Subs Are Due Please And Handicap Swim Coming

Subscriptions Due
It's that time of year and annual subscriptions are due. Subscription for the coming year remains at $60, same as this year. Please put your $60, cash or cheque, in an envelope with your name on it and hand it to John T by the end of the year. He only needs your email, phone and address if they have changed since you last gave them to John. On that note, if you have not been receiving emails chances are there is something wrong with the one we have for you (or our ability to read your handwriting). Please provide your email address again.

Open Water Handicap Swim and Picnic
You might want to put the 10th March in your diary, go do it now. On this date at Little Bucks we will be having our annual handicap o/w swim and picnic that we have been holding every year since next year. You can swim either 1 km or 2 km with or without a wetsuit and we will have trophies and spot prizes. Entry will be free but you will need to submit a 400m free time for handicapping purposes. Don't worry yet as there will be more info on entering coming later. The swim will be at 5.30pm and the bbq and prizegiving will be at 6.30pm. It would make it a whole lot simpler to cook the meat if there was a barbeque at the location so if anyone has a portable barbeque that would be suitable for cooking large(ish) quantities of meat could you please have a word to John?

Race Night Results Are Out

If you were at race night last night these are now posted on all the right pages (I hope!), results are on the results pages, records on records pages etc. We had 20 swimmers which is the usual numbers and 2 free lanes for those who wanted to do 'other stuff'.  3 New men's records were set, 2 ladies records and 1 relay record (good call do the medley relay by the way!).

While admiring some of the amazing times our men swam I looked up some of the NZ records for the men's 400 free. There was one thing that stood out in particular, the men's record for the 30-34 year age group is 4.23 and the record for the men's 55-59 year age group is 4.24. There are 25 more years and only 1 second difference. Think about that for a bit. Quite astounding really. This nicely illustrates that you don't have to slow down as you age, the challenge continues.

Swimmer of the Month
Denise Munday is our November Swimmer of the Month. Denise has lined up for the first time for the Kohi Swim Series and done it style, returning for more swims in the series. Denise has inspired others to take the challenge. Nice job Denise.

This Week's Club News

Max Fagerstroem
A 'send off' Cath Fagerstroem's husband, Max, will be held this coming Friday at 1pm at Maraetai Boating Club. Everyone is very welcome to attend and have a glass of champagne and a few nibbles while honouring Max and memories of him. Cath would be delighted to see you there. Maraetai Boating Club is at 188 Maraetai Drive.

December Birthdays
We have quite a bunch this month. Here are our birthday babes for December: Mark Cowling, Elliott Crawford, David Donaldson, Vince Kirrane, Lapo Nustrini, Angela Tomlinson, John Trubnick and Dawn Walker. If I've added up correctly that's 8 members blowing out candles this month. By my reckoning that's a cake being eaten every 4 days or so.

Race Night
The last race night for the year is this Wednesday the 5th. We are going long. Brace yourselves for the 400 Free (or IM). There will be a couple of spare lanes for swimmers to do their own training in.

State Harbour Crossing
We had what might well be a record number of entries from South City with 14 swimmers entered. Here are the results of our swimmers (apologies to anyone left off):

Giles Walker  49.15
Dave Donaldson  49.52,  3rd in age group
Grant Sykes  51.10
Dawn Walker  52.52, 3rd in age group
Avy Judelson  54.37, 1st in age group
Jon Flatley 55.40
Elliott Crawford  56.01
Liz Hayes   57.13
Tony Shacklock  1.01.20
Angela Tomlinson  1.01.55
David Walker 1.02.23
David Spencer 1.05.27
Angela Oliver 1.06.29
Anne Smith 1.20.42

Condolences

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the loss of Max, much loved husband of good friend and club member Cath Fagerstroem. Our thoughts are with Cath during this difficult time. Flowers are being sent to Cath on behalf of all club members.

Pool Closure Over Christmas Period

Seasonal Pool Closure
The word on the street is that the pool will be closed on December 24th, 26th and 31st. There was no mention of the 25th but presumably no one is going to be wanting a swim that day anyhow. Right?

Kohi Swim Series
This is on every Thursday evening at Kohi Beach. Last week we had a very good turnout with 10 swimmers there and swimmers in the 1000, 1500 and 2000m categories. There is also a 500m category if you want to have a crack at it but aren't too sure. I won't be posting individual results each week as it is a 16 week series so the season is long but suffice to say all our swimmers did a grand job and no doubt will be back for more.

Christmas Function - Be In! Russell to Paihia Results

Christmas Function
It's that time of year again and Christmas is sneaking up on us. It's a good excuse to get together in something other than togs and goggles. It could be difficult to recognise each other with dry hair, maybe we should think about name tags (?). Anyhow, Anne, our social controller, has been working behind the scenes on a venue and has asked me to pass on the following:

You are invited to South City Christmas Brunch

10.30am on Sunday 16th December

Ara-Tai Cafe, 1/C4 Ara Tai Road, Half Moon Bay

Pay Your Own Way – Cold Cabinet or Menu Board

There will be a sign up sheet at the pool on Wednesday. Please put your name on it (only if you are coming to the brunch - duh!) because we need to know numbers.

As an aside, I just this minute received an email in my inbox that told me to 'say NO to socks this Christmas'. I'm thinking if that's all I have to say 'no' to it's going to be a very happy Christmas this year.

Russell to Paihia Ocean Swim

We had a strong contingent of 8 swimmers make the trek north this year and they all did the club proud. Four of our swimmers medalled which is a 50% hit rate, excellent by any standards. Here are the individual results:

Dave Donaldson   56.43     3rd in age group

Giles Walker         57.06     2nd in age group

Dawn Walker       1.00.27   2nd in age group

Dave Bradding    1.01.51 

Grant Sykes         1.02.38

Jon Flatley           1.03.22

Liz Hayes            1.03.49    2nd in age group

Anne Smith         1.45.27

Great work, we are looking forward to seeing our swimmers on the podium at the end of the season (no pressure!).

Club Night Results Out

Results from Wednesday's races have now been posted to the Results and Records pages. There were 20 swimmers in attendance. 12 New records were set, 5 by the men, 6 from the women and 1 new relay record. A big thanks as always to our dedicated timekeepers who give up their time to make sure our swimmers racing always have enough hands on deck.

Swimmer of the Month award was most deserved (isn't it always?). As most of you will know, unless you live under a rock, Jo Cook has has been powering away all year for the World Triathlon Grand Finals here in Auckland. This involved biking, swimming, running, swimming, biking, swimming over and over and over and doing all this in between work and family commitments. Superwoman! She did this through illness and injury, one injury during the taper phase. Grand Final day came and Jo finished an extraordinary 39th in the stunning time of 1 hour 43. Well done Jo, we are all proud of you.

Kath, I believe, is very attached to the wooden spoon.

