Masters Swimming Tasmania

🏊‍♀️❄️ MST Winter Championships – Results Are In! ❄️🏊‍♂️

What a sensational weekend of racing at the MST Winter Championships, with fast swims, fierce relays and a flood of new Tasmanian records! 💥📣

A huge congratulations to the mighty Launceston Lemmings 🐭🏆 — winners of the Championship Trophy for highest aggregate points!

👏 Swimmers of the Meet:
🥇 Gabrielle Osborne (TAC) – Female Swimmer of the Meet
🥇 Brent Walker (TAC) – Male Swimmer of the Meet

Our recorders were kept very busy as swimmers rewrote the record books across the weekend 📚✍️ Many records had stood for decades! ⏱️ Highlights included:

🔹 Mendelt Tillema’s (TTL) Men’s 75-79 200m IM record finally eclipsed after standing since 2001
🔹 Wendy Winzenberg’s (TVA) Women’s 75-79 50m Backstroke mark, untouched since 2003, was broken in style 💪
🔹 Huon Valley’s Mixed 4x25m (120-159) relay team smashed a record that had stood since 2010 🚀

🌟 Individual Tasmanian Record Breakers 🌟
🏊 Indie Sarma (TAC) – 25m Backstroke, 25m Butterfly
🏊 Jim Trihey (TAC) – 25m Freestyle
🏊 Brent Walker – 25m Freestyle, 200m Butterfly
🏊 Fiona Ziegeler (THB) – 200m Butterfly
🏊 Megan Stronach (THB) – 200m Backstroke
🏊 Joshua Wylie (THB) – 25m Freestyle
🏊 Peter Tucker (THB) – 200m Butterfly
🏊 Wendy Winzenberg (TVA) – 50m Freestyle, 25m & 50m Backstroke, 100m Butterfly
🏊 Rick Homan (TDP) – 25m, 50m, 100m & 200m Breaststroke
🏊 Gary Donovan (THV) – 100m, 200m & 400m Individual Medley
🏊 Glenn Bryan (TLC) – 25m Freestyle
🏊 Mendelt Tillema (TTL) – 200m Individual Medley
🏊 Juergen Langfeldt (VDC) broke the Victorian men’s 50-54 record for 25m Butterfly

🔥 Relay Records Tumbled Too! 🔥
Congratulations to teams from Hobart Aquatic, Hobart Dolphins and Huon Valley Clubs for a string of outstanding relay performances 👏👏👏

🏊 TAC Women’s 4x50m Medley (200-239)
Jennifer Lain, Gabrielle Osborne, Anne Henderson, Donna Rickwood
🏊 TAC Men’s 4x50m Medley (240-279)
Yuki Hasegawa, Matthew Carr, Brent Walker, Tony Forman
🏊 THB Women’s 4x50m Medley (280-319)
Katherine Daft, Mary Cousins, Megan Stronach, Anne Gillian
🏊 THV Men’s 4 x 25m Freestyle (160-199)
Nathan Smith, Gary Donovan, Darby Gielewski, James Belstead
🏊 THV Men’s 4 x 50m Medley (160-199)
Darby Gielewski, James Belstead, Gary Donovan, Nathan Smith
🏊 THV Mixed 4 x 25m Freestyle (100-119)
Lara Marmara, Kirilee Shepheard, James Belstead, Darby Gielewski
🏊 THV Mixed 4 x 25m Freestyle (100-119)
Dave Reynolds, Victoria Wilson, Lara Marmara, Jack Wylie
🏊 THV Mixed 4 x 25m Freestyle (120-159)
Darby Gielewski, James Belstead, Kirilee Shepheard, Heidi Van Der Reest

From sprint finishes to marathon IMs, the weekend showcased everything that makes Masters swimming so special — determination, camaraderie and a lot of fun 💙💛

Winter Champs Roller Coaster 🌦️🏊‍♂️

There were plenty of fun and games in Launceston at the 42nd Masters Swimming Tasmania Short Course Winter Championships this weekend!

On a weekend featuring bright sunshine ☀️, howling gales 🌬️, soaking rain 🌧️, thick fog 🌫️… and then somehow back to sunshine again, nearly 100 swimmers descended on the Launceston Aquatic Centre for a memorable weekend of racing.

And just to keep things interesting, the weather outside wasn’t the only thing changing rapidly. Inside the pool deck, officials and swimmers were treated to a few unexpected “bonus events” 🎭 — including a timing system that decided cooperation was overrated 🤖❌, and a late ruling banning diving from the blocks on the boom 🚫🏊‍♂️. Because apparently Masters swimmers can not only handle 400 IMs 😅, but also spontaneous policy plot twists!!

To their enormous credit 👏, the recording team and timekeepers immediately pivoted to full manual timing and recording 📝⏱️, with results and splits still appearing online almost instantly. An outstanding effort under pressure.

