course; another was a test of underwater swimming endurance; the third was a 4,000-metre event, the longest competitive swimming event ever. None of the three was ever used in the Olympics again.
• In 1896, swimming became an Olympic sport for men with the 100 metres and 1500 metres freestyle competitions held in open water. Soon after, as swimming gained popularity, more freestyle events were added, followed by the backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and finally, the individual medley.
• For a variety of reasons, women were excluded from swimming in the first several Olympic Games. In 1896 and again in 1906, women could not participate because the developer of the modern games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin, held firmly to the assumption, common in the Victorian era, that women were too frail to engage in competitive sports. It was only at the 1912 Games when women's swimming made its debut at the prompting of the group that later became known as the International Olympic Committee. History of swimming by Andrew Oon

Impington Results at Sudbury

Name	200m freestyle	50m butterfly	50m backstroke	100m IM	50m breaststroke	50m freestyle
Rachel Walkowiak		0:39.23pb	0:40.10pb	1:25.84pb
Paula Collier	3:02.39pb	0:42.24pb		1:30.17	0:44.40
Liz Reid	3:19.01pb	0:49.93	0:47.66	1:44.16	0:46.97
Alan Slade	3:01.57					0:34.87pb
Carl Myhill	2:48.65pb			1:29.55pb		0:31.51
Ivan Scott	3:15.22pb				0:44.30pb	0:36.83pb
Peter Rank	2:58.49					0:34.37
Philip Robinson			0:36.68

Full results of Sudbury 2004 Valentine's Day Gala

All text and pictures on www.impingtonswimmingclub.org.uk are copyright 2004 of Impington Swimming Club unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Tuesday, March 2, 2004 by Carl Myhill of www.litsl.com