Billingham Masters Gala 13 March 2022

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After a solid training period throughout winter, the Darlington Dolphin Masters swimmers targeted the Billingham Masters Gala for their first gala of 2022. There were 14 DDMASC swimmers in attendance which, when compared to the other clubs, appeared to be the highest turnout of any swimming club there; it was excellent to see a squad presence on the poolside.

 

The excitement levels were running high on poolside and with some of the swimmers competing for the first time in many decades, it certainly had that buzzing feeling to it which could only be compared to the first time they competed at a gala, where they fell in love with this sport. Although eager to warm up, they were reminded to relax and let the ‘sardines’ warm up first, before taking to the pool in a much more leisurely environment.

 

The competition began with the gruelling 400m Freestyle where Andy Millar, sporting one of our lovely orange hats, gave a great performance despite his goggles turning inside out – something we’ve all experienced.

 

After that, the racing came through thick and fast. With only training times to base most of our entries on, there was some uncertainty as to how the races would pan out, however, there was no disappointment in the performances, smashing our entry times on nearly every swim. There were often 2 swimmers in one heat (not just having 2 swimmers in one event!) which made the videographer’s time particularly busy. The Mens 50m Breaststroke had 3 DDMASC swimmers in the one heat.

 

A quick rest for lunch and some much needed fresh air required, the afternoon’s session quickly came around and DDMASC took to the blocks once again. There’s not much time to rest in between events at a Masters gala, however, that wasn’t an issue with our swimmers as we continued to race with enthusiasm from start to finish.

 

Another loaded heat came in the Womens 50m Freestyle and in total we had 7 x DDMASC swimmers in what appeared to be a favoured event.

 

At Masters galas, in order to level the playing field, there is a (somewhat questionable) handicap system which deducts time off for every year over 25yrs and adds time on for every year younger than 25yrs. Overall, DDMASC came away with 1 Gold (Helen Murray, 100m Br) and 3 x Bronzes (Bob Wood, 100m Fc, Naomi Clark, 100m Bk, Richard Murray, 200m Br). In terms of age-group wins and places, they were in abundance.

 

However, most importantly, everyone swam with great enthusiasm, encouraged each other and came away smiling; nothing more can be asked from a coach’s perspective. DDMASC have set the marker now, put some official PB’s down and can build from here.

 

Already looking forward to the next block of training and the next gala. Well done, everyone!

 

Best regards,

Iain Hodgson (Coach)

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Full results can be found here