A PAIR of Bendigo swimmers have made a giant splash at the Australian Masters Games in Adelaide.
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Cindy Nicholls and Dean Shard collected a staggering 13 gold and six silver medals between them in competition at the new SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre.
Nicholls, 41, won five gold and five silver, while training partner Shard, 39, won eight gold and one silver from nine events contested.
Shard said competition in the pool was stiff, with about 600 swimmers from across Australia competing, in categories ranging from 18-24 years to 80-plus.
The oldest competitor was 86 year-old Dorothy Dickey, from the Doncaster Dolphins Masters Swimming Club in Melbourne.
Nicholls and Shard can be seen regularly churning out the laps five days-a-week at the Bendigo Aquatic Centre for 75 minutes at a time.
"This was our first competitive swim for the season," Shard said.
"I haven't competed for about three years, while Cindy last competed at the Masters two years ago.
"We have the Victorian Country Championships in Bendigo coming up in January, which we'll compete in."
The pair have been back in training for about five months.
Their medal haul is no small feat, with swimmers required to qualify through a series of heats and semi-finals before the final.
Nicholls, who competed in the 40-44 age division, set new SA record in 50m freestyle of 30.07 seconds.
She is currently ranked second in Australia in backstroke and third in 50m freestyle behind Olympian Linley Frame.
Nicholls, who combines swimming with her day job as a nurse, said she was a bit bit startled by the medal haul.
“You don’t go away thinking you’ll win 10 medals from 10 events,” she said.
Shard, who competed in the 35-39 years division, nominated breaststroke as his best stroke, but was most pleased with his backstroke efforts in Adelaide.
He won dual gold in the 50m and 100m backstroke in times of 32.90 seconds and 1.14.32 respectively.