November Birthdays, Kohi Swim Series

November Birthdays
November is a busy month for birthdays. Here are our special people celebrating this month: Rochelle Gebbie (milestone - we'll keep that to ourselves though won't we Rochelle?), Colleen White, Dave Bradding (also a milestone but doesn't he look so much younger than he is?), Jo Cook, Julie Devonshire, Neil Finnigan, Jon Flatley and Anne Smith. Now, if all those people could just slip me a bit of their birthday cake........

Kohi Swim Series
As a club we would like to win the points trophy this season. Everyone earns points no matter where you finish and it's a lot of fun. There will be lots of us there so come and join us. The Kohi sea swims are every Thursday at Kohi beach with a break over Christmas. The start time is 6.15 pm. You can enter online or at the beach that evening, and the entry is discounted (for online) if you enter before the Tuesday prior to the swim. You can also pay for the whole series at a less expensive per-swim price. Distances are 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 metres. You can mix up the distances so you can do 500m one week and 1000m the next etc. There is boat support and good spot prizes, some to the value of your entry for the whole 16 weeks. Make sure you select South City Masters as your swimming club so your points count towards the trophy for the winning club.

Here is the website Kohi Swim Series

Inter-Club Challenge Won By...................

........both clubs. Yes, it was a draw! Who would have predicted that?

South City got off to a rip roaring start in the first 2 events and had a handy points lead. But Manukau would not be denied and with each passing event the points gap got ever closer. With one event to go South City's lead had been whittled down to a miserable 2 points. The final event was the Flying Squadron Relay - 3 men and 3 women swimming as fast as they could over one 25m length. It was worth double points. Manukau took an early lead and although South City were coming back at them, South City simply ran out of pool. This win gave Manukau Masters 8 points to South City's 6, so the final tally for the challenge was South City Masters 135 points, Manukau Masters 135 points. Tie!

Both clubs thoroughly enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to the tie-breaker in February.

A huge thanks goes out to all the helpers. They are too many to name but they know who they are - the challenge manager, team manager, starter, marshall, IOT's, place judges and recorders. You did a magnificent job and it couldn't have happened without you.

Race Night
Scheduled for Wednesday 7th November. Is it really November already? I better start thinking about Christmas shopping. Events for race night will be 25 Breast or Free, 50 Free, 100 Back (NOT or free as that would defeat the next event which is), 100 IM or Free.

Bag Alert
John Shackleton from Manukau Masters is looking for his son's swimming bag which he thinks was left in the party room after the challenge meet. It is a black drawstring bag and contains a couple of towels, goggles, and some kiddy togs. Can you help get John out of the dog box? If anyone has seen this bag, come see me.

Inter-Club Challenge Meet On This Sunday

This Sunday, 28th October, we are hosting the first of the Inter-Club Challenges, this one to be held between South City Masters and Manukau Masters. Warm up starts and 7.00am and the racing starts at 7.30am. If you aren't racing or officiating come along and cheer your team on to victory. There is swimming at the usual time, see below.

For the challenge meet there are 2 age groups, babies and derelicts who will compete over 5 individual and 3 relay events. Here is your team:

The youngsters include Fiona Grigg, Jo Cook, Dawn Walker, Grant Sykes, David Main, Giles Walker and Lapo Nustrini. 
Golden oldies include Liz Hayes, Deryn McGregor, Avy Judelson, Mark Cowling, Mark Clavey, Dave Donaldson and Mike Harrison.

There is also a very organised and highly trained group of officials including Barry Davies, John Trubnick, Tony Shacklock, Rochelle Gebbie, Angela Tomlinson, Diane Lane, Peter Lane, Anne Legg, Sally Walker, Ivo Prabbruwe and there may be one or two others whose names haven't reached me yet.

Photographer Required

If you are an enthusiastic photographer it would be great if you could come along and take some photographic evidence for the archives.

South City Club Swim:  0800 am to 0900 am

The four lanes in the recreation Pool will be available to members not taking part in the Inter Club Challenge.

A swim programme will be made available.

No Pool Charges:

There will be no Pool charges for those taking part in either the Inter Club Challenge or the South City Swim.

Other Activities This Weekend: 

South City have many club members involved in other big events this weekend. No one will be named as inevitably people get left off the list, however several are off to cycle either K1 (100km) or K2 (200km) on Saturday. Sunday is Auckland Marathon day and that means we have swimmers (!) running varying distances, mostly the half marathon. We do, however, have one complete loony, and we can all guess who it is, who is cycling K1 on Saturday and then running the full marathon on Sunday. Yikes! I wonder if he will be walking on Monday?

Good luck to everyone involved in 'stuff' this weekend.
 

Good luck Jo!

If you haven't figured out yet why super athlete Jo has been training so hard lately it's because she is competing in the WORLD triathlon championships that Auckland is lucky to be hosting this weekend. We all wish Jo the very best for Monday's race. I'm sure there is going to be an enormous crowd cheering her on, and some of them will be from South City Masters.

Go hard Jo! Tuesday can be a rest day.

Top swimmers Jason and Adam are swopping their swimsuits for running shoes the following week as they take part in the Auckland Marathon so best of luck to them too. There are bound to be one or two other club members involved in this event that I don't know about yet so if this is you please be assured that (in spirit) we are pounding the pavement with you.

Race Night Results Are Out

Race Night
Results from Wednesday's race night have now been posted up so you can go and have a squizz. We had 24 swimmers and 9 new records were set, 5 in the men's and 4 in the women's. No new relay records. If your surname is Williams-White, I did not have an age for you so couldn't put you on the main table but here are your times: 25 back 24.18, 50 free 46.20, 100 breast 1.56.80, 200 free 4.00.71.

Awards
As usual, after the races we had the presentation of the wooden spoon and swimmer of the month awards. Kath B wasn't there to receive the coveted wooden spoon but I'm sure she will look forward to the handing over ceremony. Why? Well she single-handedly tried to force an upgrade of lane ropes on the local council. Having decided the lane rope was a bit saggy she thought to tighten it a bit but instead managed to disengage it altogether. I wasn't there but I believe it took a few people to put it back together. Nice one Kath! Don't give up your day job.

On to Swimmer of the Month. This was very well deserved, as it always is. Vince Kirrane performed extraordinarily well at the Skins meet on 1st September. He entered everything except the butterfly (why not the butterfly Vince?) and convincingly cleaned up by winning his age group in all of his 3 events. This means he earned maximum points from his events - 18 in total. I can't remember what the total points for the club was at the end of the meet but Vince must have earned around 10% of them. Good job!

Technique Posting
There is a new post on the Technical Tips page so you might want to check that out.

October Birthdays, Race Night

October Birthdays
It's a quiet month for birthdays but we are making a big noise for these four special people celebrating their birthday in October: Adam Jaidin, Heather Legg, Peter Young and Carol Gray.We all hope your big day is the best yet.

