Two @ K2 - Racing with Maia
26 September 2026
I knew I was going to see Maia down at the K2 Crawley SCM meet the last weekend in September because I love racing the individual events session and her Brighton & Hove masters team seems to always come up for the evening relay-only session. With me swimming the 400 IM and 200 backstroke in the afternoon individual session and the relays starting after that, I had expected to be able to say hi, hang a bit and watch a few of her swims.
What I didn't know until the day before was that I'd get a chance to join their team for three relays, including one with Maia! What a supreme bonus (even if my relay splits were a bit sub-par from the tiredness I felt after my individual races). We got more time to chat on deck (and in her car as she dropped me at the train station afterwards) and I got to meet many of the lovely and welcoming people on her team.
As for my individual events, I entered these events as they are the same as I'll be doing in my first session of racing at the Swim England Masters Championships in a month's time, albeit in reverse order. I was exceptionally pleased with both swims.
400 IM
Masters Best – 4:46.48 (2013, age 46)
50+ Best – 5:01.92 (July 2027, Stockport)
Result – 5:00.56
Reaction -
I was super-stoked with this result ... but, of course, would have liked to have found 0.57 seconds more to get back under 5:00 for the first time time in a decade. Back in 2016, I was 4:52.09 at a taper/shave meet in November ... so I still dream of not only getting under 5:00, but even approaching 4:55.
Comparing these splits ...
With my swim from July, I made up all the time on the back half
July 11th - 1:08.2 / 1:15.2 / 1:28.6 /1:09.8
Sep 26th - 1:08.5 / 1:16.2 / 1:27.7 / 1:08.2
... which is encouraging for my racing at Nationals!
200 back
Masters Best – 2:15.17 (2013, age 46)
50+ Best – 2:22.12 (July 2024, Barnet Copthall)
Result – 2:21.98
Reaction -
I might be even more happy with this result than the IM. When I went that 2:22.12, it was done after an extended taper following my last SCY racing at the 2024 USMS Nationals. I had gone 2:28.64 earlier this year after time out of the pool for some medical issues. I knew I would be faster today, but didn't expect to be this fast.
As with the IM, I was pleased as well with the solid & consistent splitting - 34.8 / 35.5 / 35.6 / 36.0 - though I clearly did get a little tired as the race went on.
It would be nice to see if I can dip under 2:20 at Nationals, but I'll need to push the first half harder.
Capped off with the fun relays, this was a great way to spend a Saturday.
