Swimming teacher set to take on the world

A Melksham swimming teacher is heading to Japan this month, to take part in the World Masters Championships, after success in the British Masters Championships.

Rebecca Squire, a swimming teacher at Melksham Community Campus, competed in the British Masters in Sheffield last month, winning gold in both the 200m and 400m freestyle, silver in the 100m backstroke, bronze in the 50m freestyle and bronze in the 100m freestyle.

She was also part of the Swindon Tigersharks team which won one gold and two bronze medals in relay races.

She is heading to Fukuoka in Japan on 30th July, to take part in the World Masters Championships, which is an international swimming competition for adults. Her races are on 6th, 7th and 8th August in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle.

“I was really pleased to win the gold medals, although I was actually more pleased with my swims for the two bronzes, as I didn’t expect to win those and my times for my races were much better than I was expecting to swim,” said Rebecca.

“I competed in the European Championships some years ago but the World Championships will be the first time I will be going internationally to compete.”

Rebecca, who started swimming aged five, teaches children how to swim at the Community Campus.

Encouraging people to swim and make use of the local facilities at the Campus Rebecca said, “Just have a go! There are lots of different swim and water-based sessions available at the Campus, catering for all kinds of swimmer. If you’re not sure which one might be right for you, pop into the local pool and have a chat with one of the staff. If you’re more of an outdoor person, wild swimming is a big thing at the moment and the internet can probably point you in the right direction as to where to go for a swim that gives you a different perspective to tiles! Just remember to be safe in and around water and never swim on your own.”

Rebecca was also the top female in the Cotswold Big Swim Festival in June at Cotswold Water Park. She said, “Outdoor swimming is very different to swimming in a pool. It’s something I had never really done before, but I took part because some of my teammates in Tigersharks were. Swimmers all start the race at different times because it’s a lot of people in the water at once. When I got out at the end, it was me and one man. I asked ‘is everyone else out’ and to my surprise they said the other person out was a young boy and we were the first in.”

Sharing her love of swimming, Rebecca said, “I have tried doing other things but I always go back to swimming because I love it. I’ve made lots of friends through swimming and it can be a sociable sport. I swim with a good bunch of people.

“I once saw a lady who was in her 90s that swam for a London club and she would dive off the side and she kept on breaking world records. When she gets to the end of a race they say ‘that’s another world record broken’ and she waves at everyone. Swimming keeps you young, people never believe your age!”