Team Captains’ Report: Swim England Masters National Championships 28th - 30th October 2022

Out to Swim showed up to Sheffield for the Swim England Masters National Championships with a team of 22 swimmers, a small and close-knit group. Notably there was a great turnout by OTS’ women, with eight women competing over the weekend. The swimmers were joined by two officials, Richard Walton and Hilary Gerlis.

The team was comprised of both veterans and rookies, the latter including Henry Hudson, new to OTS and bringing great energy and enthusiasm at his very first swimming competition. Among the veterans was a legendary 4x200 FLY relay (yes, you read that right), comprising Steph Ramsay, Titta Latalla, Lucy Galoppa and Sarah Funderburk. Kudos also goes to Hannah Soltz who raced a total of 525 meters of breaststroke over the course of the weekend, including contributing to several key relays.

OTS had a strong medal haul with Christopher Preston winning silver in the 100 back and bronze in the 50 back; Chris Unsworth snagging a bronze in the 200 back; Matt Wan capturing bronze in both the 50 back and 200 IM; and Gus Veasey raking in golds in the 100 and 200 back; silver in the 400 IM and 400 freestyle, as well as bronze in the 200IM.

The meet was inspiring, watching swimmers from across the country even in their 90s still competing, as well as swimmers with different abilities and also trans swimmers. Many British, European, and even World Records were broken.

The team had a lot of fun supporting and cheering each other on, with lively team dinners and making sure Gus had cake and champagne on his birthday on Sunday. A big shout out and thank you to Jenny Loaring, our only non-swimming coach, who offered valuable feedback and advice throughout the meet.

Officials Report - Richard Walton
It was lovely to join our team at Nationals to officiate. Hilary and I were very proud of the swimmers - including some first-time competitors!