Members of the Melksham Swordfish Swimming Club have celebrated a string of achievements at the recent Wiltshire Masters Swimming Championships including a bronze medal in the relay and several individual golds and silvers.

The men’s team secured bronze in the 4×50 metre medley relay, with a strong line-up of David Hayward (backstroke), Jake Dodge (breaststroke), Charlie Dodge (butterfly) and Ollie Dimond (front crawl) at the championships held in Trowbridge. 

Individually, the swimmers also shone. Coach Charlie Dodge claimed gold in the 50-metre butterfly in the 25 to 29 age category, while David Hayward took home two gold medals in the 100-metre backstroke and 200-metre backstroke, as well as silver in the 100-metre front crawl and 50-metre butterfly in the 65 to 69 age group. Jake Dodge finished fourth in the 50-metre butterfly in the 18 to 24 age group. 

David Hayward said, “It’s the first time in the club’s history that we’ve been able to put a masters swimming relay team together. I think they all thoroughly enjoyed it and want to give it another go.” 

David himself has had a long and successful career in swimming, having represented Great Britain four times. His first international appearance was at the World Masters Games in Denmark in 1989, where he won a silver medal in the medley relay. He also competed at the World Masters Swimming Championships in 1996, as well as the European Swimming Championships in 1991 and 2016. 

In addition to his success at the Wiltshire Championships, David also triumphed at the South West Region Masters Championships at Millfield School earlier this month, winning gold in the 100-metre and 200-metre backstroke, and silver in the 50-metre backstroke in the 65 to 69 age group. His achievements this year also include a gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke at both the Cornish Open County Masters in March and the Devon Open County Masters in September, earning him a British Masters ranking of fourth. 

At 66 years old, David continues to dream of representing Great Britain again and regularly trains at the Melksham Campus. 

For any local swimmers or ex-swimmers interested in joining, the Melksham Swordfish Club trains at the Melksham Campus on Tuesday nights from 8:30pm to 10:00pm and on Thursdays from 6pm to 9pm. 

Pictured back page Left to Right- David Hayward, Charlie Dodge, Jake Dodge & Ollie Dimond

Write up and pictures from Melksham News