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World Masters, San Francisco

2006 Straits Race - Sunday 13th August 2006

Press release:
The eighth consecutive annual swimming race across the Menai Strait from Foel, Anglesey to Caernarfon Castle was won for the 8th time by 23 year old Claire Wilson from Bethesda, competing this year for Arfon Masters Swimming Club. Despite the day being rather chilly and with a strong northerly wind Claire’s winning time of 23 minutes 49.34 seconds was one of her fastest. The conditions on the course produced the fastest times for the last three years from all the 16 competitors who completed the race. Claire won trophies for being the 1st Woman overall and the 1st Woman under 30 years which were presented by the Deputy Mayor of Caernarfon, Councillor Myfi Powell Jones. Claire was accompanied during the race for the 8th year running by local kayaker Pam Bowers, obviously a winning combination.

In second place was 45 year old Anthony Howland from Llanllyfni, also competing for Arfon Masters, in a time of 25 minutes 8.06 seconds. Anthony, no stranger to open water swimming, swam in the Round Manhattan Race earlier this summer along with Keith Rothwell, who was 6th overall in this years Straits Race. Anthony was accompanied by local kayaker Barbara Hale.

Anthony was the first recipient of the Edna Dilworth Trophy for the 1st Man to finish, which was donated in her memory by her three sons and presented on Sunday by Mike Dilworth. Edna, who sadly died earlier this year, was a committed open water swimmer and won the Straits Race when it was held in 1980, 1981 & 1982. When Arfon Masters first held the race in 1999 Edna, who was in her 70’s, was amongst the competitors and although she was not the overall winner, her time was faster than she had swum in the 1980s!

The third placed swimmer was 52 year old David Randall from Sale, Cheshire competing for Trafford Metro Swimming Club in a time of 25 minutes 25.58 seconds and he won the trophy for being the 1st male swimmer aged 50 years and over. David was accompanied by local kayaker Diana Airey. Stel Farrar (Arfon Masters), from Dinorwic, was 4th in a time of 26 minute4s 11.59 seconds and won the 1st Woman aged 30 to 49 years trophy. Stel was accompanied by Graham Ford-Keyte.

The fifth placed swimmer was Mike Dilworth from Rhosybol who won a newly donated shield in memory of local open water swimmer Richard Jackson who sadly died last year. The shield was presented in memory of her son by Rona Roberts to the 1st Arfon Masters member, aged 50 years or over, namely Mike Dilworth who completed the race along with kayaker Paul Airey in a time of 26 minutes 33.11 seconds.

The final two trophies were won by Jan Albin (Arfon Masters) from Bangor who took the 1st woman over 50 years in a time of 30 minutes 51.09 seconds and David Cocks (Arfon Masters) from Bethesda who won the 1st male under 30 years in 33 minutes 4.3 seconds. These two swimmers were accompanied by kayakers Tim Kirby and Ellie Shaw respectively.

Arfon Masters Swimming Club would like to thank all the many local people and organisations without whose help and support it would be impossible to stage this annual event.

Jenny Shaw
Race Organiser for Arfon Masters SC

Download Straits 2006 results (Microsoft Excel format)

Allison Donnelly

Anthony Howland

Stel Farrar

PIER TO PIER RACE 2006

Saturday 29th July should have seen the 2nd running of the annual swimming race from Beaumaris Pier to Bangor Pier, organised by Arfon Masters Swimming Club. Eighteen swimmers and their accompanying kayakers assembled at Beaumaris Lifeboat Station on Saturday morning ready for the start of the race. Early in the morning weather and sea conditions on the race course were acceptable even though the forecast for the day was for wet and very windy weather.

By the time the swimmers and kayakers gathered for a pre-race briefing the weather had taken a significant turn for the worse and soon after, a squall of heavy driving rain produced poor visibility and a strong wind, in opposition to the tide, and this kicked up rough sea conditions for a while. Just minutes before the published start of the race, with a forecast of worsening weather conditions and advice from the Beaumaris Lifeboat and local Coastguard Stations, the organisers decided to abandon the race.

Race Organiser, Jenny Shaw, explained that, as with any activity planned to take place in open water, the safety of everyone involved must be paramount. With the weather forecast we had at the time and the deteriorating conditions at the start of the course we had no option but to cancel the race. To have proceeded could have put everybody at risk and that would have been unacceptable.