Race Night
It's race night on Wednesday. Yes, that is tomorrow night. Events are 25m backstroke, 50m butterfly or freestyle, 100m breaststroke and 200m butterfly (OK 200m of any stroke you like). I'm doing 200m butterfly and would love some company if you are mad enough. If you aren't mad though just pick some other stroke for the 200m race. Afterwards we will have the wooden spoon and swimmer of the month awards.

Race Night Results, September Birthdays, Awards

September race night results are now posted up so if you can't remember what time you did slide on over to the results page and check them out. Everyone seemed to enjoy getting to choose what stroke they did and not surprisingly a lot of swimmers chose freestyle. Come on guys, broaden your horizons. No one chose the 200 butterfly for probably lots of reasons which I cannot comprehend, it's only 8 lengths, surely that's not asking too much. Six women's records and one relay record were broken/set - good job.

As usual, swimmers enjoyed a light supper afterwards followed by the awarding of the Swimmer of the Month and wooden spoon awards. Swimmer of the Month was Diane Lane who has had to overcome a number of hurdles (not the running kind Angela, I know now to spell things out for you) in order to return to the swimming pool but nonetheless turns up every month as timekeeper when we have race nights - thanks Diane. The wooden spoon went to Angela T. Why? It's a rather long story. Let's just say things need spelling out (hence the comment above). I suspect Angela will be anxious to rid herself of the spoon so you might want to keep a low profile.

September birthdays. Our virgoans are few and far between. However, as is often the case, small in numbers goes hand in hand with big on quality. So happy birthday in September to Robyn McCullough, Tony Shacklock, Ron Tomlinson and Sally Walker.

Fulton Cup, News From Annette, Postal Swim

Fulton Cup
Remember that the Fulton Cup is on 23rd September. This is another fun meet and is at Cameron Pool in Mt Roskill so dust off your racers and get your entry in. Entries close on 14th September so don't delay. You can get your entry by following this link: Fulton Cup Entry  and then choosing 'Events' from the menu on the left.

Postal Swims
These are coming up at the end of the month. 800/1500m freestyle. Be in to win. You need to let John T know if you want to do them. Don't miss out.

Race Night
Race night is on this Wednesday the 5th September. Because we have missed the last couple and you may have missed your pet event we are having 'choice' night. This means you can choose what stroke you want to swim for the distance on offer. Want to do that 200 fly you've been yearning for? Now's your chance.

News from Annette
Annette has sent this in so we can keep up with news from the boondocks of Western Australia.

"Thought I would drop you a line and let you know how life is treating me. Arrived here a little over a week ago after a five hour plane flight from Alice. Only allowed 10kg of luggage, had to spread ourselves out  in the plane to distribute the load and when the pilot hopped in he looked like he was about 12 years of age!! First impressions of Warburton: red coarse dust, grass the colour of pale straw, blue cloudless sky and plastic and crap being blown around in the wind. Locals (Aboriginal) housing one level block and with a tin roof often with little inside except for a mattress or two thrown on the floor. They remain nomadic so you can go to the house and find that they have gone bush - they may be back in a day or two or it may be a month or longer. The houses remind very much of shanty towns in South Africa.

Our houses are comfortable if somewhat dated - think NZ 1950s or 60s. The red dust gets everywhere so shower, loo etc all stained but at least they all have good air-conditioning units - essential here in the summer when the temps can get up to 40C+. So hot that people leave their dogs locked in the houses with aircon on full! The clinic staff houses are all grouped together which is nice - we get up in the mornings and all go for a walk on one of the several tracks that run off into the bush. And at the end of the week there is often a get together for a BBQ - pity about there being no wine!! And on Sundays we meet at the art centre for our coffees and a bit of normalcy.

Everyone here owns dogs - they are good for protecting your house and keeping you company in the bush. However because there are so many dogs and no fences they tend to form packs and become quite territorial. Going for a walk can be a bit like running the gauntlet - you turn and face the pack and yell "baya" followed by a few well aimed stones. Of course you always have your own pack who are more than happy to swing into action in your defense! Joy who I am sharing the house with is currently looking after four dogs while their owners are off "the lands" on holiday or on courses. So when you go for a walk you never get to go on your own even if you would like to!! One walk that I have done is on Warburton Beach which is the name given to the airstrip as it has sand at the side of the tarmac. It is 2.5k long and is a favourite with the joggers including the transgender hairdresser with her/his pink hair, short shorts and sequined top - Priscilla of the Desert is alive and well!!

As well as the dogs there are also a couple of horses who were brought here as a wedding present - they are now semi-wild and have learned to tip over the rubbish bins for a bit of variety to their diet. And of course there are the camels who roam around and cause a problem when they hang out at the airstrip - some guy is employed to chase them away when there is an incoming flight.

Work is certainly varied - day two here and there was fight between two families - so we were dealing with knife wounds and extensive bruising caused by crow bars and wheel braces - the weapons of choice! Then there was the case of gastritis caused by eating rotten roo (as in kangaroo) tails - you can buy them in the freezer of the local shop - they come with the fur still on! One of our workers rolled one of the utes after she hit a camel so had to assess for head injury, and then there was the man with a burnt foot - offered to drop him home and ended up driving out through the bush to a clearing where he lives. Left him sitting in the dust with his blanket wrapped round him, both arms bandaged up as he had an IV luer in each for more antibiotics the following day. We fly people out a couple of times a week - if they are not too bad a commercial flight will do otherwise it is the Flying Doctors. This week we patched up one of the police dogs - no one batted an eyelid as he was put up on the table, had his wound cleaned and sutured and was started on antibiotics!!

Aboriginal health is poor - it is a shock when you get a patient without diabetes. There is a lot of renal disease. Girls are often infertile by the time they are 16 or 17 due to sexually transmitted infections. Scabies, nits, ringworm, school sores are run of the mill. A lot of people are deaf due to perforated ear drums and I haven't seen a kid yet without a runny nose - I am not sure about using the swimming pool!!!  Plus it has a dividing wall at 20m so there is a shallow end for the babies. Seems hardly worth the risk if you know what I mean!!

Off for a shower and bed - have an offer on the house in Clovelly but still trying to rent my little unit in Willoughby - let me know if you know of anyone who is interested.

I'll keep in touch.

Cheers
Annette"

Thanks Annette. I think I'll just stay put.

Breaststroke Clinic, Dive Coaching and Other Stuff

Breaststroke Clinic
I'm finally getting this underway and have scheduled dates. I will be running a breaststroke clinic on Sundays through the month of September. Four sessions are planned but if each session runs too much over time then we will go to a fifth session. Here is what is being covered:

Week 1: Body position, arm pull (this may run into week 2)
Week 2: Kick
Week 3: Breathing and timing
Week 4: Individual technique analysis and key drills for each individual

Tentatively we will run this on the 2nd, 9th, 16th and 23rd (and quite possibly 30th) September. Assuming we have access to the leisure pool again by the 2nd Sept we will be holding the sessions there. I'm expecting each session to take 1 hr15 so we will be starting a little early so we can still be out by 9am, that is, the sessions will run from 7.45am to 9am. Over coffee I have some really good video clips to show that will help illustrate what you are learning.

