MASTERS swimmers in Coffs Harbour have had a great April, building nicely on their national rankings.

On the weekend of 13 and 14 April, the NSW Masters long-course swimming championships were held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC).

Coffs Harbour Masters Swimming Club was represented by five competitors who joined hundreds of masters swimmers from across the State.

In a highly competitive two days of swimming, Richard Goddard (30-34 yrs) backed up his recent second place in the Coffs Coast Ocean Swim with three gold and one bronze.

Louise Dam (55-59 yrs) won the 100m and 200m breaststroke, while also taking home three silver medals.

Anthea Barnfield (65-69 yrs) continued her form from last year’s Nationals, winning the 50 and 100m breaststroke along with a bronze in the 50m backstroke.

Other notable performances included Michael Morton (30-34 yrs) who won a silver in the 50m backstroke and a bronze in both the 100 and 200m freestyle, while Tenielle Stubbs (25-29 yrs) achieved bronze medals in the 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke.

Long-standing member Michael Stubbs had to forgo the State championships this year as he was competing at Mooloolaba with 2000 other surf lifesavers aged between 30 and 87 years at the Australian Masters Surf Lifesaving Championships.

In big surf and challenging conditions, Michael qualified through the multiple heats to make the finals where he placed tenth in the surf race and fifth in the Surf Teams event.

From 18 to 21 April the Queensland Masters Swimming State Championships were held at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Chandler.

Competitors from all the Australian States were represented at this major event with racing over the four days.

Paul Edwards (55-59 yrs) represented Coffs Harbour and participated in a large program of racing on each of the competition days.

He completed his program with two gold, seven silver, and four bronze medals, with a highlight of breaking his NSW State 100m butterfly record with a time of 1:06:92.

Masters Swimming Australia’s mission is to provide at club, state and national levels an environment to encourage all adults, regardless of ability, to swim regularly and compete to promote fitness and improve their general well-being.
Their motto is “fitness, friendship and fun”.

Coffs Harbour Masters swimmers are ranking well in Australia, continuing to excel while competing in diverse events.

Richard Goddard has the second fastest time to date for the 200m backstroke and is third for the 100m backstroke.

Richard also has top ten performances in the 50m backstroke (fifth) and 200m freestyle (fifth).

Michael Morton is third fastest in the 200m freestyle, along with top ten performances in the 100m freestyle (sixth), 50m butterfly (ninth) and 50m backstroke (seventh).

Louise Dam’s 200m breaststroke places her second in Australia, along with top tens for her 50m (seventh) and 100m (ninth) breaststroke.

Anthea Barnfield cracked the top ten for her 50m (fifth) and 100m breaststroke (fourth).

Tenielle Stubbs qualified in the Australian top ten for her 100m freestyle (ninth) and 50m backstroke (tenth).

Paul Edwards is currently first in Australia for the 200m butterfly and 400m medley along with second in the 100m and 200m medley, second in the 50m and 100m butterfly and third in the 100m and 200m freestyle, along with five other events where he ranks in the top five.

By Andrea FERRARI