7 Barbarians (Dale Barker, Martyn Fresher, Adam Lelean, Richard O’Leary, Lucy Ryan, Lisa Withers & Liz Woolner) made the journey up to Manchester for the British Masters and Senior Age Group Long Course Championships on 12 to 14 June, fought valiantly and returned home with an impressive bounty of 11 medals: 1 gold, 6 silvers and 4 bronzes.
The first medal, a silver, was won on Friday afternoon by the men’s 200+ 4x100m freestyle relay (Martyn, Adam, Richard & Dale) followed by Team Anglia’s first ever gold medal when Liz won the women’s 45-49 100m fly in a new East Region record. Dale received a bronze in the same session for the men’s 50-54 200m back. In the evening session the same quartet of gentlemen repeated their afternoon’s achievement in the 4x100m medley relay.
On a rainy Saturday morning our impressive gentlemen’s quartet gained yet another medal, a bronze, in the 4x50m medley relay and Liz a bronze in her 50 back – another East Region record. In the afternoon, Lucy got her first of 3 silver medals in the women’s 40-44 100m breast, Liz got a silver in her 50 fly (yes an East Region record) and Dale a bronze in his 200 IM. Lucy’s other two silvers came in the 50m breast on Saturday evening and the 200m, one of the last events of the weekend, all 3 of Lucy’s swims were regional records.
A splendid performance from the fledgling Team Anglia and a huge step towards our long-term ambition of being up amongst the top masters swimming clubs in the country. Next stop on our quest for glory: Sheffield!