There is NO COST for this clinic.


If you are keen to do this clinic please contact me via the 'view my complete profile' link on the home page of the blog (once you've clicked on this link there is an email link on the left) and let me know you are intending to come as I need to have an idea of numbers.

Diving Coaching
On Sunday 2nd September Avy will be coaching diving for the last 15 minutes of the session i.e. during the relays. This will be very valuable for anyone thinking of competing but is unsure about diving, and also anyone who simply wishes to improve their diving. If you want to do the breaststroke clinic and the diving, no problemo, remind my on the day and I will make sure you get to Avy on time and I will catch you up later on anything breaststroky that you have missed. You can do both.


Next Club Night
This is to be on the 5th September. Because we missed August's night we are having 'swimmers choice' night on the 5th. There will be a 25, 50 and 100m and you can choose what stroke to do. If there is time we will run 200m also but no promises on that one as it will depend on how much time we have after the hundreds.


Special Olympics
This is on 30th September from 1.30pm to 5.30pm. Just a reminder that if you can help with timekeeping, recording or anything at all then please get your name to John T.

URGENT - Pool closed tonight

This is to confirm that the Lloyd Elsmore Pool has been closed by the Pool Management due to a sudden death there.

Accordingly there will be no Swimming Sessions tonight Wednesday the 15 August 2012

Swimming as normal on Sunday 19th August.

And now, on a more positive note - a word from Te Awamutu Masters 
"It must be the season for chocolate fish meets!  Attached is the advertising flyer and entry form for the Te Awamutu Masters choc fish meet.  This will be held at the Te Awamutu Events Centre on 1 October from 6-9pm.  All welcome!" End message.

You may notice the flyers are not attached at all. That is in the interest of getting the message out about tonight in a timely manner. To post docs up I need to scan them and save them as jpegs (you can't upload docs to Blogger), which won't do you any good anyway since you won't be able to download them. So......if you want the info and entry docs email me and I will email the docs to you. Although it is on a Monday it sounds like a fun meet and Te Awamutu isn't far to go.
 

Expressions of Interest Please

Firstly, apologies to Peter Lane who was left off the list of birthdays for the month. If I wasn't already sacked for being late then I certainly am now for that bungle. I wonder if the sacking comes with a golden handshake. I hope so. I guess though that at least it wasn't an Olympic event that I forgot to enter him in. Peter's birthday is on the 23rd so put it in your diary and send him a message.

The North Island Short Course Champs are on the 5th and 6th October in Hastings. Angela T is looking into transportation options and so we need to know whether you are thinking of going to this swim meet. Angela will have a sheet by the pool this week asking for interest in attending. We are just looking for names and whether you would like to go down as part of the club and carpool to Hastings and whether you would prefer to go down in private cars or, if enough people were interested whether you would like to go down in a van.

The cost for private car depends on how many people are in it, but for 4 people in a car it will cost approximately $50.00 and if enough people want to go down as a group the van will cost about $65.00 each if there are 10 people. You will need to organise your own accommodation but that might be easier to plan once you know if you are able to share a ride down with someone else.

Please put your name on the list this week if you are planning on going to Hastings.

August Notices

August Birthdays
I'm a bit late aren't I? Someone should sack me. Our birthday babes for August are: Pat Castles, Barry Cribbens, Kevin Fergusson, Janet Laing, Druanne Plank, David Walker and Ivo Pabbruwe. Happy birthday you lot, we all hope it's a goody.

Manukau Masters Skins
Entries for this close on 18th August. That is very soon. This is a fun meet and you only have to drive to Sykes Rd in Manurewa to take part.

Swim Smooth
For those of you who haven't discovered Swim Smooth yet, it is a fantastic web site full of great swim tips including technique and training. It's geared largely at open water swimmers and triathletes, meaning the information is freestyle based and will help more with swimming long than short. Once a week they send out a useful tip by email. If you want to sign up to receive the email tips go here: http://www.feelforthewater.com/

Special Olympics at Lloyd Elsmore Leisure Centre - Volunteers Needed
On 30th September Special Olympics are holding their Aquatic Ribbon Day Invitation. We have been asked if we are able to provide any volunteers - timekeepers, IOC, anything you can do to help if you can spare the time. It starts at 1.30 and finishes at 5.30pm. Names to John Trubnick if you can help.

Upcoming Events
September
Saturday 1st - Skins (Manurewa)
Wednesday 5th - Club night
Saturday 23rd - Fulton Cub
Sunday 30th - Special Olympics, volunteers needed 1.30 to 5.30pm
During the month - 800/1500 Postal event

October
Wednesday 3rd - Club night
Fri/Sat 5/6th - NI Short Course Champs, Hastings
Sunday 21st - Interclub Challenge, 8.30 - 10.30am
During the month - 1 Hour postal event

No Club Night This Wednesday

There will be no CLUB NIGHT on Wednesday 1 August 2012.  Usual Wednesday programme will be in place. This should allow members to get some fitness back, especially those who did not make the journey to Papatoetoe.

We will resume Club Night again on 5 September 2012. Just in time for race practice for Fulton Cup and those going to NISC!

There are some new swimming programmes on the the swim programme page for those who do some training in their own times. You can print them out and take them to the pool with you. 

Upcoming Swimming Meets

Some swimming meets on the horizon for you to enter:

Manukau Masters Just Skins
September 1st is the date this year, 4.30 start time. This is a really fun meet and is run as a knockout event. Swim a length, last person to touch the pool leaves the water. Race again etc until only 2 people remain then it's a one on one race. Points are notched up for the club. There are lots of good spot prizes. From memory, more than half of us took away spot prizes last year. Here's a link for the entry form:
http://www.nzmastersswimming.org.nz/event/10/2012-Manukau-Masters-Just-Skins.html

Fulton Cup
Also in Auckland. Held at Cameron Pool in Mt Roskill. Warm up at 4.00pm for a 4.30pm start. Supper from 7.30 to 8.30pm. There is no entry form for this yet so more on this as it comes to hand.

NZMS 800/1500  and 1 hour Postal Swims
The 800/1500 postal is run throughout the month of September and the 1 hour is in the month of October (swim as far as you can in 1 hour. 1 hour - yikes!). Both are run by NZMS. You need a timekeeper to keep track of your splits. John T will set dates for anyone interested in doing these events so everyone is doing them together and we have enough timekeepers organised. So if you want to do either of these events go here: http://www.nzmastersswimming.org.nz/events.html then go to the right link and get an entry form. Then let John know you want to do it so he knows who wants to do what. Organisation is everything.

NI Short Course Champs
On the 5th and 6th October in Flaxmere. No entry forms are available yet so more on this as it comes to hand.

