Rushmoor’s Holland battles through muscle injury to claim Masters solo title

Rushmoor’s Andrea Holland picked up a Swim England Artistic Swimming Virtual Senior and Masters Championships title and then revealed she had completed her solo routine with a torn muscle.

Holland took top spot in the 60-69 years category with a score of 59.1549 to finish ahead of Brighton Dolphins’ Margaret Hamerton, who was second on 50.4020.

Holland said: “I had a fall two weeks before this was filmed and went flying and landed on my hip.

“I was swimming with a rather torn muscle through my glute, so my challenge has been getting fit so I could compete and I’m delighted that I was able to and I did.

“The solo I swam was the theme of luna. I have started this solo a year and a half ago before lockdown and I didn’t get to swim it at all last year.

“This was the first time that I had the chance of competing with this particular technical solo.

“Next year, fingers crossed, we all hope we will be competing internationally again. Certainly the World Championships in Japan if they go ahead for masters is one that will hopefully be on the list, along with the European championships in Rome later in the year – that’s a key one as well.”

A total of 27 competitors took part in the six age group categories in the technical solo event.

Holland’s Rushmoor team-mate Carla Sanders took the solo honours in the 40-49 category to add to her duet crown.

A ‘delighted’ Sanders scored 61.1961 and she said: “My music is from the film the Matrix and I particularly like the beginning where it was piano and it gradually got into drumming and a faster beat which finished the solo off.

“In 2022, I’m really excited to hopefully be back competing abroad. The European Masters Championships are going to be held in Rome in the summer so I’m really looking forward to that.

“I’ve started making a new free solo and training with my team mates as well.”

Campbell delighted

Weymouth’s Amy Campbell said she was ‘really delighted’ to have won the 28-24 age group.

She topped the podium in a field of 10 swimmers with a total of 66.6706 for her routine to music from Moulin Rouge.

Campbell said: “I started this routine at the end of the summer and if I’d had a bit more time, I would have liked to increase the difficulty a little bit and keep working on the execution on some those elements as well.

“It was a fun routine. It’s very sassy and swum to music from Moulin Rouge so it’s kind of playing that very glamorous, materialistic woman which isn’t very much like me so it was quite fun to play.

“In the next year, as a club, it would be really nice to come back with some a lot of new routines and hopefully come back with some teams as well. I’ll be starting a new free solo programme in the New Year which I’m really looking forward to.

“Thanks to the all the organisers for making it happen and the judges, and a massive well done to all the other swimmers as well.”

In the other age categories, Bramcote’s Sarah Brown won gold in the 25-29 section with a total of 51.3255.

Laura Loi, from Brighton Dolphins, was victorious in the 30-39 age group finishing on 63.0608, while Aqualina’s Jayne Jarvis triumphed in the 50-59 years section with a total of 53.1078.