Records galore as London hosts British Masters Championships 2025 curtain-raiser

The first day of action at the British Masters Championships 2025 saw British, European and world records tumble in spades as hundreds of top senior athletes took to the London Aquatics Centre for three days of quality racing.

On what was a very hot day at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the iconic venue kept the continued exhilarating feeling on poolside as it hosted the competition for the first time since being built for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

With a total of 17 events throughout the day, the Mixed 1500m Freestyle was an apt curtain-raiser – one which provided those in attendance with tight-finishes and valiant efforts alike.

It was in the second session after the lunchtime break where the records really began to fall, with a total of 14 marks being lowered. The highlight came from Guinness Swimming Club’s Barry Murphy, as the Irishman improved on his own 40/44 Open 50m Breaststroke world record – setting a new standard of 28.39.

The first European record of the day also came in the session, with Basingstoke’s 200+ 4x200m Freestyle Team coming into the wall in a time of 9:11.64 and looking visibly emphatic with their result as they made their own portion of history.

The other European record in that afternoon session came from Woking’s 200+ Mixed 4x50m Medley Team, who looked good value for their solid time of 1:58.52 and a new continental accolade to their name.

York City’s Emma Wills took the only other individual European record of the afternoon, with an astonishing 5:30.94 for her 45/49 Female 400m Individual Medley, which saw the athlete win her age group by over a minute.

The British records were also by no means few and far between. With a total of 14 in that session, Silver City’s Audrey Cooper had one of the standout performances. In the 70/74 age group, she battled with those in the younger age groups of the Female 400m Individual Medley to come off better than a number of them and touch home in a new record time of 7:04.63.

Paul Barnard of Trafford Metro also excelled in the 40/44 Open 200m Freestyle, as his new British record time of 1:58.49 would’ve been good enough for the gold medal in all but one of the other age groups.

As the third and final session of the opening day came to the fore, the record barrier seemed to become that much easier to break down, which could’ve been helped in part by a huge reception for S D Trogan’s Jo Corben, as she took more than two seconds off her own 55/59 Female 200m Backstroke world record – setting a new time of 2:28.90.

Also taking down a world record in the evening session were B C & P Masters’ 280+ Female 4x100m Freestyle Team. With an average age of over 70 years old, they more than held their own against those in age groups below them and took nearly four seconds off the American team’s mark, who set the record last summer.

A large handful of European records were also set throughout the eight-event session, with three of those coming across the Open and Female 4x100m Freestyle Team events. Woking and B C & P Masters took female records in the 160+ and 280+ events respectively, while Barnet Copthall’s 240+ team continued their impressive competition to take the title and new record themselves. 

Trafford Metro’s Helen Sadler led off her team’s 4x100m Freestyle effort, and her time of 1:03.30 was good enough for a European record in the 55/59 age group – a first for this year’s edition of the competition.

Incredibly, she then went on to do the same again in the 4x50m Freestyle event – setting a new continental mark in the 50m event of 28.03.

Basingstoke (160+), Aer Lingus (200+) and B C & P Masters (280+) all collected their own European records in the same 4x50m Freestyle, which kept those in attendance at the iconic venue more than entertained over what was a 12-hour day of competition.

All-in-all, a total of 50 records were set throughout the day (with most world and European records also counting as new British bests) which paid homage to the ever-growing standard and presence of British masters swimming across the country, continent, and planet as we head into day two of three tomorrow.

Click here for the full list of results

Click here to view photographs from the competition

 Story written by Stephen Stanley