Reminder About Pool Closure

I know this is a rehash but with only a few days to go it's a good time to remind everyone about the pool's annual maintenance and the arrangements that have been made so you can still swim during this time.

The last day for swimming is Sunday July15th (that's this Sunday) and the pool re-opens on July 30th. There will still be training at Papatoetoe pool on Sutton Crescent on Wednesdays from 8pm to 9pm and Sundays from 8am to 9am. There will be no charge for swimming while we are at Papatoetoe. That's a good deal isn't it? On Sundays you can still get your coffee fix afterwards over at Hunter's Plaza.

If you are going to the dinner and aren't planning to go to Papatoetoe please get your money to Anne on Sunday.

Congratulations Gary Hollywood; and Food Glorious Food

And the food is subsidised.....woo hoo! On Saturday 4th August at 7pm have your gladrags on and join us at the Thai Flame for a meal and a social time. A banquet menu is on offer and Thai Flame offers both fully licensed and BYO poison. Club members pay just $15 and partners pay $30.

Anne needs to know final numbers and have your money please by the 27th July. A sign up sheet will be at training and money collection facility i.e. purse for your money (no EFTPOS or Visa). Remember pool closure on 16th July so you might want to seal the deal by then. Here is the menu for those who want to know in advance:

  

In other news, for those who were lucky enough to have benefited from the amazing coaching of Gary Hollywood, he and wife Carol are now the very proud parents of baby James Edward. James was born on the 16th June at 8.37pm and weighed in at 2.8kg. Everyone is well and happy. Awesome news Gary, we are looking forward to some photos.

As most people know, those dastardly Australians have got hold of Gary and he is going to Oz to head up swimming at a private school in New South Wales. He will be being mentored by Ian Thorpe's former coach Doug Frost and it is a fantastic opportunity for him. While it seems he will be lost to us, never fear, I have come up with a cunning plan......................I just need to tell Gary.

Apples and Pears

If you weren't at club on Wednesday night you missed taking part in a trial run of an Inter Club Challenge Meet. Swimmers were divided into 2 teams, named Apples and Pears and several events were swum including relays. Points were allocated according to placings.

Racing was close and the 2 teams were separated by just one point. And the winning team was..............Pears. Well done Pears.

One or two people missed out on the swimming. We'd like to be able to say that we were saving these people as our future secret weapons but the simple truth was it was an unfortunate oversight so sincere apologies to anyone who didn't get a swim.

After the swimming there was supper and presentation of the wooden spoon and swimmer of the month awards.

Wooden Spoon
After some reluctance to give this up Denise found a new home for the wooden spoon and awarded the wooden spoon to John T. In Denise's own words: It was witnessed by a number of us a couple of Sunday's ago that John appeared to be sleeping while reading his book in Splashes Cafe. We noticed that his eyes were definitely shut while he waited for us to finish the drills so he could start the relays! Normally his observations are vigilant in keeping our swimming techniques to a high standard, but he was technically catching some zzzzzzzzzz's so to speak. Thanks Denise. Fortunately, John stayed awake to receive his award.

Swimmer of the Month
For June this award went to Anne Smith. Anne traveled all the way to Hawera, a 5 or 6 hour drive no less, for their swim meet. Although she was our only club's entry there were 200 entries for this meet. Anne went in 7 events, covering all the strokes and included a medley. Anne swam a number of PB's during the meet and won a medal in her age group. In the 25m fly she took 2 seconds off her PB and off her club record. Great work Anne.

July Birthdays

It's that time of year again for these very special people. These 4 people are celebrating birthdays this month: Bruce Bell, Diane Lane, Christine Thomas, and Gustav Eiselin. When you see them give them a pat on the back, shake their hand or better yet give them a muffin.

Here's a rehash about pool closure because it will be upon us before we know it:

The pool is closing for it's annual maintenance and spruce up. The last day for swimming is July16th and the pool re-opens on July 30th. Not to worry. You can get your usual fix at Papatoetoe pool on Wednesday from 8pm to 9pm and Sunday from 8am to 9am. Not only that but you can get it for FREE. Yes, there is no charge during this time. On Sundays you can still get your coffee fix afterwards over at Hunter's Plaza.

Club News

I'm Getting Dizzy
Last night I sent an email saying we were swimming in the leisure pool. Cancel that. We are back in the lap pool but at the earlier time of 7.45am. HPK have a swim meet on and will be busy warming up in the leisure pool. It will be helpful to them if we are out promptly at 8.45am. I hope those coffee ladies are arriving early, I don't want to wait till 9.30 for my coffee, I'll be asleep again by then.

Leisure Pool Access on Sundays
This is on hold for now, effective immediately. As our numbers start to swell again as summer approaches we shall look at booking the pool for a few months again. We'll keep you posted.

Coaching News
Lots happening here. Avy will be coaching during relay times this Sunday. Tumble turns were popular last session and it was hard to get through everyone so turns are on the menu again. If you want help with your turns, see Avy during the relay period of Sunday's session. She'll have you turning so fast you'll be calling her the spin doctor.

Tony is always around to help on a Monday night and he's there with his video camera. If you want some underwater footage (yikes!) and/or stroke correction book a session with Tony.

I'm going to be running a breaststroke clinic once the pool re-opens after it's annual maintenance. It won't be for the faint-hearted. It is a 5 session course to be run on Sundays either during the normal session, pending use of the leisure pool, or later in the day if we are using only the lap pool. Each session lasts just over 1 hour and is followed by the viewing of videos over coffee (or tea). Dates will be decided once we have made a decision on the use of the leisure pool.

Pool Closure
It's that time of year again. The pool is closing for it's annual maintenance and spruce up. The last day for swimming is July16th and the pool re-opens on July 30th. Not to worry. You can get your usual fix at Papatoetoe pool on Wednesday from 8pm to 9pm and Sunday from 8am to 9am. Not only that but you can get it for FREE. Yes, there is no charge during this time. On Sundays you can still get your coffee fix afterwards over at Hunter's Plaza.

Time For A Chinwag
Anne is on to it. She's been checking out some venues and we shall be heading to the Thai Flame on Ti Rakau Drive for a good night out on 4th August. That's a Saturday night if your calendar isn't handy. It's BYO and it's a large venue so we should be able to accept everyone who wants to come. Partners are welcome and members are subsidised. More info a bit closer to the time. Pencil it it now.

Where Were You?

Just 14 swimmers turned out for 400's race night on Wednesday and we were in danger of having more timekeepers than swimmers. It didn't stop some great times being swum though and a couple of nutters (Lapo and Neil if you must know) dared to swim the 400 IM. Good on them. They both did excellent times too and set records in their respective age groups. We had 4 new records in total. Results are up on the results page (duh) and records on the records pages (double duh).