Huge thanks also to Meet Director George and Chief Referee Ray for steering the ship through the various curveballs, and to the swimmers who — while understandably less than thrilled at times 😬 — adapted, got on with the job 💪, and produced some terrific performances 🏅

Results are now available on the MST website, with records and award highlights coming soon 📣 Watch this space 👀

Results: https://portal.msarc.org.au/meets/index.php?EventId=154610&filter=*&split=no&js=on

🏊‍♀️ Help Shape the Future of Masters Swimming Tasmania!

📣 MST is planning a special Planning Day to explore ideas, opportunities and priorities for the next three years — and we’d love input from across our membership.

We invite State Committee members, Club Delegates and any interested MST members to be part of this exciting and collaborative process.

🗓️ The day is likely to include:
• a morning workshop session
• lunch together
• an afternoon workshop session

📍We are aiming for a central venue such as Oatlands or Campbelltown to make attendance easy for all.

✅ Please complete the poll here:
https://forms.gle/JKyewsVjKD9hYyBh6
and indicate all dates on which you would be available.

🤝 Together, we can help shape the next chapter for MST.

John Pugh OAM

Masters Swimming Tasmania is delighted to congratulate John Pugh OAM on being awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the King’s Birthday Honours for service to swimming.

John has made an extraordinary contribution to Masters swimming over many decades. A Life Member of Masters Swimming Australia, he served as President from 2006 to 2011 and was awarded Life Membership of Masters Swimming Tasmania in 2011 in recognition of his dedicated and extensive service to our organisation.

John continues to make a significant impact as a coach and mentor coach, generously sharing his knowledge, experience and passion with swimmers and coaches alike. He also served as a committee member of the South Esk Swimming Club from 2017 to 2025.

John’s leadership, commitment and unwavering support of our sport have helped shape Masters swimming in Tasmania and across Australia.

You can read more about John’s contributions here:

https://mastersswimming.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/John-Pugh-MSA-Life-Member.pdf

Congratulations, John. This honour is a fitting and well-deserved recognition of your outstanding service to swimming. We are immensely proud of your achievements and grateful for all that you continue to do for our Masters swimming community. 🏅🏊‍♂️

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🔥 STATE RECORD SMASHED! 🔥

Huge congratulations to James Belstead (THV) on an incredible new Masters Swimming Tasmania state record in the 800m Freestyle! 🏊‍♂️💨

Competing at a Swimming Tasmania Time Trial on Saturday, James carved more than 3 seconds off the time he swam in Brisbane just two weeks ago to finally break Ray Winstanley’s long-standing record from 2014.

⏱️ New Record: 9:17.74

James had hoped to crack the record in Brisbane — but there’s something pretty special about doing it in front of the home crowd! 👏

James is pictured with world champion Cameron McEvoy whom he met at the Brisbane nationals recently. Safe to say that meeting with Cam might just have provided the extra inspiration needed for that record-breaking swim! 📸🏅

MST members are also reminded that all Swimming Tasmania qualifying time trials (except those clashing with MST events) are dual sanctioned by MST, so members are welcome to compete representing their Masters club. See the MST website for details: https://mastersswimmingtasmania.com.au/events/category/dual-sanctioned-with-swimming-tasmania/list/

Brilliant finish to Nationals.

Tassie swimmers made their mark on Day 6 of Nationals in the Open Water events at Raby Bay. Gold medals to James Belstead (THV) and Tony Forman (TAC) in their 3klm events. James was also third male to finish the 3klm.
Pia Peterson (THB - pictured) rounded off her Nationals campaign with a strong 4th in the 1500m event.
Well done all!

Day 5 at the MSA Nationals 💥 — and it was all about the mighty 800s!

Our Tasmanian crew dug deep and delivered another wave of outstanding performances in the pool 🏊‍♂️

James Belstead (THV) continued his golden streak with another win, while Brent Walker (TAC) kept the records tumbling and added a Bronze to his tally. Tony Forman (TAC) powered his way to yet another Gold, with Tassie Phil securing a well-earned Silver. Matt showed great determination, finishing a strong 7th with a big PB to celebrate 👏

In the women’s events, Elisa produced a smart and controlled low 11-minute swim, and Leisl continued her impressive meet with another PB and a fantastic 4th place finish 💪

That wraps up the pool events, with attention now turning to tomorrow’s Open Water challenge 🌊 Best of luck and smooth waters to Tony, Pia and James!

A big thank you to Di Gregory for compiling results across the meet, and to our roving reporter Linda Walsham for capturing all the action 📸 Be sure to keep an eye on the MST website for the full photo gallery!

Pictured today are Leisl, James and Elisa celebrating the end of the pool competition — and no doubt the girls are looking forward to a well-earned sleep-in tomorrow 😄