Seagull swimmers are masters of the pool

The Hastings Seagull Masters swimming team brought home a raft of medals at their first major event since the end of lockdown.

Following the success of the club’s under-18 swimmers in recent months, the adult Seagulls were back in action at the Swim England South East long course meet at Crawley’s K2 leisure centre.

Between them, the eight who took part won seven gold, ten silver and five bronze medals in their age group categories, ranging from 35 to 84.

The Seagull team of Sam Batchelor, Tim Bigg, Lisa Chapman, Alex Goforth, Peter Hall, Tim Pearce, Laura Quye and Euan Youdale are part of a 35-strong Masters squad at the club.

Apart from the Seagulls’ club championships, this was the first time since 2019 they were able to compete with other clubs, ranging from Brighton to Wycombe and Basingstoke to Dover.

After two days of racing in the 50m pool, Seagull swimmers had helped their county to third place, with Sussex racking up 266 points, behind Hampshire’s 361 and Berks & S Bucks’ 327.

Mike Hamblin, who coaches the Masters, along with Seagull head coach Sacha Djerfi, said it had been an outstanding performance, “The squad showed what they were made of and I’m sure will go on to even greater things.

“There are a number of Masters events coming up and we’ll have an even bigger team taking part in those.”

The Masters squad are always looking for new members. If you would like to compete or just lookingfor a great tness opportunity, visit www.hasngsseagullsc.org.uk