Race Report: How NOT to swim a 100 Free or a 200 Fly

16 November 2026

I like to race at least once a month, whether I'm ready for it or not. Much as I do enjoy training, racing is a treat, racing is the reward. Racing, whether the result is good or bad, is always an unalloyed good.

So, I enter events ... almost always with some measure of ambition ... and then I deal with the body that shows up on the blocks and see what happens.

I entered the Charlie Lane Semi-Serious meet in Etobicoke days after finishing the Swim England Nationals, when I was feeling all chuffed from some great swims there and realized that a combined personal + work trip back to the Toronto area would have me in Ontario for this ~half day meet at the Etobicoke Olympium (pool #410 first nabbed in April 2019).

This tank was originally built 50 years ago, but also went through an upgrade ahead of the 2015 Pan American Games. It's a storied pool and still holds up as a fast pool, so I always love the chance to race here. Swimming on Sunday was also my first chance to swim as a member of my future "home" Canadian Masters team as I represented the Burlington Masters Swim Club (more on that later).

The only bad thing about Sunday was this: after a great workout on Monday, November 3rd, I came down with what was probably the flu and was out of the water (& any form of exercise) for 8 days. I managed to float one workout on the 12th, then flew over to Canada on the 13th, loafed through 1,050 meters at the Nottawasaga Resort (#765) after I landed and then only a marginally more energetic 1,950 meters at the Cedar Springs Health Racquet & SportsClub on the 15th.

Nottawasaga Resort (L) and Cedar Springs (R)

I was going to race, but I was not race ready.

And my individual results were a mixed bag - two races surprisingly good, one race meh!, and one race downright miserable. The absolute highlight of the meet was getting to swim two relays with my new Canadian team and the incredible warm welcome I got from my new teammates. (Fear not, my much-loved Barnet Copthall teammates back in London: I'll still be "Team BC" for all my racing in the UK).

100 freestyle

• Masters Best – 55.72 (2010, age 43)

• 50+ Best – 59.47 (May 2023, Canadian Masters Nationals, Calgary)

• Result – 1:00.26

• Reaction -

  • For as much as I swim the 50 free, I don't swim the 100 free a lot. I've swum it now five times since moving to the UK at the end of 2023 and my times have ranged from 59.89 to 1:01.44, so the time was actually pretty good.

  • I was so worried, though, from my lack of training during my illness that I would die that I was very tentative going out, flipping at 29.32. Now, I had gone a flat start 26.37 three weeks ago in Sheffield, so a three second differential is just not the way to open a 100. According to ChatGPT, elite male sprinters (which I am decidely not) are typically splitting about 0.4 to 1.3 seconds slower than their flat start 50 on their opening 50 of their 100:

  • 

  • ... so don't ever take 100 free advice from yours truly!

50 fly

• Masters Best – 27.62 (2010, age 43)

• 50+ Best – 28.92 (December 2022, IM Fast, Toronto)

• Result – 29.40

• Reaction -

  • This surprised me as it marked a nice seasonal progression from the 30.00 in September and the 29.62 in October this year.

  • I used 5-6 SDKs off the start and turn, and went no breath on the first 25. My goal was to then only take one breath on the second 25, but I took two.

  • This didn't feel fast and I was too far out from the wall going into the turn (long glide) and then jammed the finish with an extra stroke that I probably didn't need, but I'll take the solid time.

Men's 200 Free Relay

Huge thanks to Jeff Kleven from the Burlington team!

I just affiliated with the team when I renewed my Canadian masters registration as we will live in Burlington whenever we finally return to life in Canada and, having seen them show up as a fast and competitive team earlier this year at the Ontario Provincial Championships, they looked to be my perfect future team. I knew there were relays on the meet program and, from the team emails I'm now included on, I knew BMSC would field some relays ... but I didn't think they'd put rando-me on any!

Jeff tracked me down in the warmdown lane after the 50 fly, introduced himself and gave me the great news that I was leading off the relay. He then took me around, introduced me to my relay mates (props Hershell, Franz, Steve), to Coach Dylan, to the club President and to a few other swimmers. We had a fun swim - I split 27.58, which was solid enough, and then I got the interesting news that I was doing breaststroke on the 200 medley relay at the end of the meet.

There was about a 30 minute break between sessions before racing started again at 11am.

50 breast (individual)

• Masters Best – 33.39 (2013, age 46)

• 50+ Best – 34.83 (December 2022, IM Fast, Toronto)

• Result – 35.39

• Reaction -

  • I rarely swim this event, this being the 12th time in 25 years of Masters Swimming and I have only swum it once since that time from December 2022, when I went 36.12 at Guernsey last year. Still, this is my 5th fastest swim, so pretty surprised with this.

200 Fly

• Masters Best – 2:15.35 (2011, age 44)

• 50+ Best – 2:23.47 (October 2025, Swim England Nationals)

• Result – 2:33.32

• Reaction -

• This the was 17th time I've swum this as a Masters swimmer ... and my slowest time ever!

• This is where my recent illness certainly took its toll. If my swim in Millfield in mid-October evidenced a beautifully splitting strategy, this was just the opposite: go out slow then get slower and slower and slower!

• This felt laboured from the start with my stroke never clicking and really absolutely nothing redeeming about it ... except that I finished it and then somehow still had energy enough to split a 35.19 on the breaststroke leg of that relay ... which came up two heats after I finished my fly!

About that breaststroke on the relay: I think this was the first time in my entire 53-year swimming history that I've ever been asked to swim the breaststroke leg on a relay. Thanks Coach Dylan - my father, an elite breaststroker, would be proud!