Beckenham SC Masters

The objective of any Master Swimmer is to better times from the previous year whilst inevitably getting older, which is exactly what Paul French did in each of the four events he entered this year. His final places were 1st in the 50m Freestyle, 2nd in the 100m Freestyle, 2nd in the 100 Backstroke and 4th in the 50m Backstroke. A busy and successful afternoon.

Our congratulations go to Robert Farrish who had an excellent weekend in Glasgow swimming in the 45-49 years category of the above championships. He achieved first place in both the 400m and 800m Freestyle and in his first ever 1500m Freestyle race took second place.

Following the recent decision of the FINA Bureau related to “FINA SWIMWEAR RULES - MASTERS SWIMMING”, please see below the amendment to FINA BL 8.5.

BL 8.1, BL 8.2, BL 8.3 and BL 8.4 remain as approved by the FINA Bureau. The only amendment is to FINA BL 8.5.

Please note that this amendment takes immediate effect and will be published in the new edition of the FINA Handbook 2009-2013.

BL 8.1 All FINA approved swimwear to be used at the Olympic Games and FINA World Championships must be approved by FINA at least twelve (12) months prior to the start of the respective competition. In addition, it must be available for all competitors by 1st January of the year of the Olympic Games or FINA World Championships

BL 8.2 In swimming competitions, the competitor must wear only one swimsuit in one or two pieces. No additional items, like arm bands or leg bands shall be regarded as parts of a swimsuit.

BL 8.3 From January 1, 2010 swimwear for men shall not extend above the navel nor below the knee, and for women, shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulder, nor shall extend below knee. All swimsuits shall be made from textile materials.

BL 8.4 From June 1, 2010 Open Water swimwear for both men and women shall not cover the neck, extend past the shoulder, nor shall extend below the ankle. All Open Water swimsuits shall comply with the FINA Criteria for Materials and Approval Procedures.

BL 8.5 From January 15, 2010 in Masters Pool Swimming competitions the rules BL 8.1, BL 8.2 and BL 8.3 apply. From June 1, 2010 the rule BL 8.4 applies also for the Masters Open Water Swimming competitions.

It is clarified that swimsuits which fulfill the shape requirement set forth in BL 8.3, respectively BL 8.4 (for Open Water Swimming) can be accepted even if they do not bear a valid FINA approval label provided they effectively and evidently fulfill the material requirements set forth in the current FINA Requirements for Swimwear Approval. This is the case for swimsuits made of traditional permeable textile (i.e. open mesh material) material (such as cotton, Nylon, Lycra and the like) with no application of surface treatment closing the open mesh structure. In case of doubt in this respect and when notably such doubt concerns a swimsuit used at the occasion of a World record, an actual check of the swimsuit can be required from the competitor or Certifying Official and the swimsuit is to be forwarded to the FINA Office for submission to an actual control of all or parts of the requirements.

Ex Beckenham swimmer, Judy Wilson (nee Gegan) who swam in the 1964 Olympics has just broken the world record for 50m and 100m butterfly in the 65 – 69 years age group.

Judy now lives in France and swims for the Vichy Club.  She has always been a Fly swimmer and was part of the English Medley Team which broke the world record at the Commonwealth Games in 1966, and that team contained three swimmers all from Beckenham swimming Club!  How’s that for a record.

March 2010

Congratulations to two of our Master Swimmers who produced some good results at the above competition.

John Paddington, swimming in Group E, started the weekend well by winning the first event, the 400m I.M. Later in the day he followed this up with another fine win in the 200m Fly.

Paul French, swimming in Group D, bettered his time set at this competition last year in the 100m Freestyle by 1.5 seconds to achieve 3rd place and went on to add 3rd in the 50m Freestyle and 5th in the 50m and 100m Backstroke.

Click here for a copy of the SER LC Masters 2010 Results

Our congratulations go to Robert Farish who had some excellent swims at the ASA Masters Swimming Championships 2009 meet swimming in the 45-49 year category.

He pushed Beckenham’s name to the head of the results of the Mens 800m Freestyle easily winning it in 9.30.63. He followed this up with 3rd place in the 400m Freestyle and 5th place in the 200m Freestyle.

See the results here: Session 1, Session 2, Session 3, Session 4, Session 5 and Session 6.

ASA South East Region Masters and Seniors Competition on 3rd October 2009 at the Spectrum, Guildford RESULTS.

Congratulations to Robert Farrish, who achieved good results in the European Masters in Cadiz, competing in the 45-49 years age group. He came 7th in the 400m Freestyle, 8th in the 800m Freestyle and 9th in the 3K Open Water event.

Well done Robert.

Does anyone have a Beckenham Swimming Club Badge that was given to swimmers when they competed for the Club in the 1970’s. It was a white ‘Kent horse’ on a blue badge. Someone who has lost theirs and would love a replacement has contacted the club. Please contact Jackie Elliott if you can help.

Congratulations to Paul French who swimming in his last year in the 40-44 year Age Group in the above Championships, achieved 1st in the 100m Freestyle, 2nd in the 50m Freestyle, 3rd in the 100m Backstroke and 4th in the 50m Backstroke.

Click here to view the results from the Kent County ASA website.

Click here to view masters championships information and placing of the various teams.

Congratulations to Robert Farish who competed in the above championships in the 45-49 year age group, obtaining silver in the 400m Freestyle and bronze in both the 200m and 800m Freestyle.

Click here to view the results from the ASA website

Click here to download and/or view results of the Beckenham Masters Swimmers competing in the South East Region Long Course Competition on Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th January 2009 at K2 Crawley.