BENDIGO’S Dean Shard and Cindy Nicholls impressed at the recent Australian Masters National Swimming Championships in Melbourne, winning a combined 12 medals.
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Both won six medals, with four of Shard’s being gold.
Shard won a gold medal hat-trick in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events, while also claiming a gold in his favourite event, the 200m individual medley.
Following his success at the championships, Shard is now ranked No.1 in Australia in the 40-44 year age group in the 200m individual medley and 200m breaststroke.
As well as his four gold medals, Shard was also a silver medallist in the 50m and 100m backstroke.
Nicholls’ swag of six medals featured gold in the 50m backstroke.
She also won silver medals in the 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle, plus a trio of bronze medals in the 50m butterfly, 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle events.
Shard and Nicholls were among 780 competitors from Australia, Paupa New Guinea and New Zealand that swam at the 41st Australian Masters National Swimming Championships, which were held over four days.
The lead-up to the championships for the pair included a 10-week training block of 6am training sessions, with their next target the Pan Pacific Masters Games in November, and next year’s World Masters Championships.
