Artistic Swimming National Masters Championships set to make exciting return

The Swim England Artistic Swimming National Masters Championships is set to make an exciting return as swimmers descend on Nottingham’s Harvey Hadden Sports Village this weekend.

This Saturday, 12 November, marks the competitions return to an in-person event for the first time since 2019.

Due to the pandemic, last year’s event took place virtually as part of the Artistic Swimming Virtual Series.

This year, more than 150 athletes from across 23 clubs will be battling it out in the solo, duet and team events in front of spectators and fellow competitors. The age groups range from 18-24 Years right up to 60-69 Year events.

Swimmers from clubs throughout the home nations are expected to travel to Nottingham, with swimmers from Edinburgh making the near 300-mile trip to take part in the event.

As with all artistic swimming events, there will be breath-taking feats of strength and flexibility on display, as well as fierce competition.

The draw for the event has already taken place and can be viewed via the events confirmation pack here.

Rushmoor duo back for more

The competition features a number of swimmers who were successful at the 2022 European Masters Championships in Rome this summer.

That includes seven of the nine members of Rushmoor Artistic Swimming Club, who won gold in the Team Free Combination squad 35-49 Years event.

And it was Rushmoor’s Andrea Holland and Carla Sanders who stole the show in the virtual event last year after they came away with a clean sweep of gold medals.

Holland earned top spot in the 60-69 Years solo and then in the Technical Duet alongside Carolyn MacDonald.

Sanders, meanwhile, achieved the same feat in the 40-49 Years Technical Duet alongside Francesca Feat as well as the 40-49 Years Solo title.

Sanders and Holland then joined forces along with six other of their Rushmoor teammates to take home the 35-49 Years Technical Team crown.

Swimmers from Rugby Swimming Club, Brighton Dolphins, Aqualina, Aquavision and the City of Leeds also took medals in Rome, so there’s plenty of competition ahead of this year’s national event.

If you want to attend, tickets are available to purchase on the day for just £6.50 each, and tickets for under 5’s are available for free.

Images from the event will be available to purchase from Will Johnston Photography with results and reports available on the Swim England website.