11th Inverclyde Masters Meet - 9/10th Sept - Report by Ian Wallwork

This was the second year I attended the Inverclyde meet and once more I was impressed by a great meet. The results are posted quicker than I have experienced at other events, there is a good range of competition and there was a big range of distance / strokes available all in one day. The biggest plus point for me though is the general friendliness of the meet and the exceptional value.
Inverclyde masters arrange a low rate at the local Holiday Inn Express and even help with transfers from Glasgow airport when required. The entry fee of £16 included all the 50 and 100 events (an extra for 200 events) and a meal and entertainment for the evening hosted at the local Town Hall. The food was good and the music with a live band kept the dance floor well populated (particularly with the visiting Islay team aka: the party people!), although it did make conversation at the tables a little more difficult. The conversation aspect is worth commenting on because this is a friendly meet and you will meet new friends who you will want to talk with.
It seems that the friendliness and after competition mixing is a thing that is done very well generally north of the border and a few more of us 'southerners' would be welcomed if only we would try it.
The meet had male and females racing together which helped to make sure the faster ladies always had good competition and gave the extra spur to us males not to be beaten by the fairer sex even when tired, it didn't work for me when Judy Hattle left me floundering but at least I probably tried that bit harder.
The standard was quite high generally as can be seen by the results posted on the web and an incentive for the good times was that the meet recognised a new meet record with a bottle of wine. Any new country, national or international records earned cash and so the best swimmers could make this an even better value meet.
This was a great meet, organised superbly by Inverclyde with special thanks to Donald Muirhead and supported by the local council (how often do we get that). This is exactly the sort of meet we should support and enjoy.