Local Focus: Meet the 90+ swimming masters

At 91 years young, Michael Tunnicliffe was the oldest competitor at the 2023 Masters Swimming Championships, a three-day event held at Hawke’s Bay’s Regional Aquatic Centre.

Growing up in Feilding, Tunnicliffe’s swimming journey started in 1942, when he learnt to swim in the Oroua River.

“I had a change of lifestyle from working as an electrician to selling life insurance in the 1970s and that gave me more time,” he said.

“At that time, Feilding had an indoor and outdoor pool, which was open for four months of the year. Some years I was swimming around 300 kilometres in that four-month season.”

While he was in his 40s, he swam up to 20km a week. Fifty years later, he still swims three times a week.

Michael Tunnicliffe and Jeanette Barker competed in the Masters Swimming Champs in the 90+ age group.

Tunnicliffe is one of many swimmers in the 90 and over category. Napier resident Jeanette Barker, 90, also competed.

“I’m keeping fit to go to a swimming event in Fiji in August and it’s an ocean swim,” she said.

For these masters, swimming is about much more than the competition. It’s about keeping fit and staying young.

“You can cycle for a long time, you can play golf for a long time, but you can swim for longer because of the water supporting you,” Barker said. “With the buoyancy of the water, people who have knee problems can walk or swim.”

The three-day event was held at Hawke’s Bay’s Regional Aquatic Centre and attracted 140 competitors. Photo / Jie Pang

Some 140 competitors from around New Zealand attended the event, which was the first time it had been held in four years.

“We’ve made a few changes this year,” said Dale Johnson, head of participation and events at Swimming New Zealand.

“You’re able to enter this championship if you’re 18 and above – you don’t need to achieve a qualifying time.

“We’re really focused on getting the opportunity for people to be able to participate in the pool across the winter months.”

Hawke’s Bay’s Regional Aquatic Centre hopes to bring more national competitions to the region.

“This is actually the second event that we’ve hosted here, and we’re really excited,” Johnson said.

“It’s great for hosting events. It’s got a lot of rooms alongside and it’s a great, fast pool.”

There are plenty of swimming events to look forward to in the coming year:

8 - 12 AUG 2023: 2023 NZ Short Course Swimming Championships

27 - 29 SEP 2023: 2023 Tri Series

15 - 19 APR 2024: 2024 Apollo Projects NZ Age Group Swimming Championships

9 - 13 APR 2024: 2024 Apollo Projects NZ Swimming Championships

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