With so few swimmers there were no relays to finish with but it did mean there was more food for me to eat. No wonder I have a growing waistline. We are hopeful some of your excuses for not showing up will give Denise some fodder for the wooden spoon award - the weather kept me away, I don't like 400's, the dog ate my car keys.......

So there was no wooden spoon award this month as Denise is enjoying it too much. We did still present the Swimmer of the Month award however. This went most deservedly to Kath Barclay (are you just finding out now Kath?). It was a tough decision for the committee as there were 3 nominees, all of whom had won their age group at the Roskill meet. However, Kath has improved remarkably over the last 6 months or so, swimming spectacular times for the 50 free (32s) and 100 free (1.12) and also had rather more swimmers in her age group to beat - 9 people in the 50 free. Top dog indeed. Well done Kath, the trophy is coming your way on Sunday.

Remember, anyone can send a nomination in for anything so keep your eyes and ears peeled. Do ears get peeled? I don't know, I think I made that up.

June Birthdays and Photos from Roskill Meet

Hi folks, it's been a bit quiet lately hasn't it? So let's all make some noise for these special members who are having a birthday this month: Giles Walker, Liz Hayes, Avy Judelson, John Manning and Annette Stewart. Next time you see them make sure they know how special they are. And I will just whisper in your ear that it is Avy's special birthday this month. She still looks so young though that she gets asked for ID at the liquor store. True story!

If you were at the Roskill meet a couple of weeks ago slide on over to the Gallery page as there are some photos up. You might see yourself.

Strange Happenings

If you were at training on Monday night you would have been involved in a strange but enjoyable session. After a brief warm up everyone was divided into teams for a 30 minute continuous relay, the object of which was to see how far the teams could swim in half an hour. Everyone swum freestyle and swum 50 metres at a time before changeover to a team mate. It was a close race and all 5 teams completed more than 2000 metres.

Here are the results. Team 1 swam in lane 1. I wonder how long they spent coming up with that hugely imaginative team name, hours I bet. Team 1 swam 2425m. Team 2 (equally creative with their team name) swimming in lane 2 swam 2395m. Team Spongebob from lane 5 swam 2145m. Team Durafast from lane 4 swam 2100m and not far behind was Team 4 (what's with the names?) from lane 4 with 2025m.

27 Swimmers took part, John T kept time and 4 or 5 club members counted so all in all more than 30 people were kept busy. The feedback has been positive and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Robyn M wants to do it as a half hour wine drinking relay next time. We'll consider anything Robyn; swim 50m drink wine, swim 50m eat a pie, we know where that one is going don't we?

Finally, just a reminder that if you are going to the Roskill meet in the mini-van please be at the Lloyd Elsmore Pool car park at 11.30am on Saturday.

Mini-van transport for Roskill meet

If you put your name down to travel by mini-van to the meet at Roskill next Saturday 12th May please meet at the Lloyd Elsmore Swimming Pool carpark at 11.30 am. The next thing you should do is get in it because the mini-van will be leaving shortly afterwards. Mike W has kindly offered to be the driver and he will make sure you get safely to Cameron Pool in time for the 12.30 pm warm up.

If you haven't been to a swimming pool meet before you might be wondering what to bring besides togs, goggles, swim cap and the clothes you wish to wear home. Here are a few ideas:

• 2 towels - one to keep you warm and dry between races and one to use after racing as the other one will be very soggy by then. If you have a chamois you will find it very useful.
• 2 t-shirts - likewise, they get very wet in between races and you don't want to get cold so have a dry one to put on.
• sweatshirt - even though it's warm in the pool area a wet body = a cold body.
• drink bottle - even though you are in the water, swimming is thirsty work. Beat dehydration. That goes for supporters too, swimming pool environments are dehydrating.
• a healthy snack - you can't race well if you are hungry. Avoid apples as they are high in fiber and difficult to digest. Bananas and creamed rice (not necessarily together!) are good choices.

Race Night Results Are Out. May Birthdays.

My apologies for the delay. I pretty much earned (yet another) wooden spoon by more or less wiping out half of the women's records table immediately before Blogger did an autosave (who asked for that by the way?). Barry has the records templates so...............some hours later it has been recreated, phew. We do miss Barry don't we?

Results are up and records have been amended. There were 9 new individual records but no new relay records this time around.

Races were followed by a light supper and the awards. The wooden spoon was awarded to Denise Munday for her inability to find her earplugs in her own ears. She'll be looking for her goggles next. I hope she doesn't lose her togs, that could be truly embarrassing. The Swimmer of the Month was yours truly for rolling back the clock 10 years in the 400IM at the nationals. There's nothing like getting younger is there.

I might be getting younger but some folk are getting older (oops, that's not tactful is it?). There are only 4 people celebrating birthdays in May. Perhaps May isn't a popular month but these 4 people are very popular and we would like to wish them a very Happy Birthday - Diane Grogan, Fiona Grigg, David Jamieson and David Warburton.

Don't Miss Out!

Entries close very soon for the Roskill Masters hosted Auckland Short Course swim meet. This is a really fun meet that anyone can enter no matter your swimming level and we would love it for as many of you as possible to join us at Cameron Pool for a fun afternoon of swimming (and supporting and eating) on 12th May. There is an extension for entries until Tuesday so you still have plenty of time.

Here is where you go to get an entry form:

Auckland Short Course Swimming Champs

Why should you enter? For starters, you get a whole afternoon of my dazzling company, but if that isn't enough to entice you then read on:

• We are going to drive you there for FREE in a mini-van. Yes, we are eco-friendly and saving fossil fuels. Travel with a friend (quite a few friends in fact).
• Club contribution of $10 towards a meal on the way home. The mini-van will be stopping at an eatery (possibly the Zookeepers Son) and your meal will be subsidised.
• Put that club swimming cap to good use. It's not just a wallet you know.
• An opportunity to use that club night practice.

So support South City Masters, support swimming and support Roskill Masters and their swim meet - get your entry in today.

Check out the photo gallery as there are some more photo's.

Results From National Masters Swimming Champs 2012

Last weekend 5 of our swimmers went to Kilbirnie Pool in Wellington to contest the Nationals. Fiona Grigg, Mark Cowling, Mike Harrison, Avy Judelson and Deryn McGregor had a very successful competition. Between them they won 11 gold, 7 silver and 4 bronze medals; that's 22 medals total. Not a bad haul for 5 swimmers! 3 of them got very close to national records but, alas, will have to wait for the next meet for more attempts.

As usual, the team did well in relays, especially the 4 x 50 mixed freestyle being not overly far off the record in their age group there either and beating out all others including younger teams.

Not surprisingly, John T was seconded as an official and was a superb marshal throughout the meet. John G was a magnificent supporter and chief photographer. If you want to check out some photos there are a few posted over on the gallery page.

