Oundle and District Swimming

European Masters - Kranj, Slovenia - 2007

Oundle swimmers excelled at the 2007 European Masters Swimming Championships in Kranj, Slovenia. Six medals were won, eight top eight finishes were achieved, and one European record and three British records were set. This resulted in the clubs most successful international meet ever. The meet attracted 3590 swimmers from 32 countries. With many swimmers entering multiple events a total of 12304 race entries were received.

In less than ideal conditions, on a cold and cloudy Thursday morning at the outdoor pool, Nicola Latty lead the 35-39 200 fly from the start, winning in 2:27.21 for new British and European records. This added to Nicola’s silver medal in the 100 fly on the previous day. Later, Nicola swam to bronze in the 400 free after a two hour thunder storm delay.

Jayne O’Brien maintained her position as one of the top breaststroke swimmers in the world in the 45-49 age group as she became a double medallist. Jayne won a silver in the 200 breaststroke with a bronze in the 100 breaststroke.

Barry O’Brien set two British records in his two events in the 50-54 age group. In the 100 breaststroke he placed fourth in a time of 1:14.59 – a time which would have been good enough for a medal in the age group below. Later Barry improved on this by winning a bronze medal in the 200 breaststroke in 2:44.23 taking over two seconds off his own British record.

At her first international meet, Susie Danby produced her fastest time as a masters swimmer to secure 7th place in the 25-29 50 breaststroke. In the 100 breaststroke Susie suffered the worst of the weather. Just minutes before her swim the meet was stopped due to thunder storms, leaving the swimmers in the marshalling area for two hours before officials moved the meet to the indoor training pool. The indoor pool was quickly converted to a competition venue and the meet re-started. Despite the Wimbledon style delay Susie swam to 9th position.

Nick Gaggini hit his best form of the year as soon as the meet began. He took five seconds off his entry time in the first event, the 200IM, to place 15th in the 35-39 age group. This form continued through the week as Nick produced good performances to move up the rankings. The 50 fly gave Nick a masters personal best performance in an age group where the depth in the sprints meant that top 8 finishes were hard to achieve.

ODSS Team: Barry O'Brien (Top), Jayne O'Brien (Bottom Left), Nick Gaggini, Susie Danby, Nicola Latty