North Shore Master Swimmers

Note the following changes to our pool sessions.

From Tuesday 1st September, we only have one lane booked for our Tuesday and Thursday evening sessions. This will usually be lane 5, but check at the pool if there are any changes on the day.

Our Sunday sessions are moved to the AUTM Main Pool on the following dates - note that the time will be at 8-9am:
- Sunday 6th September
- Sunday 20th September
- Sunday 27th September

From October through to the end of January, the AUTM Main Pool will be closed for maintenance. This might result in some changes to our pool session lane allocations and times as the NAC pool space is juggled between all the groups with bookings. Keep an eye on our Whats App chat and emails for details.

This one's not to be missed! The Ignite Freshwater Swim Fest is coming to Lake Pupuke, Auckland on 13–14 February 2027 - distances from 250m to 10km, a 4 x 500m team relay, and four NZ Championship events including the NZ Masters Swimming Championships (2.5km swim) - plus food trucks, a garden bar, live music and festival vibes all weekend long.

Brought to you by Scott Rice and the team at Quantum Events, so you know it'll be a goody.

More info, and to enter: https://www.freshwaterswimfest.com

Enter before 30 September to save big with super early bird pricing - and use the code NSMASTERS when you enter so NSMS goes in the draw to win a $500 squad breakfast. The more of us who enter, the better our odds!

NSMS headed to Manurewa yesterday for the brilliant Counties Manukau Masters SKINS event - last one touching the wall in each heat gets eliminated!

Nicki Clement, Janusz, Giles Walker, Dawn Walker and Lucy Stanford flew the NSMS flag and came home with 4th overall on club points with our relay team getting 2nd place!

A callout to Giles and Dawn Walker, who stepped back into a Masters event after 8 years - welcome back, and great to have you both onboard.

Everyone went home with spot prizes in hand - apparently showing up to get eliminated from races does have perks. Thanks to Counties Manukau Masters Swimming for a brilliantly run and fun afternoon.

Next up, in the New Zealand Masters Swimming calendar is the 2026 South Island Short Course Championships in Christchurch on 14/15 August and the Taupo Masters Spring Fling 2026 on19/20 September.

Huge thanks to Roskill Masters for hosting a fantastic meet at this weekend's Auckland Short Course Championships.

Overall Age Group Placings:

1st PLACE: Marina Macartney Athlete (35 - 39); Troy Rangi (35 -39), Nicola Clement (60 -64), Chris Howie & Giles Walker (50 -54) - equal 1st, Janusz Kordonski & Leonard Gildenhuys (60 - 64) - equal 1st

2nd PLACE: Lucy Stanford (50 -54), Megan Wilson (60 -64), Christine Macartney (65 - 69)

A special mention to Nicki Clement, who may have broken 3 New Zealand Masters age group records in the 50m and 100m Butterfly, and 100m IM (still to be ratified by New Zealand Masters Swimming)!

North Shore Master Swimmers finished 3rd overall on club points.

Congratulations to everyone who raced and thanks also to our support crew for timekeeping - Liz Davidson, Sue and Deirdre!

At today's NSMS AGM we had the absolute honour of celebrating someone who has given so much to our club and to New Zealand Masters Swimming.

Liz Davidson has been awarded Life Membership of NZ Masters Swimming AND Life Membership of North Shore Masters Swimmers, and if anyone has ever earned it, it's Liz.

Since joining NSMS in 2001, Liz has been one of the most impactful people in our club. From her pivotal role in the lead up to the 2017 World Masters Games, to spending 10 years as NZ Masters IT Officer, patiently dragging the NZMS organisation into the digital age, her contribution has been immense. When she's unable to compete, she's timekeeping, and wrangling relay teams. Her leadership, warmth, and dedication to fun, friendship, and inclusion embodies our core values, and is what makes NSMS the club it is and we are so lucky to have her.

And we cannot avoid mention of Deirdre's absolutely incredible cake. A swimmer mid stroke, lane ropes, starting blocks, and "LIZ 4 LIFE NSMS", all in fondant. Well done Deirdre! 👏

A reminder to register for the 2026 Auckland Short Course Champs before the Early Bird pricing ends today! Hosted by our friends at Roskill Masters, it would be great to see strong NSMS participation.

📅 Saturday 13th June | Cameron Pool, Mt Roskill
🕐 Warm up 1pm | Start 1.30pm I Refreshments at the end
👉 Registration: https://events.mygameday.app/event/aksc2026
💰 Pricing: $45 for NZMS members until midnight TONIGHT (31 May); $55 from 1–7 June

Kia Ora NSMS! You may have seen the recent communication from NZ Masters Swimming relating to an error in the points calculations from the Nationals, meaning some of the overall rankings have shifted. All results have now been reviewed and corrected and here are our updated North Shore Masters results:

🥇GOLD
• Ian Gunthorp (80–84 M) + 9 NZ Records!
• Sue Pollard(80–84 F)
• Janusz Kordonski (60–64 M)
• Lucy Stanford (50–54 F)
• David Liversidge (45–49 M)
• Marina Macartney Athlete (35–39 F) + 1 NZ Record

🥈 SILVER
• Leonard Gildenhuys (60–64 M)
• Chris Howie (50–54 M)

🥉 BRONZE
• Megan Wilson (60–64 F)

👏 Also representing NSMS
• Sharon Catterall (55–59 F)
• Naoe Hashimoto (70–74 F)
• Christine Macartney (65–69 F)
• Kevin Williams (55–59 M)
• Russell Jones (60–64 M)

All results can also be found on Swimify here: https://au.swimify.com/competitions/2026-new-zealand-masters-swimming-championships-2026-05-15/events/all-events

Every single swimmer who represented and supported NSMS should be incredibly proud. Ka pai koutou! 💙

New Zealand Masters Swimming Championships 2026 🏊‍♂️

Day 3 delivered another fun day in the pool, capped off by the prizegiving celebration. Big congratulations to Marina Macartney, who got a new New Zealand Record in the Women’s 35-39 100m Backstroke. Ian Gunthorp also snuck in 9 more new NZ 80 - 84 records! Shoutouts to our age group medal winners:

🏅 Sue Pollard
🏅 Ian Gunthorp
🏅 David Liversidge
🏅 Chris Howie
🏅 Lucy Stanford
🏅 Marina Macartney Athlete
🏅 Megan Wilson
🏅 Janusz Kordonski

It was an outstanding team effort and NSMS claimed the 2nd place overall team award. Congratulations to our friends at Mount Roskill for taking the top spot. We can be proud of every single swimmer, supporter, and coach who made this weekend such a success. Ka pai, NSMS!

Official results here: https://au.swimify.com/competitions/2026-new-zealand-masters-swimming-championships-2026-05-15/events/schedule

🏊‍♂️ New Zealand Masters Swimming Championships 2026

Day 1, in case you missed it, Ian Gunthorp made more history by breaking TWO New Zealand records in the Men's 80-84 age group: 800m Freestyle AND1500m Freestyle.

Day 2 delivered everything we love about Masters swimming – the energy, the smiles, the cheering and the team spirit. We'll have a full results wrap-up after Day 3, but if you can't wait, check out the live results here:
https://au.swimify.com/competitions/2026-new-zealand-masters-swimming-championships-2026-05-15/events/2/7/summary

Reminder - there are NO POOL SESSIONS at all this week (12th, 14th & 17th May) due to Swimming NZ Nationals during the week and NZ Masters Nationals next weekend. Good luck to all our members competing in Nationals.