Meeting virtually guarantees records

Thursday 13th March 2008, 2:29PM GMT.

The weekend’s OCS Open International Guernsey Masters has attracted swimmers from all over Europe. (Picture by Daniel Guerin, 0429615)

MASTERS swimming must be one of the few sports or pastimes in life where one looks forward to getting older.

The OCS Open International Guernsey Masters meet returns tomorrow and runs throughout the weekend – with six octogenarians due to compete. One of the competitors is likely to be 75-year-old Suffolk-based Neil Howell, despite having had a complete left-hip replacement in July.

‘I wondered if I would ever be able to swim again, but I have done two meets in Crawley and Bracknell since and Guernsey will be my third,’ he said.