Two inspiring stories have led to a dead heat in the annual ‘member of the year’ award at Cardiff International Pool.
Staff couldn’t choose between Jim Stamp and Jen Salter, who have both achieved incredible feats this year on the back of training at the pool.
Having not swum seriously for about ten years Jim, 34, from Dinas Powys, set himself the challenge of swimming the English Channel along with three friends – Dave Fletcher, Dave Granger, and Jake Rudman – as part of a four man relay team.
After training for a year at the pool Jim and his friends successfully completed the swim in 9 hours 11 minutes – making them the fastest ever British four man relay team to cross the English Channel. The time is also a Commonwealth record.
Jim said: “When I started I wasn’t that fit and had only been doing a bit of training. The pool is a great facility and
training in a 50m pool was beneficial – I was doing five to six hours a week, mainly mornings, and swimming 5,000m a
session so there was lots of distance work.”
Jim topped this up with work in the gym and on the running machine and by September he was ready for the challenge of swimming the Channel.
“Swimming in the open sea you have to do four hours in darkness,” he explained. “But because it was September the
weather was as warm as it’s going to get so it wasn’t that cold.”
Jim said it was great to find out he had been named joint member of the year.
“The pool is a great facility and having it on your doorstep is fantastic. Before, I was a member of a smaller gym which
had a tiny pool and was more expensive. This was a really nice surprise.”
Jim will share the prize with Jen Salter who has achieved big things herself this year.
When Jen, 34, from Thornhill, became a member at the pool she was a social runner who ran for enjoyment.
She said: “It was more to keep fit and keep weight down and that sort of stuff. I got to a plateau in my training and
wanted to improve my marathon times, so I needed some help with training.”
She approached Cardiff International Pool fitness trainer Richard Wilder who increased her regime.
“He totally changed the way I trained. Before I didn’t do anything other than running – but under the new schedule I
was doing weights, bike work, and my diet changed.”
Jen had two targets – to run a personal best at the Berlin Marathon and to finish the gruelling Marathon des Sables,
which is the equivalent to six regular marathons and often dubbed as the “World’s toughest footrace”.
Richard said: “Jen had a good level of cardio-fitness from her running but had neglected many parts of training such as
strength and core stability. Having followed a stringent training programme for a couple of months, Jen managed to
achieve her PB at the Berlin Marathon, and with her time qualified for a Championship place in the London Marathon
which she will be completing in April 2010.”
As part of Jen’s training she took part in the Welsh Indoor Rowing Championships gaining a silver medal in the Ladies
Open event and despite sustaining an injury – a loose piece of bone in her ankle – she completed the Marathon des Sables 2009, being the first British female to cross the line and the sixth highest female overall.
But her achievements didn’t stop there. Richard then convinced Jen she should take up the triathlon.
“This was something I’d not considered before,” she said.
“I’ve now completed four triathlons – but when I started I couldn’t even swim with my head underwater.”
In May, she took part in her first triathlon at Fairwater, which she won and shortly afterwards she won the Llandow Duathlon. Since then she has won a 10-mile time trial on her bike, come first in her age group at the Cardiff 10km (17th out of 735 women) and won the recent Survival Of The Fittest event in Cardiff. In only her 4th triathlon ever she has qualified to represent Britain at the European Triathlon Championships next year.
On top of all this she has managed to raise around £13,000 for charity as part of her Marathon des Sables training.
Jen said: “The pool in particular is second to none and training in a 50m facility is invaluable. It’s a very friendly place to come and train. I feel quite humbled by this award and flattered.”
Having been named the pool’s ‘Members of the Year’ Jim and Jen will now each receive complimentary membership for the next six months.
Fitness manager Lisa O’Neill said: “Both Jim and Jen have achieved amazing things this year and deserve this accolade.
They are an inspiration to anyone as to what can be achieved if you are determined enough.”
Councillor Nigel Howells, Executive member for Sport Leisure & Culture said: “Congratulations to both Jen and Jim. I am delighted that they have been able to get the most out of Cardiff International Pool and am very impressed by what they have both achieved.”