March Swimmer of the Month, April Race Night Results

March Swimmer of the Month
Wasn't hard to guess was it? Dave Donaldson has been performing exceptionally well right throughout the ocean swimming season starting with a 2nd placing in his division in the State sponsored Harbour Crossing on 13th November 2011 and carrying on right through the season with uncanny consistency. Competition in his age group was ferocious to say the least and Dave finished the State Ocean Swim Series with a podium finish - 2nd in his division overall. Magnificent!

Hot on his heels, Liz Hayes and Pat Castles were doing their best not to be overshadowed. Liz gained a well-deserved podium finish also with a 3rd in her division and Pat was 4th in his, missing the podium by a measly 1.5 points (you'll get them next year Pat). An honourable mention also for Ross Faulkner who managed to buck the trend in the Rangitoto swim by beating his previous years time when everyone else was considerably slower.

That marks the end of ocean swimming season for a few months. It has been a very successful one for all our sea swimmers and we have great things to look forward to next season. In the meantime, a big thanks to Dave D for taking charge of the Saturday sea swims, you can have a little rest now.

April Race Night
There was a lot happening race night wasn't there? We started off with The Wall postal swim - some very good times posted there and we shall look forward to the results. We still managed to get through 4  events and some relays so there was a lot of swimming for the 21 swimmers. 14 new records were set. Results are up on the results page because that seems like a good place to put them and records are on the records pages. A big thanks as usual to our hard working timekeepers, marshals and starter. Thanks for the yummy food too John.

News Bonanza

First up, don't forget that daylight savings end this weekend. So before you go to bed on Saturday night wind your clocks back by 1 hour. You get an extra hour of sleep Sunday morning. Angela O, if you turn up to training on Sunday morning and there is no one there, oh that's right, we've done that one already.

Another treat for Sunday is Avy will be coaching freestyle body positioning for the last 15 minutes of the session. You can choose to do relays or go see Avy and have some coaching. It's all happening this Sunday isn't it - sleeping in, coaching, coffee and muffins with fine company!

Race Night
Yes it's race night on Wednesday 4th April. Events are 25 Br or 25 Free (your choice), 50 Free, 100 Back and 100 IM or 100 Free (your choice). We will have a couple of lanes spare for general training. There is no charge on race night.

King of the Bays
King of the Bays is on this Saturday. We have a number of swimmers who have been competing all season in the State sponsored Ocean Swim series which is winding up this weekend. The weather forecast is looking good and some great times are on the cards. We wish all our ocean swimmers the best of luck for King of the Bays and look forward to the results not only of this swim but of the series.

April Birthdays
I love birthdays, especially when they are other peoples. These are the 'other people' who are going to enjoy cake and candles during April: David Spencer, Rozanne Valcarcel, Margaret Bell, Christine Della Barca, Catherine Fagerstroem, Ross Faulkner, Anne Legg and Jeannie Smith

Cycling News
Good luck also to Lapo Nustrini and Jeannie Smith who are riding in the Rotorua to Taupo 100km Flyer this weekend. Makes me tired thinking about it!

March Race Night Results, Swimmer of the Month

March race night results have now been posted on the results page so you can check out your times. We had 20 swimmers. For the first time swimmers could choose to swim the 25 and 50m events as freestyle rather than the 'other stroke' if they preferred. This proved popular with a lot of swimmers taking up this option.

Next up was the presentation of awards. Angela Oliver worked very hard to win the wooden spoon, even getting up extra early one Sunday and showing up to an empty pool. Too much trouble for a spoon I say. However, she may have even more trouble wresting the spoon from Gustav. Gustav loves the spoon so much he won't give it up.

Swimmer of the month award was hotly contested. So hot in fact we have a couple of honourable mentions. First honourable mention is Jo Cook who has won the 1500m category in at least one of the Kohi swims. That isn't just 1st in her age group but 1st woman overall. Well done Jo. Also an honourable mention to Mike Harrison. Mike has been swimming extremely well in the ocean swims all season but, as luck would have it, is in what is almost certainly the most difficult age category for this kind of thing. You would probably have to be an Olympian to win that age group so awesome work from Mike too.

Onto the main award though. One swimmer stood out - Avy Judelson. She has not only been swimming week after week to a consistently high standard at the Kohi Swim Series, winning her age group but she has also been coming in ahead of women who are, shall we say, in age groups not the same as hers. She just gets better and better.

Remember, nominations for swimmer of the month come from YOU. Yes you. If you want to nominate someone, drop me a line. If you notice someone doing something spectacular, in or out of the pool, don't be shy, send in a nomination. Also, I don't choose who wins. If there is only one nomination then there's your winner. If there is more than one nomination then the committee vote.

Deja Vu

Weren't we here yesterday?

It is March now, and that means we have birthdays. Also, a report from the Rangitoto swim, courtesy of Waldo Shacklock.

March Birthdays
Yes, it's March and that means birthday time for Grant Sykes, Jason Grant, Bronwyn Dent, Ken Main and Angela Oliver. These people deserve a bit of pampering on their special day so next time you see them be sure to be extra nice (aren't we always).

Rangitoto Swim
Tony has sent in a report from the Rangitoto Swim. This is an epic swim on the ocean swimming calender and if you have never done it is one you might want to seriously think about notching up. Here is the report:

This news is a bit old, but the annual Rangitoto Swim last weekend attracted a good number of South City Masters swimmers this year. It was a fairly uneventful, but deceptively hard swim. The night before was spent listening to the wind and rain, wondering if it would be cancelled. However, the (early!) morning turned out to be as calm as it ever has been, so all looked good for the swim as long as the wind didn’t pick up. The water stayed flat for the most part, but there were patches of choppy water where the wind whipped it up a bit. Although the wind wasn’t very strong, its direction was directly head on, so that was probably the reason it was quite a hard swim. Most people’s times were about 8-10 minutes slower than last year (including the winner’s), although there was a notable exception – Ross Faulkner improved his time by over 10 minutes. Well done that man! The sun stayed out for the prize giving, but unfortunately nobody from South City Masters won a prize. Here are the results:

Richard Smith               1:06.00             4th place
Mark Clavey                  1:17.44
David Donaldson          1:18.12
Liz Hayes                      1:21.56
Elliot Crawford              1:23.42
Pat Castles                   1:27.44
Ross Faulkner               1:29.12
Vince Kirrane                 1:33.01
Tony Shacklock            1:34.00
Angela Tomlinson          1:42.48
Barry Cribbens              1:47.06
 
Thanks Tony, keep up the good work.

Put This Date In Your Diary

21st March, 7pm at the cafe area of the pool.

Why? This is when we will be holding the AGM. You need to be there. Barry has emailed everyone with the agenda and also a nomination form. If you want to nominate someone for committee, or yourself, don't be shy, fill out the form and give it to Barry D. Nominations will also be accepted on the night.

Race Night
We have race night this Wednesday 7th March at 7pm. There is a change to the format that we think you will love, especially if you are a lover of freestyle; and why wouldn't you be. So....where there is a short race on the menu (25m or 50m) you can choose to do freestyle instead of the 'other' stroke. Good isn't it?