Arfon Masters Swimming Club would like to thank all the competitors, some of whom had travelled from as far away as Winchester and Liverpool, the kayakers and all the many race officials who turned up to support the race. We are also indebted to the Beaumaris Lifeboat and local Coastguard for their assistance along with the support that the event receives from the Town Councils of both Bangor and Beaumaris, Anglesey and Gwynedd Councils and the local media.

The Pier to Pier race will be held again next year when we hope that the weather will be more suitable. Arfon Masters has been running annual open water races in the Menai Strait since 1999 and this is the first time that a race has had to be cancelled.

The annual Straits Race from Foel, Anglesey to Caernarfon Castle will be held on Sunday 13th August with a start time of 12.55pm. Nineteen swimmers will be contesting the race and amongst them will be 22 year old local girl, Claire Wilson hoping to win for the 8th successive year. Spectators can get an excellent view of the finish from the promenade in front of the Caernarfon town walls and should be in place by 1.10 pm to be sure to catch all the action.

J.M. Shaw
30.7.06.

GB Masters Long Course Championship, Manchester.

New Welsh Records for Arfon Swimmers in the GB Masters at Aquatics Centre, Manchester, 23rd – 25th June, 2006.

Yet again Arfon Masters swimmers have managed to set two new Welsh long course records at the GB Masters this June.

Stel Farrar set a new record in the 45 – 49 age group in the 200m Butterfly with a time of 3min 20.38sec.

The amazing Baz Owen, in the 75 – 79 age group, set a new record in 200m IM with a time of 4min 28.81sec.

Five of our swimmers attended this year’s GB Masters which was conveniently held at Manchester Aquatics Centre. The competition was fierce but they all came away with some brilliant results.

Thanks to Gill Windle, Stel Farrar, Jason Cordingley, Mike Dilworth and Baz Owen for showing us what Arfon Masters swimmers can achieve and for helping the club move towards gaining a Dragon Mark performance rating.

Download the results

Welsh Open Masters Swimming Championships 2006

Eleven intrepid Arfon Masters swimmers, their coach, and two fans battled the adverse weather conditions and headed for Swansea at the start of March. This long-course (50m pool) competition included swimmers from, amongst other countries, Wales, England, Scotland, Ireland, Sweden and Portugal. Despite the atrocious weather conditions there was excellent competition for the swimmers in all age groups from the younger masters (19 – 24) to the older age group (90 and over). Many British and some World records were broken during this competition in the Wales National Pool, Swansea, which lasted 3 days and is the highlight of the Welsh Amateur Swimming calendar every year.
The Arfon team included swimmers in most age groups, from the younger age group to 75 yrs old and over and they were also responsible for creating some of the new Welsh records:

Stel Farrar from Dinorwic led the way by managing to break an amazing five Welsh long course records in the 45-49 age group. These were:
200m Butterfly in 3 min 21.15 sec
100m Freestyle in 1 min 13.60 sec
200m Freestyle in 2 min 42.19 sec
800m Freestyle in 11 min 42.80 sec
1500m Freestyle in 22 min 7.25 sec

Colette Price in the 50-54 age group broke the 50m Backstroke record in a time of 40.62 sec.

Finally Baz Owen broke two records in the 75-79 age group:
50m Butterfly in a time of 1 min 8.34 sec and
400m Individual Medley in 10 min 7.37 sec.

The relay teams also gave outstanding performances with three of the teams coming first and the other one coming second.

The other members of the team were Gillian Allsop, Catherine Sutton, Mair Martin, Lynn Yule, Jan Albin, John Holmes, Jason Cordingley and Mike Dilworth. All swimmers had a great time enjoying the competition, fun and companionship of the occasion and all are to be congratulated.

The gala was well organised and all the swimmers enjoyed the atmosphere. Of note was the 90 year old woman who broke some world records, including the gruelling 1500m freestyle event (60 lengths!) and the 75 year old woman who only came to swimming late in life at the age of 50 and has set world records and is still doing so. She certainly doesn’t look 75! This only goes to prove that it is never too late to take up swimming, probably one of the best exercises in older life.

Report by Mair Martin

Download Arfon Masters Welsh Open 2006 results

Big Changes at Arfon Masters AGM 12th February, 2006.

