SWIMMING pensioner Don Leatherbarrow got a giant kick out of smashing another six age-group British records at his latest meet.

The 80-year-old from Ross-on-Wye made a big splash at the 30th Gloucester Masters championships, having already broken five 80-84 records earlier this year.

“I’m delighted to break the records, but I’m mainly just happy to be swimming at such a competitive level at my age,” said the former professional country and western musician.

“I did eight events on the day, which is a bit barmy, winning them all and just missing out on two other records by exactly the same time, 0.48secs.

“One of the two I missed out on was just after lunch when I normally have a sleep, and I think I dozed off a bit in the closing stages, as I was on course at halfway,” smiled Don.

“The record I’m most pleased with is the 50m freestyle, which has stood for 10 years and I beat by just six hundreds of a second swimming 34.98secs, because sprinting is really hard if you’re 80.”

Despite never having done the event, he took a whopping 14.08secs out of the 100m butterfly record, lowering it to 1.53.69.

And he also lowered the 50m butterfly record by 6.43secs to 45.42secs; the 100m breaststroke mark by 4.48secs to 1.47.79; the 100m freestyle by 2.65secs to 1.21.90; and the 100m medley by 5.39secs to 1.36.95.

The father-of-four, who lived in Upper Lydbrook from the mid 1970s before moving to Ross six years ago, also won the 200m freestyle and 50m breaststroke in a day’s racing that would sap the energy of most young swimmers, let alone someone who celebrated his 80th birthday last month.

But superfit Don, who trains five times a week at the Halo pool in Ross, isn’t about to hang up his swimming goggles yet.

“I train with some younger swimmers at the pool and they keep me on my toes as I try to keep up, they’re a good marker for me.

“I do long-distance stamina work three times a week, and practise all the strokes and do sprint work twice a week.

“Next up for me is the Long Course National Championships in Plymouth in June, where I’ll have a lot more time between races as it’s over several days.”

It’s not just in the pool where Don defies the march of time, though – he still plays his guitar and sings to care and nursing home residents and loves rambling with wife Cindy, who partnered him in a busy music career which included stints entertaining passengers on the QE2.

•Swimmers will be taking the plunge in the fifth Great Wye Swim on Sunday, May 13, in aid of the Forest of Dean Venture Scouts.

Organisers Monmouth School Sports Club are hoping to better last year’s record turnout when competitors race over 1km and 2km.

The Great Wye Swim was the brainchild of Teresa Tranter, an administration officer at the sports club.

And last year’s swim raised £1,370, which was split between Meso­thelioma UK and St David’s Hospice Care.

All swimmers must be 16 years old or above and the closing date for entries is 4pm on Saturday, May 12. To enter, go to www.mssportsclub.com or call 01600 714381.