Hampshire relay good as team effort secures Inter-County Masters title

Hampshire put on an all-round team performance to secure their first Inter-County Masters title since 2016.

They secured a total of 13 victories throughout the competition to finish on a total of 1,729 points.

That left Hampshire 39 points clear of second-placed Warwickshire, while defending champions Devon were third with a total of 1,664.50.

Hampshire’s victory was due in no small part to the nine victories and five podium places they picked up in the 22 relay races.

There were also four individual triumphs, eight seconds and seven third-place finishes from the Hampshire squad.

Zoe Cawsey picked up maximum points for Hampshire as she won the Female 18+ 50m Butterfly un a time of 28.48, while Chris Jones was the only swimmer to break the 30-second barrier in the Open 35+ 50m Breaststroke as he clocked 29.67.

In the Open 45+ 50m Breaststroke, Martin Bennell topped the podium for Hampshire as he finished in 30.12, while Fleur Turner was victorious in the Female 45+ 50m Butterfly in a time of 32.05.

Closely-fought competition

Hampshire’s nine relay victories came in the Open 180+ 200m Medley, the Open 100+ 200m Medley, the Female 100+ 200m Medley, the Female 140+ 200m Medley, the Female 72+ 200m Medley, the Open 180+ 200m Freestyle, the Female 180+ 200m Freestyle, the Female 100+ 200m Freestyle and the Female 72+ 200m Freestyle. 

There were 72 races held throughout the competition across five venues – Huddersfield. Derby, London, Millfield School and Bury St Edmonds.

Jeroen Peters, the chair of the Swim England Masters Working Group, said: “Congratulations to Hampshire on securing their first Inter-County title in seven years.

“It was once again a thrilling, closely-fought competition and it was great to see so many counties taking part.

“There were some excellent individual and team performances and I’d like to thank everyone who entered the event, our officials and volunteers who make it happen and Alan Robson and Judy Brown for merging all the results from all five meets into a single file.”

To view the results from all 72 of the individual and relay races, please click here.