FOUR Coffs Harbour Masters swimmers competed at the recent NSW Masters Swim Championships, taking place on 15 and 16 October in Canberra.

Louise Dam won four golds and a bronze, Hilary Young won two gold medals and one bronze and Michael Stubbs brought home a gold and four bronze medal wins.

With the November Pan Pacific Masters getting closer, the members are mindful of using competitions to prepare for the challenge of the huge upcoming event.

“The members are using this as a pre hit out to the upcoming Pan Pacific Masters games on the Gold Coast next month,” said Coffs Harbour Masters spokesperson Jamie Marschke.

The events were a combination of 200m, 100m and 50m and across breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle.

Masters club member and competitor Hilary Young told NOTA, “The water is wet and anything can happen: slips at the start in backstroke, missed tumble turns, snapping nose piece of goggles mid race, delays with race starts, diving too deep or comebacks after injury and lack of race fitness.

“The main challenge was the change to 50m pool length after the winter 25m pool training – the laps go on forever.”

The Port Macquarie competition on November 5 will be the team’s next attempt at refining the skills.

The Pan Pacific Games are on from 9 to 13 November and Coffs Harbour Masters Swimming Club expects to have twelve swimmers competing, including entries into relay events.

By Andrea FERRARI