Thanks to all those 18 members who attended this years AGM at the Eryl Mor Hotel. It was good to see such a large turn-out and in particular, thanks to Filipe, one of our newest recruits, for taking the time to find out what we were all about.

It was a particularly important meeting as we were losing several experienced, hard-working and valued members of the management committee – Mair, Jan and Ann. Sue Sullivan has also resigned from the committee but stays on to manage the Arfon Masters’ 20th Open Meet. Sarita is also no longer with us but enjoying the sunshine down-under!

The club will especially miss Mair and Jan. Mair was chair of the management committee for 2 years and proved to be outstanding in that capacity. The club would like to thank her for all the energy, enthusiasm, time and commitment she gave to the club. She will be sorely missed and we sincerely hope that she will rejoin us some day when she has fewer other commitments. She was so dedicated to the club and enthusiastic about it that she gave more than she was required to and for that the club is indebted to her. It is thanks largely to Mair’s hard work and enthusiasm that the relay gala is back on our calendar. Gill Windle will now take over as Chairman. Last year she did an excellent job as Publicity Officer producing several newsletters and keeping the press informed of the club’s various activities. We wish her well in her new post.

Jan was Treasurer for about 7 years and carried out the job in such an efficient manner that the club has been put on a sound financial footing whereas in the past this wasn’t always the case. Her sound financial judgement has been greatly valued by the club and we would all like to thank her for her many years of service to the club. Jan hasn’t left the management side altogether as she stays on in the Open Water sub-committee where her expertise is greatly appreciated. Jason, one of our newer members, has bravely taken on the job of Treasurer and again we wish him well.

We have, of course, also sadly lost our President, Edna. As a mark of respect we are leaving this position vacant for a few months before appointing a replacement.

Download the Chairman’s Report and the Coach’s Report

Your new committee is:

Vice-President: Baz Owen
Chairperson: Gill Windle
Secretary: Christine Slater
Treasurer: Jason Cordingley
Meet Secretary: Sue Sullivan
Competition Secretary: Mike Dilworth
Social Secretary: Catherine Sutton
Welfare Officer: Louise Jones
Health and Safety Officer: Charles Bishop

Members of the Committee:
Gill Allsop
Helen Hughes

We would like to welcome our new member Gill Allsop onto the committee.

There was an open meeting following the AGM which discussed various options for celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Arfon Masters Open Gala and the 20th year of Masters swimming in Bangor.

Helen Hughes explained that Arfon Masters SC is actually a year younger than the Arfon Masters Open Gala as the first gala was run by Bangor Club where the original Masters swimmers swam.

The debate over the options for marking the 20th year of Masters swimming in Bangor is ongoing. If you would like to make a contribution to it please post ideas on the Message Board on the website.

Ideas that came up at the AGM are:
1. Having a special social after the gala. This is being organised by our Social Secretary Catherine and should take the form of a ceilidh in Hendre.
2. Ordering some special commemorative swimming caps or T-shirts.
3. Having a special social apart from swimming such as a beach BBQ.
4. Having a midnight swim in the sea.
5. Getting a company to sponsor us to go to Dublin for a week-end where we could celebrate and have a swim in the 50m pool there.
6. Every competitor at our Open Gala could be given a coaster or a hat.
7. Having a new cup for a new race in the gala.
8. A special competition e.g. the fastest over 20 lengths.
9. Seeing if any other clubs are having a 20th anniversary and establishing closer links with other Masters’ clubs.
10. Invite a dignitary, e.g. the Mayor, to the gala.
11. Persuade a swimming celebratory to attend the Open Gala.
12. In the gala there could be a special prize for the winner of the 20th event or the swimmer in a particular heat and lane whose numbers have been pulled out of a hat.
13. Catherine could prepare a flyer about the anniversary to distribute amongst swimmers at the Welsh Open in Swansea. The team there could also wear commemorative T-shirts.
14. In the Caernarfon Menai Straits swim, we could invite Garfield Thomas to participate in the competition. He swam and won it 50 years ago. This would be great publicity and would convey the message of swimming and fitness for life.

Edna Dilworth – President of Arfon Masters SC.

It is with great sadness that we have to inform you of the death of Edna Dilworth, President and a founding member of Arfon Masters ASC. She died peacefully in the early hours of Monday morning, 30th January, 2006 at Ysbyty Gwynedd.

