Have you worked off your Christmas pudding yet?

If you were at training on Wednesday you would have received this announcement already "there will be swimming as normal on Wednesday 4th Jan". Previously we were only to have 3 lanes at 6pm but now on 4th Jan we can have all lanes at 7pm as per usual. So, the pool is closed Sunday 1st (being New Year's Day of course), then we have 3 lanes at 6pm on Monday 2nd Jan and thereafter everything is back to normal. Wednesday 4th is also the cutoff for getting your name down for the breakfast on the 8th Jan so you are going to want to do that if you haven't already done so.

You may have noticed there is a new page on the blog called 'Coaching Corner'. This is where we will post all the news on what is coming up in the coaching arena. Tony, who is our on-deck skills coach, will be keeping us up to date on what is coming up on Mondays, who is due for video, what is around the corner etc. I will also be posting here what is happening with Gary Hollywood's Saturday advanced technique sessions. For those who don't know who Gary, he is HPK's Head Coach and has been receiving all kinds of accolades and being sent overseas with swimmers to various events as a Swimming NZ assistant coach - high praise indeed. He recently was named Counties Manukau Coach of the Year 2011. I will be meeting with Gary soon to plan the 2012 sessions - more on this after I've met with him. Posting on the Coaching Corner page will be done between mid-day and evening Friday most weeks so you can check after that what is happening for the next day's Saturday session with Gary and for the following Monday with Tony. You will need to take it upon yourself to check this page yourself as the only postings that get sent out automatically are those that are posted on the Home Page. Postings on other pages aren't 'postings' as such so you will need to keep an eye on these pages yourself.

For those of you who are contemplating attending swim meets. When you enter you will be asked for an estimated time for each event you enter. While I may have records from race night's past, if there are a lot of you wanting to look back for your time it could become quite a time-consuming task. I would suggest that anyone interested in meets buy themselves a little notebook and start keeping a record of their times. Not only does it make it quick and easy to look up times when entering a meet but it's a great exercise to see the progress over time.

You are going to need to swim this one off

If you are around early in the New Year there is another social function - breakfast at GBS on 8th January. The sign-up sheet will be at the pool, but GBS want orders so that they can purchase to cover, so it would be helpful if you could look at the menu and make a decision on whether or not you will be attending and sign up or not sign up. We are not collecting money in advance for this one.

A big thanks to Shirley & Kevin for organising this.

Here is the menu:


mmmmm yummy

Russell to Paihia OWS Results, Upcoming Events, Seasonal Swimming Times

Russell to Paihia Ocean Swim Report

The Russell to Paihia 3.3km open water swim was on Saturday 10th. Tony Shacklock has sent in this report:

A group of us travelled to Paihia to swim the 3.3 km State Russell to Paihia Swim. A good time was had by all and some great achievements made. The start was early (7:25 am) so we all travelled up on Friday and stayed at various establishments in Paihia. A few of us (Dave, Liz, Angela and Tony) were in Paihia early enough to enjoy the day taking a ferry to Russell to survey the course and plan our strategies, then sampling the local café cuisine and generally soaking in the early summer atmosphere. The “carbo-load” buffet dinner offered as an addition to the entry was good and set us up well for the next day. Staying overnight minimised the early start, but it was still indecently early, with the ferry to Russell leaving at 6:15 am. The wind was a strong easterly, making it off-shore at Russell and behind the swimmers – the swim direction is generally southwest. Consequently, the swim started in smooth water and ended up quite rough but manageable, and the wind being behind the swimmers helped some achieve good times.

Provisional results are below, including a few of our Manukau Masters friends.

Dave Donaldson           49:07    3rd in M50-54 age group
Liz Hayes                      52:20    3rd in F40-44 age group
Pat Castles                   54:55
Tony Shacklock            57:07
Angela Oliver                1:00:38
Dave Walker                 1:04:25
Richard Smith               42:39    2nd in M40-44 age group
Audrey Dunlavy             53:26    1st non-wetsuit and 3rd in F25-29 age group
Rachel Richardson        55:25    1st non-wetsuit in F30-34 age group

Thanks Tony, keep up the good work.

