A swimmer from Ross, who will celebrate his 75th birthday on Friday, brought home the gold from the Welsh Open Masters swim last weekend.

Don Leatherbarrow, who moved to Ross in November 2011, after living in the Forest of Dean since 1976, trains at Ross swimming pool.

He competed at the event, held at the Wales International Pool, Swansea, over two days, on March 9th and 10th.

Incredibly, Don won six gold medals in six different races. He won the 50m breaststroke, 50m fly, and 50m/100m/200m/800m freestyle.

Don said: "I'm a bit of an old boy now! I'm 75 this Friday. I started swimming in masters events when I was 68, and have just gone up this year into the 75-79 years group.

"I swim for Cinderford masters, training early on a Sunday morning. There is no masters section at Ross.

"I am a retired entertainer, and although I now miss the Forest, I absolutely love living in Ross with my dear wife Cindy. I am up at 6am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, to train at Ross pool, when it is laned. A lovely group of much younger guys, Giles, Alan and Adrian, are kind enough to let me join them in the fast lane, where we all push each other hard. We have a lot of fun together for nearly an hour."By the time I get home, ravenous for breakfast, I'm often so tired that I drop off for 40 winks in the chair!"Anyway, it's never say die, keep fit and grow old disgracefully, that's my style!"