SOMERSHAM swimmer Stephen Mavin admitted it was “hard to find the words” to describe how he felt after claiming a stunning eight gold medals and a British record in Sheffield last weekend.

SOMERSHAM swimmer Stephen Mavin admitted it was “hard to find the words” to describe how he felt after claiming a stunning eight gold medals and a British record in Sheffield last weekend.

The former Great Britain international and St Ives Swimming Club star, 35, also collected a silver medal during a breathtaking three days in the Ponds Forge pool at the British Gas ASA Masters Swimming Championships.

And although ecstatic with his golden glut, it was beating Dave Warren’s 50m butterfly British record that Mavin will cherish most, which he achieved after touching the wall in 25.57secs, shaving 0.14 seconds off the old record.

He said: “It was difficult to put into words just how I felt about it. I kept winning the gold medals but also getting so close to British records and narrowly missing out.

“Going into the 50m butterfly, the final event, I was once again up against Dave Warren and I thought I was capable of breaking the existing record, but every aspect of the swim had to be perfect.

“But I achieved what I set out to do and I’m delighted.”

Mavin’s record achievement also secured him his eighth gold in nine events over the three days, which began with victory in the 100m butterfly on the Friday, where he narrowly missed out on another British record.

A busy programme on Saturday saw Mavin pick up three more individual golds - in the 50m backstroke, 200m freestyle and 50m freestyle - before helping his Chatteris Kingfishers ASC team-mates to gold in the men’s 4x50m freestyle relay and the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay.

The gold rush continued into Sunday, with Mavin once again part of a successful Chatteris quartet who struck it lucky in the 4x50m individual medley.

However another British record in his 50m backstroke leg eluded him by just 0.08 of a second, while the team were just 0.2 seconds shy of the relay record.

A silver soon followed for Mavin in the 200m butterfly, where he was outdone by another record-setting swim from Warren, before a role reversal in the 50m butterfly.

“To get the British record as well as the eight golds was fantastic,” Mavin declared when looking back on his latest achievements.

“But, on the right day and with a bit of luck and the right fitness, I’d have had a couple more records too. So it keeps me motivated for next year.”

Versatile Mavin, who is also a prolific triathlete, was presented with a special gold medal for his record performance by Amateur Swimming Association (ASA) president Don Neate.

And a memorable weekend was capped with Stephen being joined on the podium by brother Garry, who picked up a bronze in the 100m butterfly - his first individual national medal - which was followed by bronze in the 50m butterfly.