Colchester duo impress at Open Water National Championships

The event at Rother Valley brought together the country’s finest open water swimmers who had competed for national honours in the Masters National Championships and the National Age Group Championships.

The two Charlottes had qualified for the event through their superb performances at the Regional Championships and displayed their prowess with very creditable performances.

Competing in the two-kilometre event in tough conditions, Norman used her determination and experience learnt from last year’s race to battle to 44th place overall.

That earned a commendable 19th place in her age group, in a time of 28 minutes 51 seconds.

Tree took part in the slightly longer 3km event and with a strong field completed the course in 43m 04s.

That was almost a minute faster than her qualifying time, to finish 19th in her age group.

The previous day, Colchester SC pair Rob Milburn and Simon Emm were due to take part in the 1.5km and 3km events, following their success at the Regional Championships.

With concerns over the swimmers safety due to high winds, the organisers decided to run one heat at a time.

In the first heat, Milburn dealt with the rough conditions well and was lying in fourth position overall and winning his age category by two minutes.

But with winds reaching up to 40mph and with no guarantees that conditions would improve, the race was called off.

The remaining Masters’ races were abandoned and the event was cancelled for only the second time in ten years, leaving Emm without a race.

Colchester Swimming Club head coach Michelle Young said: “Open-water swimming is a very different sport with a specific skillset and success in the pool doesn’t necessarily translate to the open water.

"Sadly the Masters National Championships were cancelled but Charlotte and Charlotte put in really good performances in very difficult conditions that they should be very proud of.”