| Nine RNSC members attended the Middlesex County Masters Meet at Barnet Copthall. Roy and Martin were particularly pleased to have lots of company for a change. Dan was swimming for his 'first claim' club, Metropolitan Police Masters, while RNSC put forward a team of 4 girls and 4 boys. Everyone put in some great swims, with the RNSC boys' team coming 4th out of 12 clubs and the girls' team coming 5th out of 10; our combined result was 4th out of 12. Individual results were as follows: |  |
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Mark and I completed the crossing of the La Bocaina strait, Lanzarote to Fuerteventura, 15.2km in a time of 4 hours and 52 minutes. It was so lovely to be able to swim alongside each other. Our pace was perfectly matched. We were blessed with perfect conditions and saw two turtles enroute. What was not so great was the 4.45am get up to get to the start in time but worth it in the end. We were lucky enough to have been able to arrange a support boat with the help of Paul and Angela from Swim Lanzarote. Today we managed a 2k swim in the sea and then treated ourselves to a sports massage which turned out to be tougher than the swim itself! I was swimming for Pancreatic Cancer UK in support of Christine Thomas, a previous member of the club who was diagnosed in June 2021 with the disease. I would like to thank everyone from the club who has kindly donated so far. This is really appreciated and I have managed to beat my target of £500. Roy and Martin represented RNSC at the annual Newmarket meet (the one for swimmers, not horses). An enjoyable day. A well run and very friendly meet.
Good swims from Dan in the Guernsey Masters meet!
Dan, swimming for the Met Police Masters, brought home 7 medals from the Guernsey meet: 4 silver and 3 bronze. He posted some significant PBs as you can see below: Entry times 》 Race times Fly 36.38 》34.57 400m 5.43.34 》5.32.95 100m free 1.25.00?! 》1.04.60 50m back 38.89 》34.46 200m free 3.00.05 》2.28.61 100m IM 1.25.42 》1.19.95 50m free 29.19 》29.46
RNSC Masters celebrated their annual awards last night after a three year absence. 45 members and guests came together at Harefield Cricket Club to award trophies and certificates for achievements over the past year.  Congratulations to Roy for a formidable start on his bid to reclaim the RNSC Best Man award in 2023! Roy was RNSC's only representative at the Marlins Masters Meet on the Isle of Wight in February. Having entered nearly every event, he barely had time to dry off between races. Rumour has it that he was still eating his lunch as he climbed onto the block to start the afternoon session. Having won so many points for his placings, he was ranked in 3rd place for the top male swimmer award and he single-handedly took RNSC into 10th out of 30 clubs in the final points table! He also came 3rd in the 'Charles Ambler Trophy' (for the most events entered) with 10 events swum. Well done on your times and medal haul! 
By Martin Appleby
After two years without swimming competitions due to the Covid pandemic and lockdowns, the race calendar this year provided a welcome return to the blocks for three RNSC swimmers. Chris S. saved himself for the National Short Course Championships in Sheffield at the end of October, bringing home a gold, a silver and a bronze medal for his 4 races. Paul C. has been chasing breaststroke times at 3 competitions this year, bringing home 2 gold and 2 bronze medals. Martin A. attended 4 competitions and won 4 gold, 5 silver and a bronze medal. Loading the results into the RNSC spreadsheet makes it look as if I am a clear winner, however I must point out that there were very few competitors in my age group at the competitions that I attended.
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