All members of the club who knew Edna will miss her friendship, her warmth, her inspiration and encouragement. She was just such a lovely person to know, full of fun and enjoyment of the sport that she contributed so much to.

Edna so loved swimming and competing that she was winning medals and breaking records right up to the end. At the beginning of January this year Edna competed at the Shrewsbury Masters Gala where she won the gold medal in her age group and lowered the Welsh record in the 200m Individual Medley by almost 15 seconds.

Our thoughts go out to Edna’s family at this difficult time for them. She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

Congratulations to the following Arfon Masters members who competed in the recent ASA half hour Postal Swim.

Stella Farrar 45 - 49 years 2nd with 2035 metres - Silver Medal.
Gill Windle 40 - 44 years 4th with 1980 metres.
Mike Dilworth 50 - 54 years 5th with 1880 metres.
Richard Lyon 35 - 39 years 6th with 1945 metres.
Lynn Stuart 50 -54 years 8th with 1370 metres.
Jason Cordingley 30 - 34 years 11th with 1540 metres.

Congratulations also to the 160 - 199 years Mixed Relay Team on their
Silver Medals - Gill Windle, Stella Farrar, Richard Lyon and Mike Dilworth
combined age of 178 years and distance swum of 7840 metres.

Arfon Masters’ Relay Gala, 28th January, 2006.

This year’s relay gala was held in January to try and encourage more Arfon Masters members to join in the fun. Too many tend to be away sunning themselves in foreign parts or are otherwise engaged in the summer! There was a good turn out of Arfon members, although not so many came from away.

Despite the low numbers we all had fun. We were able to make up six mixed teams. Everyone in the teams did their bit and entered into the spirit of the occasion. There was a great deal of shouting and encouragement to fellow team members! Special congratulations to the Crocs for managing to end up rock bottom!! Their record on being last every time would be hard to beat!

The social following the gala was at the Split Willow, Llanfairfechan. The food, company and music were great. There was even some salsa dancing with expert Lynn Yule showing all how it was done!! Photographs were taken by Mair.

Many thanks to all volunteers who helped at this event, without them it couldn’t have been run.

Manchester Training Day and Rotherham Metro Gala, 21st and 22nd January

Some Arfon Masters members had a busy but rewarding week-end, first training in the 50m Commonwealth Pool at Manchester on the Saturday, then going on to Sheffield to compete in the highly competitive Rotherham Metro long course championship the next day.

On Saturday, a glorious day for a shopping trip to Manchester, eight Arfon Masters swimmers, plus Coach Jenny, took advantage of the opportunity to hit the sales and to test themselves out in a 50m pool, with Jenny overseeing the proceedings. It was wonderful having the training pool to ourselves. Everyone enjoyed the spacious feel of the longer pool and soon the lengths were beginning to feel shorter! Don’t forget to look out for our next training trip to Manchester!

It was ideal preparation for those swimmers going on to the Rotherham Metro swim. The seven swimmers from Arfon (Keith and Lucy Rothwell, Jan Albin, Stel Farrar, Gill Windle, Oggy East and Jason Cordingley) all swam incredibly well and managed to secure an amazing total of 30 medals – 8 golds, 16 silvers and 6 bronzes.

In addition, six Welsh records were broken:

Stel Farrar broke : 400m freestyle in 5mins 36.33
200m freestyle in 2mins 49.04 (age group 45-49yrs)

Gill Windle broke: 400m freestyle in 5mins 50.78
100m freestyle in 1min 10.95
50m freestyle in 32.44 secs. (age group 40-44yrs)

Lucy Rothwell broke: 200m IM in 2mins 48.49 (age group 25-29)

Well done all seven of you!

Download Arfon Results

Shrewsbury New Year Gala, 7th January, 2006

The early start and wintry conditions didn't prevent thirteen Arfon Masters swimmers from competing in the New Year gala at Shrewsbury. They had recovered sufficiently from the festive season to put on a great performance. It was a record number of Arfon swimmers at Shrewsbury and we were rewarded by finishing the event in third place. Golds were won by Jan, Baz and Edna while Allison and Keith came away with bronze medals. All swam well and had a great time, especially at the ceilidh following the gala! Well done to all who competed.

Download Arfon Masters Shrewsbury results (MS Word document)

2005