Richard McBride

Dicky McBride was a swimmer extraordinaire. Every morning at the Carlisle Baths he trained by swimming 96 lengths – about a mile and a half.
He swam 30 lengths freestyle, 30 backstroke, 30 breaststroke, four fly and two side stroke – and he thought nothing of it. In fact, he was astonished that anyone thought his routine exceptional.
Aged 82 when he died, he was the oldest swimmer in the Carlisle Masters’ Club and swam at every gala he could get to. A few years ago at Harrogate at the inter counties’ competition, the Cumbrian representatives were struggling to get a team together, especially in the sections for older people and it was Richard McBride who came to the rescue. He swam in the 65-plus age group and in the 55-plus age group, which meant that he had about two minutes’ rest between each swim.
Two years ago, on a visit to Carlisle’s twin town of Flensburg, in northern Germany, he entered so many races that his friends took him aside and told him that he had to stop and his entry was taken out of the relays.
At home he taught adult swimming classes every Wednesday night and he was an active fell walker until recent times. He took parties of youngsters out onto the fells but said he had to stop as he became older – he felt that if a child had an accident he would no longer be able to carry the injured youngster down the fellside.
However, he continued to be closely involved with the Carlisle Ramblers.
Last year, at the Scottish Masters’ swimming championships, he broke the record time and, because he had a Scots surname, the organisers were anxious to find out if he had Scottish ancestry so they could credit him with the record. But he maintained that there was no Scots blood in him and told them: “We’re just sheep stealers from Cumbria.”
Mr McBride, who lived in Denton Holme, Carlisle, leaves his sister.