Upcoming Events

There are more events on the horizon so if you eat a bit too much Christmas pudding here is your incentive to work it off:

15th January 2012 - State Epic Swim 2.5km open water, Taupo. Entry form here 

http://www.epicswim.co.nz/ 

15 January 2012 Katikati Masters 2.5km open water, Waihi Beach. Entry form here http://www.nzmastersswimming.org.nz/view-all-events/details/48

 29 January 2012 State Capital Classic 3.3km open water, Wellington. Entry form here http://www.oceanswim.co.nz/events/state-capital-classic-wellington

18 February 2012 Cambridge Masters LC sanctioned meet, Cambridge. Entry form here. http://www.nzmastersswimming.org.nz/upcoming-events-compmenu-74/pool-compmenu-54/details/59

For the Cambridge event we are expecting a good number of us to make the trip so we will be hiring a mini-van or two with a planned arrival time of around 11am. If, however, you are swimming in the 800/1500 you will need to get yourself there. The Cambridge meet is held in an outdoor pool and has a lovely carnival atmosphere. It concludes with a barbeque.

Christmas/New Year Swimming Times 

December 21st (Wednesday) - 7pm to 8pm (as usual)

December 25th (Sunday) - CLOSED

December 26th (Monday) - CLOSED

December 28th (Wednesday) - 6pm to 7pm (3 lanes)

January 1st (Sunday) - CLOSED

January 2nd (Monday) - 6pm to 7pm (3 lanes)

January 4th (Wednesday) - 6pm to 7pm (3 lanes)

January 8th (Sunday) - 8am to 9am (as usual)

Please note the earlier swimming times on December 28th, January 2nd and 4th. There will be no charge for swimming on those dates.

21 New Club Records, December Swimmer of the Month

Hello all. Results of the final race night for 2011 have been posted and what a successful night it was. 21 Swimmers in attendance and records tumbling. The women set 4 new records and broke 4 old records. The men set 8 new records and broke 3 old records. 2 New relay records were set. That is a total of 21 new records. Phew! They just keep coming.

Next up was a light supper. It's really good to see large numbers staying for this. Swimmer of the Month award was presented to Jeannie Smith for her legendary feats at the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge. In spite of grazes, bruises and a sore neck from a fall early in the race she dusted herself and carried on and finished amazing 10th in category. Very deserving.

This weekend is very busy for our ocean swimmers. Russell to Paihia is on today (10th) and the Chelsea Sugar Swim is on Sunday 11th. Good luck to all our swimmers involved.

Erratum

An important birthday has been missed. Yes, Angela Tomlinson also has a December birthday and in fact shares her birthday with someone else special. I'm not sure what happens when your birthday falls on Christmas Day. Do you get double up presents or one ginormous present? Or is everyone so caught up in Christmas festivities they forget the birthday kid? Maybe Angela can enlighten us tonight.

Last Club Night For 2011

Before we get to club night though let's celebrate these special people and their birthdays which they are having during the month of December: Mark Cowling, Elliott Crawford, David Donaldson, Lapo Nustrini, John Trubnick and Marleen Cleyndert. Feel free to break out into song any time you run into these folk.

The last club night for 2011 is on 7th December 2011. The programme is 25m butterfly (or freestyle), 50m breaststroke, 50m backstroke, and 100m freestyle. If time permits we will run 4 x 50m relays. This is to say each relay will have 4 swimmers who have to swim 50m each, not 4 relays with each relay being 50m long because that would be really hard to do and quite confusing.


This is your last opportunity to better your times of 2011 before 1 January when everyone becomes a year older - yes, we all have a birthday on 1 January, maybe we should splash out on a giant cake. Those whose current age ends in a 4 or a 9 will end up in a new age group bracket.


Races will be followed by a light supper (I'm hoping for Xmas cake or something festive, hint hint) and the presentation of the swimmer of the month award and possibly the wooden spoon. Just a word to Avy though, it is against the rules of the wooden spoon to give it back to the person who gave it to you so you need to find someone new to give it to. Keep your eyes open.