Bermuda?s top two Masters swimmers, Colleen Nelson and Chris Smith, both medalled at the recent World Masters Championships in Palo Alto, California, with Nelson enjoying one of her best ever international meets.

A resident of Bermuda as well as British Columbia, Canada, 57-year-old Nelson snatched a silver medal in her age group in the 50 metres breaststroke, clocking 41.76 second which was just 13 hundredths of a second behind the gold medallist.

She also picked up a bronze medal in the 100 metres breaststroke with a personal best time of 1:34.23 and then swam three seconds faster than her previous best in the 100 metres freestyle to finish 18th overall.

Medals at the World Masters are handed out to the top 10 finishers in each event and as such Nelson was again rewarded when she placed ninth in the 50 metres butterfly, clocking 37.10, which was a new Canadian record for women between 55 and 59.

Smith, meanwhile, at the age of 74, was at the top of his age group and found the going tough.

However, he was happy to medal in the 400 metres freestyle, placing 10th and then finished fourth in the open water swim, in which Nelson also competed and placed 10th out of 45 in her age group.