COMPETING in 10 events, Alison Johnston returned from last month's Masters Swimming Australia National Championships in Perth with 10 medals.
Swimming under her maiden name of Sakurovs, the Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club member picked up four gold and six silver, giving her in the highest point score for her age group.
It was her seventh time competing at the masters nationals but her first gold medal and she credits her strong performance to the birth of her son four years ago.
"I've been swimming almost all my life, since I was five years old," she said.
"I've always swum but more plodding along.
"That's picked up in the past few years, strangely I am faster now since I had my son William.
"He's definitely keeping me fit."
However she admits with a laugh that it doesn't hurt that her husband Peter is an award winning coach for the club, named the Masters NSW Coach of the Year for 2017, a title he also won in 2013.
"We are very professional in the water but at home we probably talk about swimming way too much over the dinner table," she said.
A member of the Merrylands Club for the past eight years, she says swimming is good for any age from babies to adults, with masters events for age categories from 18 and upward.
"They don't stop," she said.
"Swimming is easy on your joints and good for your lungs; it's good for any age."
Making a formidable team both in and out of the water, Peter and Alison Johnston from the Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club picked 11 medals between them at the Australian Masters Championships in Perth last month. Alison collected 10 medals, Peter won a bronze, and two other swimmers from the club, Ian and Tricia Johnston, also swam new personal bests at the event.
Source: http://www.localnewsplus.com.au/story?ID=137276&stories=stories&publication=Review§ion=Sport