he new swimming season got off to a bit of a slow start for me. After winning 7 gold medals and setting 4 new world records at the World Transplant Games in Argentina in August, I returned from my travels a bit unwell. Luckily it wasn’t anything too serious. Autumn and winter can always be a very tough time of year for transplanted athletes, due to our susceptibility to illness because of the immunosuppressant medication we must take in order to stop our bodies from rejecting our new organs.
Anyhow, sadly I had to miss the Cambridge Grand Prix in early October, but I was able to compete at one of my favourite events in the year, the British Masters Short Course Championships in Sheffield. The event is held at Ponds Forge, the home of swimming in England which is a great pool to race in. But as well as the great pool, the event has a very friendly but fast atmosphere.
Over the three days I had some great swims, setting 4 lifetime PBs and claiming silver in the 200m Individual Medley and bronze in the 50m freestyle and 100m Butterfly in the 25-29 age group. Most noticeably, however, as part of the City of Cambridge Men’s relay team I did my part to help win 3 golds and 1 silver medal. In fact, as a team we set a new British Masters Record in the 4 x 100M Medley relay. I was really chuffed, and very proud to be part of a great team. We had that record in our sights and had been working to beat it for months beforehand.
