Aimee Masters, 21, who coaches swimmers at David Lloyd Swindon, enjoyed a remarkable European Aquatics Masters Championships, collecting three gold medals, one silver and one bronze, as well as recording three lifetime personal bests.
But the achievement is far from an overnight success. Masters has been making waves in Swindon swimming since she was a child, progressing from a talented youngster competing for Swindon Dolphin to becoming a national champion, Swindon ASC club captain and now a multiple European champion.
Records from 2015 show Masters competing for Swindon Dolphin at just 10 years old, when she recorded new personal bests in nine events at a Dolphin meet.
Five years later, aged 15, she was already establishing herself as one of Wiltshire’s strongest young backstroke swimmers.
At the 2020 Wiltshire Youth and Senior Championships, Masters won three gold medals and a bronze, with her three Junior Championship titles coming in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke.
That dominance in backstroke has continued into senior and Masters competition. At last year’s British Masters Championships, Masters became a national champion, winning gold in the 50m backstroke.
She stepped up again at the 2026 British Masters Championships in June. Competing aged 21, Masters won the women’s 18-24 100m backstroke in 1:09.25 and also took the 50m backstroke title in 31.59.
Just two months later, she took that form onto the European stage. The European Aquatics Masters Championships are being staged across Slovakia and Austria from 18th to 30th August, with the pool swimming competition taking place at the X-Bionic Sphere in Šamorín, Slovakia.
The venue includes an Olympic-size 50m competition pool, with the championships bringing Masters swimmers from across Europe together for continental titles.
Masters opened her campaign with a 2.5-second lifetime best in the 200m individual medley, securing a bronze medal in a closely contested race.
Then came gold. She was crowned European Masters champion in the women’s 20-24 50m backstroke, with Swindon ASC describing the performance as close to her lifetime best.
A day later she doubled her European title tally, winning the women’s 20-24 200m backstroke after what her Swindon club described as a dramatic final length. There was success alongside her Swindon teammates too.
Masters joined Nigel Masters, Tyler Checchia and Rebecca Smith to win European silver in the 80+ mixed medley relay, adding another medal to an increasingly impressive week.
And on the final day of pool competition, Masters produced another huge lifetime best, clocking 1:08.37 as she completed a championship which ultimately brought her three European golds, one silver and one bronze.
It means swimmers taking lessons from Masters back home in Swindon are being coached by somebody who has now proved herself among the best Masters swimmers in Europe.
David Lloyd Swindon has a 25m indoor pool and 20m outdoor pool, and offers swimming tuition for adults and children, including one-to-one and group coaching endorsed by Swim England.
Celebrating her achievement, Thomas McEwen David Lloyd Swindon General Manager said:
“What an incredible achievement. We are so lucky to have such an inspirational coach with us here at DL Swindon.”
The club said Masters had achieved three lifetime personal bests during the championships alongside her five-medal haul.
For Masters, it marks another significant step in a swimming journey which can be traced through more than a decade of competition in Swindon, from a 10-year-old collecting personal bests for Swindon Dolphin to standing on top of a European podium.
And for the swimmers she now coaches at David Lloyd Swindon, their teacher returns to poolside with three European champion titles to her name.
