Sheer force, determination, amazing swimming technique, strength, stamina some super-fast racing shorts and a shaved-down body.
All of the above and so much more what’s needed to break a World Record.
In what can only be described as a swim of the decade, this year four Tattersalls Alumni broke the men’s 200+ age-group World Record.
Set in the pristine setting of Woy Woy Swimming Pool the crowd had gathered and knew they were in for something special to take place.
The race itself was perfectly executed, in fact, it couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. Olympic Gold Medalist and former World Record Holder Chris Fydler re-entered the history books by breaking the World Record for the 50m freestyle (50+ age group) by swimming the breakneck split of 23.36s (taking 0.02s of the World Record) to give the team a led that would never be challenged.
Next off the blocks was Peter Thiel who not only extended the team’s lead in the race but himself swam a blistering 50m in only 25.91s – not bad for a guy who is a long-distance specialist.
Third into the water was our February AD Member of the Month Guy Farrow who swam a split of 24.54s. This swim was better than Guy’s previous swim which netted him a National Record and placed the team in an unbeatable lead much to the enjoyment of the local crowd who were deafening in their cheers for the swimmers.
The final swimmer to enter that water was Olympian and Great Britain Record Holder James Hickman, by this point the result was in the bag but not the 200+ age group World Record. Something special was needed and James delivered, clocking a whirlwind time of 23.54s to make sure the record was coming back to Sydney (and to Tattersalls) with them.
Once the dust had settled and the water stopped churning, the official time of 1 minute 37.35 seconds was announced meaning that the team had obliterated the previous World Record by 1.22 seconds, forever etching their name in folklore.
More importantly, though, the team did enough to become our July Athletic Department Members of the Month.
Congratulations to all involved in this amazing achievement, you have made the Club proud and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for you all.
This is now running for the Sports Person of the Year 2022.
