Penrith’s Judy Pearson struck gold in the 200m butterfly at the World Masters Swimming championships in Doha, Qatar — and smashed the championship record in the process!
Judy, 64, who was competing in the 60-64 age group, set the new record in a time of 2:55.03. She also took home a silver medal in the 50m butterfly.
In other events, she finished in fourth place in 100m and 200m breaststroke and 100m butterfly. There were also impressive results in the freestyle relay (second) and medley relay (third).
Of the experience, Judy said it was really good to be away with a group of friends and competing against fellow swimmers from different countries.
“It is interesting to go to a different country and see their customs and way of life, but the best part was winning the 200m butterfly in a new championship record,” she said.
After learning to swim at age of five through local swimming lessons in Glasgow, Judy began taking part in swimming competitions at 10 years old and reached Scottish national level as a 17 to 18-year-old.
She began taking part in masters competitions from the age of 39/40 and had already been to several world championships — the last one being in 2017 in Budapest
To qualify, Judy said you have to meet the necessary qualifying times, which in masters swimming is not particularly hard as they need a degree of mass participation to pay for the event.
Judy, who is part of the Gateshead & Whickam Swimming Club and Carlisle Aquatics, spent eight days in Doha for the competition, which ended on March 3.
She trains in a masters group at Carlisle Aquatics four times a week.
Her next major event is the British Masters Championships in Swansea at the end of April and then European Masters Swimming Championships in Belgrade, Serbia, at the end of June.
