There were numerous touching and inspirational stories at the recent World Aquatics Masters Championships that were held in Singapore on July 26th-27th.

Michael Read, MBE is 84 years old, currently in his 70th year of competitive swimming.

Read remains ever the focused competitor. He started competing at the age of 14 in his native England.

The dual inductee of the International Swimming Hall of Fame and International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame has enjoyed quite a decorated career, but he has never been a world champion…until July 27th in Singapore where he won the 80-84 year 3 km open water swim in 1 hour 27 minutes 32.1 seconds.

He reported to the BBC News, “It feels absolutely amazing, it was a 70-year dream. I’ve always said to myself, even if I have to keep going until I’m 100, I will be a World Masters Champion, so now I’ve ticked that off at 84.”

Read was the oldest swimmer in the competition. The only other 80-84 year competitor was English-born Lesley Meaney who represented Busselton Masters [read about her story here].

After drying off from his 3 km race in the 30.4°C water – a far cry from the much colder water temperatures during his 33 English Channel crossings – Read headed to the pool where he chose to race in the 400m individual medley.

Pools, short-course or long-course, seas, oceans, rivers, bays, lakes, lidos, and lochs…Read takes them all on. He told the BBC, “For me swimming is the ultimate. It keeps you fit, it enables you to go to lovely places as I’ve been to, I make friends, I see the world, I’ve just got so much to be thankful for.”

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