Masters sport has never been stronger

OPINION: There was a time when masters sport was considered, at best, a novelty, at worst a bit of a joke, writes Nathan Burdon in this week's Straight Up.

Seeing elder statesmen bare white, bony knees well after their prime sporting years were behind them was something the younger set would snigger at.

Masters sport, however, is no longer a laughing stock.

More people are taking to masters with greater gusto than ever before.

I've done no research on this, but the anecdotal evidence is plain to see.

Masters athletes have a lot of advantages that their more youthful counterparts do not.

In general, they have more disposable income and can afford the sort of toys – mountainbikes, roadbikes, kayaks, trips away to train and compete in events – that younger folk can only salivate over.

They have more time. They might be retired. They may have reached that stage in their work life where taking an afternoon off to make the most of ideal riding conditions won't mean getting a DCM (Don't Come Monday).

And being closer to the finish line than the start line, they may also have a greater sense of their own mortality. Medicine will keep you alive longer these days, a healthy lifestyle should mean you are able to enjoy it.

Already this year we've seen 70-year-old Invercargill cyclist John Fogarty competing in the Gore to Invercargill cycling classic. Last week we featured 92-year-old Kath Johnstone swimming at the New Zealand masters champs at Splash Palace. New Zealand has an ageing population. Masters sport is a growth area.

While we are on the subject, this is what happened at Splash Palace last week. Twenty-four individual New Zealand records and one relay record were set at Splash Palace last week, subject to ratification by the national body.

Christine Jones of Foveaux Masters set a New Zealand record in the 200m backstroke in a time of 3.5.52, almost 20 seconds under the previous record time.

The Best Performance Trophy and the swim of the meet went to Ben van Dyke, who swam within 9sec of the world record for the 1500m 60-64 years in a time of 19.16.47.

All Foveaux Masters swim team members won medals: 34 gold, 22 silver and five bronze medals were earned by the team. In addition, club relay teams won four gold, two silver and one bronze medal. These results earned the club 308 points in the Club Points Trophy, one point behind winning club Dunedin Masters. The team profiled on Friday won both of its relays in the 60-99 age group. Its freestyle relay time of 1.56.8 and medley time of 2.13.29 were something they're naturally proud of. There are even whispers of attending the 2011 championships in Hamilton.

Christine Jones, Ann van Leeuwen, Jessika Luth and Wayne Evans of Foveaux Masters won all the events they entered.

Roger Eagles, president of New Zealand Masters Swimming, presented the Peter Wilson Shield to Mike Bodger. This award is given to the swimmer at the meet who best represents the spirit of masters swimming. Bodger gallantly, but unsuccessfully, attempted to swim across Cook Strait in February. Eagles also announced that Barry Young of Auckland has been awarded the New Zealand Masters Swimmer of the Year for a second time after setting 12 world records during the year. This would have been four higher had the Gisborne swimming pool been square and the lanes actually 25 metres long rather than just lane 1 (in which Barry did swim and set a record).

The Southern region representing the South Island, of which local swimmer Wayne Evans was a member, won the inter-regional Fly Squadron Relay and the Ngaire Prentice Trophy.

» Nathan Burdon has been the Southland Times sports editor since 2003 and has won numerous journalism awards, including provincial sports writer of the year.

- © Fairfax NZ News