Three for Aquavision as Masters Nationals end with eight clubs winning gold

A thrilling final session at the 2023 Swim England Masters National Championships saw eight clubs step onto the top step of the podium.

Aquavision led the way with three golds in the afternoon’s events that included the combined Technical and Free Team events as well and Free and Mixed Free Duet competitions.

Rushmoor (two), Walsall, Out To Swim (two), West Dorset, Rugby, Aqualina and Denton all left Ponds Forge with gold before the competition came too a close.

One of Aquavision’s golds came in the 25-34 Years Team event where they alongside Rushmoor and Walsall continued their form from the Free Combination event to add another gold each to their tally.

The scores of each of the Team Technical and Team Free results were combined to give a team total with the three clubs coming out on top in the three age categories.

Aquavision’s 25-34 Years team scored 57.7235 for their Technical performance that gave them more than a three point lead heading into the Free event at the end of the afternoon.

The Technical scored 57.7235 which was broke down into 17.7000 in execution, 17.8000 in artistic impression and 22.2235 for their elements.

Aquavision’s 25-34 Year squad added a Free score of 62.7333 to their total as they were the only club to score more than 120 points.

Their Free routine was broken down into 18.7000 points for execution, 24.1333 for artistic impression and 19.9000 for difficulty ahead of Out To Swim and Kingston who completed the podium.

Out To Swim were out of the medal places by less than a quarter of a point after the Technical event but improved in the Free to rise to second place.

That meant that City of Bradford were the unfortunate team to miss out as their total of 110.6725 fell just short of the medal places.

Out To Swim’s 57.3000 for the Free event gave them a overall score of 111.1686 –  narrowly ahead of Bradford and Kingston (110.9942) who impressed but dropped from second to third.

Walsall were clear winners in the 18-24 Years category.

Isabelle Watkins, Madeleine Bayliss-Cox, Chalani Appuhamilage, Hannah Birch, Olivia Clarke, Laura Burt and Phillipa Dolby combined for the club to score 56.8137 in Technical and 57.8667 in Free.

It was a strong display that saw them finish eight points clear of Rykneld Swimming Club who won silver.

Their seven swimmers scored 52.4059 for their efforts with 16.2000 for execution, 16.0000 for artistic impression and 20.7059 for their elements in Technical before adding 54.1667 points later on in the session.

Rushmoor’s 35-49 Years team then took the top spot with a strong score that would’ve placed them second in both of the age groups below them.

Their team of Emma Adams, Janice Brignull, Nicola Buckingham, Rachel Davies, Carolyn Macdonald, Grace Reukers, Louise Ross and Carla Sanders scored a total of  111.8373 for their impressive routines.

They had a high score for elements of 22.2373 that boosted them to a total that was around 15 points ahead of eventual silver medallists Brighton Dolphin.

Brighton’s seven swimmers put in a pair of strong performances to earn 96.6235 from the judges to see them leave Ponds Forge with a silver medal.

Aquavision at the double in the Free Duet

Aquavision added two more golds in the Free Duet competition later on in the session.

Firstly, the pair of Madeleine Berry and Nataljia Ambrazaite won the 18-24 Years event before Giulia Escher and Yixin Zeng topped the standings for the 30-39 Years.

Berry and Ambrazaite were the only team to break the 66-point mark across all the Free Duet competitors as their total of 66.1667 saw them become national champions.

Their total was broken down into 20.1000 for execution, 26.2667 for artistic impression and 19.8000 for difficulty.

The two Taylors from the City of Salford finished second with Libby and Zoe Taylor scoring 64.2000 with Walsall’s duo of Isabelle Watkins and Madeleine Bayliss-Cox were third.

A phenomenal score of 27.0667 for artistic impression fired Zeng and Escher to the title.

It sent them on their way to a total of 65.4667 for their routine which was four points clear of Kingston’s duo of Louise Chambers and Laura Lindley.

Chambers and Lindley impressed but had to settle for second with a more than commendable total of 61.4000.

Out To Swim won bronze through Eleanor George and Justine Morelli (58.7000).

Denton Artistic Swimming Clubs Elizabeth Kerrigan and Zsofi Steingart scored 56.9000 in the 25-29 Years category.

Their performance to a melody from the ‘Bat Out Of Hell’ musical scored 17.3000 for execution, 22.4000 for artistic impression and 17.2000 for difficulty to earn them the gold.

There was another gold for Rushmoor thanks to Rachel Davies and Louise Ross.

Davies and Ross were the only team to score more than 60 points in the category with a total of 61.2667 ahead of Rugby and Medway Artistic Swimming Club.

Rugby’s pair of Sandra Anstruther and Julie Bowler-Smith won silver with 52.4333 points with Melanie Grierson and Bethany Whorlow’s performance to Queen’s ‘Radio Gaga’ won them bronze.

The history making all male duet of Mark Hollis and Craig Brimmer from Out To Swim finished fourth with a score of 46.4000 points.

Their powerful routine to ‘I Am’ by Club Yoko saw them miss out on the podium by just 2.4667 points.

Jayne Jarvis and Alina White brought the style in their routine to Mark Ronson’s ‘Uptown Funk’.

It earnt them gold for Aqualina in the 50-59 Years category, finishing more than two points ahead of Rushmoor’s Karen Nightingale and Janice Brignull who performed well to win silver.

Jarvis and White scored 55.2000 for their showing.

Rugby’s Duet of Ruth Maccallum and Joyce Williams proved they still had it by winning gold in the 60-69 Years competition with a strong score of 51.6667.

Their score was strong enough to medal in the 40-49 Years event proving the quality of the athletes.

Gaye Greely and Margaret Hamerton put on a good routine of their own with a score of 48.7000 as they take the silver medal back to Brighton Dolphin.

Out To Swim and West Dorset win Mixed Duet gold

Incredible energy from both men and women were on show in the Mixed Duet event.

West Dorset Swimming Club and Out to Swim were represented in this category, with the latter of the two clubs securing the top spot twice!

In the 18-24 Years round, Danielle Condell and Cameron Powell made West Dorset Swimming Swimming Club proud with a brilliant score of 49.2333.

The next gold was won in the 30-39 round by Out to Swin, who have already secured several medals in today’s competition so far.

Martin Harding and Louise Piron delivered a stunning performance, as they were supported by their enthusiastic teammates in the crowd, and earned 55.8333 points for their club.

Out of Swim took home the final Mixed Duets gold medal in the 50-59 round.

This time the club was represented by John Kelly and Susan Innes, who won with a solid 49.4333 points.

Images: Will Johnston Photography.