Trafford Metro complete Cupar Trophy three-peat at British Masters Champs 2025

Trafford Metro took the prestigious Cupar Trophy for the third successive year at the British Masters Championships 2025 – capping off what has been three days of intrigue, passion and good-spirited racing at the competition.

The Cupar Trophy, which is awarded to the team who accumulated the most points throughout the weekend, is one of the biggest prizes in British masters swimming and was collected by Trafford Metro at both Ponds Forge back in 2023 and at the Wales National Pool in 2024.

This time around, the team from Greater Manchester once again leaned on their combination of squad depth and experience, building what was an unassailable lead not long after the midway point of the final day before finishing on a huge total of 141 points.

Otter were once again in-and-around the top-spot as they had to settle for second place on 102 points, with Gloucester Masters and Woking finishing in what is an almost unprecedented tie for third place on 95 points.

The performances in the pool continued in the same impressive fashion, with a series of show-stopping performances to wow the London crowd in what was a shorter, two-session Sunday to round-off the weekend.

The morning session involved a total of 16 record breaking swims – highlighted by S D Trojan’s Jo Corbett, who doubled-up her 55/59 Women’s 200m Backstroke world record from earlier in the competition by lowering her own mark in the 100m Backstroke event by more than a second to set a new time of 1:08.02.

The AM action didn’t stop there though, thanks to three further European records being added to the ever-growing list. The first came courtesy of Carrick Masters swimmer Graham Milne, who had to beat off stiff competition in the Men’s 70/74 50m Butterfly. His time of 31.22 was nonetheless good enough for the win and the new continental standard in the event.

Also going well through the morning was Otter’s Jessica Shaw. In what was a broad range of entry times and athletes in the heat, she held firm and lowered her own seeded time to record a solid 1:03.82.

Bristol Henleaze’s Rebecca Guy returned to the pool following her world record on day two, and took the final European record of the session with a time of 26.87 in the Women’s 30/34 50m Butterfly – also taking the overall win against a stacked field of younger opposition for good measure.

The afternoon and final session of the competition provided the last bit of action as the swimming came to a close. With a steady trickle of seven British records across the five events, the occasion was in need of a burst of energy from the pool, and it was Helen Sadler who delivered the goods. 

The aptly-placed Trafford Metro athlete took down a two-year-old 55/59 Women’s 50m Freestyle world record – taking the mark from an Australian athlete with a spirited performance in the middle heats.

Her time of 27.86 down the opening length of the race was enough for the accolade, which is even more impressive considering the circumstances. The performance coincides with her club’s team trophy – making them one to beat when the competition returns next year.

With a total of 82 British, 25 European and six world records achieved throughout the competition, it will undoubtedly be one to remember in the years to come, as another chapter is written in the ever-growing book of masters swimming in Great Britain.

Click here for the full list of results

Click here to view photographs from the competition

 Story written by Stephen Stanley