BlackwaterTriathlon Club member, Julian Boeg, has been a serious competitive swimmersince he was 7 years old and, despite the fact that he’s now competing in the55-59 years age group, his enthusiasm for the sport remains undimmed. Julianhas been a regular competitor at the annual Sundays Well Masters Swimming Gala,usually returning home with an impressive haul of medals, and this year was noexception. The gala, which is held in the Douglas swimming pool in Cork, is a verypopular event on the swimming calendar and attracts competitors from all overthe country. This year the event featured swimmers from Cork, Kilkenny,Waterford, Limerick, Galway and Northern Ireland. The races are run on abilitylevels rather than age and as a result it features some unusual match ups insome of the races. At one stage Julian found himself competing with a 71 yearold man and a 23 year old woman in one event. As it happens the 71 year old wonthat race and the 23 year old came second. Which just goes to show that agereally is only a number. Julian had a good day too, winning his age group inthe 400m front crawl, finishing in 6 minutes and 8 seconds. He also finishedthird in the 50 metre front crawl in 33.28 seconds, second in the 50 metre  back crawl in 38 .5 seconds and  second in the 100 metre individual medley in 1 minute and 32 seconds. Julian is also anexperienced swim coach and he reckons that racing short course events is reallygood for triathlon training as the swimmer has to stay cool and focused andthen let the power meter go in a controlled way, keeping both technique andpower fully engaged. Ably aided andabetted on the day by his support crew of fellow BTC member, Niamh Fleming, Julianreally enjoyed the whole event. Once again it was a fabulous day out for boththe competitors and their supporters, with very good racing and a reallyfriendly atmosphere. Credit must go to Sunday’s Well Swimming Club fororganising such a well run and well attended event. The Swim Ireland officials,junior marshals, timekeepers and the committee all ensured that the day wentsmoothly and there was great craic afterwards in the South County pub.  Well done to Julian, and everyone else whotook part on the day. Definitely one to keep in mind next year.