Events this race night are 25m Back or Free, 50 Fly or Free, 100 Breast and 200 Anything (not hopscotch, that's not a stroke). Light refreshments afterwards with presentation of the coveted wooden spoon and Swimmer of the Month trophy.

Roskill Masters Annual Swim Meet
This is a fun meet to go to so let's all get together and swarm en masse to Cameron Pool on 12th May for this short course meet. None of the races are over 100m so it's all short stuff. We are looking to hire a van to get us there so directionally-challenged people don't get lost, or distracted by Ollies. On the way home we shall stop for a meal somewhere so we can boast to each other about our amazing feats in the pool. The club will contribute $10 per head towards the meal. We love supporters, the more cheering the better, it makes us feel special. If you are a supporter, we want to see you.

There's Waldo!

The competition is now closed. In the end 13 Kitkat's were handed over. I know I said 10 but I sold the family farm and bought another 3 thus denying my children their inheritance. Let's face it, my children have done nothing to deserve an inheritance anyway so I figure it was money well spent. But moving on to more important things which is where and who was Waldo. It wasn't too hard was it?

That was tinny of him wasn't it, getting right smack in the middle of a photo in an international publication. Sigh....I should be so lucky.

So Tony, or should I say Waldo, sent in the following report from Sunday's Eagle Technology Bays Swim which I've gone to enormous effort to copy and paste below.

Last Sunday, nine of our seasoned swimmers turned up at St Heliers Bay to swim the Eagle Bays Swim put on by Auckland Central Masters and were greeted by rain and a mill pond sea. As the start time approached, the rain stopped, a gentle onshore wind started to roll in and everything looked good for a great swim. By the time we were standing on the beach ready for the start, confused about the course and what to sight on, the wind was warming up fairly well. The swim to the first mark was merely an introduction to the waves that would carry us to Tamaki yacht club (lazy so and so's are supposed to swim - Ed). The wind whipped up the sea into one of the roughest we’ve had to swim in and made it a real challenge for all, including the support people. Navigation was difficult. The course had few buoys along the way and they were small, virtually invisible in the weather, and there is little on the horizon to help. However, the weather was coming from starboard-stern, which allowed those who coped with the waves to achieve good times. Some swimmers, though, were taken badly off course and arrived at the Tamaki boat ramp cursing everything under the sun. The results are:

Dave Donaldson          55:13    16th overall
Avy Judelson               55:46    18th overall
Liz Hayes                     59:56
Pat Castles                  61:55
Waldo Shacklock         61:57
Vince Kirrane               62:13
Angela Tomlinson        71:25
Barry Cribbens            72:52
David Walker               74:49

Thanks Waldo! 

New Photos Posted

If you entered the 'Where's Waldo' contest and didn't hear back from me it's not because I'm rude, it's because I didn't get your entry. It's come to my attention that the email link won't work for everyone. So.......it's not too late to enter - have another try. Go back into 'my complete profile' and click 'email' but this time copy and paste my email address into your email client and send me a private message. If you still don't get a reply from me then whisper your answer to me at training.

There was a great turnout for the sea swim and picnic ant Little Buckland's on the 5th Feb. Some stunning 2km times were posted. Shirley sent in some photos. If you want to see them go to the Photo Gallery page.

Where's Waldo?

Be part of our first online competition. One of our club members was snapped before the start of November's Harbour Crossing and the photo was published in the recent H2Open magazine. Can you correctly identify the club member? I have 10 Kitkats to give away to the first 10 people with the correct answer. To send your answer go to the home page of the blog, click on 'view my complete profile' and then click on 'email'. Here is the photo:

Thanks Jason for spotting the photo and sending it in

Rules of the competition:

1. To be eligible to enter you must be a paid up club member. If you are not a club member you may still have a guess but you may not win one of the wonderful Kitkats that I have paid all of my life savings for.

2. You may have one guess only, so if you are wrong - bad luck! Please put your name on the email; no name = no prize. These prizes will be sought after so I must be fair about it.

3. Competition ends after 15th February. Unclaimed prizes will be eaten by the blogmaster - blogmaster will be angry at competition winners over any ensuing weight gain.

4. No correspondence will be entered into. Prizes, magnificent though they are, are not transferable and not refundable.
5. No permission was asked or given to reproduce the photo and blogmaster doesn't care.  H2Open will not care either since we are not benefiting in any way.

February Birthdays
It's that time again and we get to to celebrate some birthdays. Here are the birthday people:  Shirley Cartwright, Mark Clavey, Anne Faulkner, Christine Fergusson, Mike Harrison, Deryn McGregor, Jan McEwen. and a special mention for Kath Barclay as she celebrates a milestone this month. February is a popular month isn't it, perhaps we should share some cake.

Race Night Results, Trophy's
The first race night for the year was held on Wednesday with the 400 Free proving popular and some very good times being posted. It was noticed that no one opted to swim the 400 IM. 7 Records were established or broken, 2 of them in relays.

Angela T had baked some wonderful brownies which all who stayed for trophy presentation enjoyed. Both the wooden spoon and Swimmer of the Month had several nominations and much umming and errring was had. Gus took out the wooden spoon for his new invention of team-building exercise involving car key retrieval by speedo clad swimmers. I don't think this will catch on in the corporate world (togs togs togs undies).

Swimmer of the month award went to a very hard working Barry Cribbens. Barry has set goal after goal, many of them quite lofty and has achieved them all. In January he not only completed his first half ironman but he completed the swim in a time that was an astounding 5 minutes faster than he has done before, in conditions that were completely conducive to the opposite. He trains night and day (when does he sleep?), swimming, biking, running, biking, swimming, biking, running; I lose track but I have visions of him out running in the middle of the night like ultra-marathon man, Dean Karnazes, and have baffled pizza delivery boys standing out in the wop wops wondering what is going on. Well done Barry.

Coaching With Tony
Tony has posted an updated schedule on the Coaching Corner page so check it out. If you want help from Tony, you know where to find him.

A Few Site Stats
The blog has been running for a year now so just for those stat-heads who are interested, here's a few stats from the 12 months:
Total pageviews: 7839, which equates to 21 per day; so either 21 people a day are having a look or Mike Wansink is looking 21 times every day (!)
Views from 10 different countries, most popular is NZ (go figure)
Most Popular Pages (in order) are: Records Men, Records Women, Photo Gallery, Swim Programmes
Most Popular Posts (in order) are: Fame!, Where's Arthur, Prince of the Bays, Good Night Out Had

However, popular posts will now be hard to gauge since people now subscribe and don't have to click in to individual postings, so it may no longer be a fair reflection of popularity.

Sea Swim and Picnic Sunday 5th February

Need something to do on a lazy Sunday evening? Why not combine exercise and food - coz they go together, right? My mother always told me to wait an hour after eating before doing exercise so because we are a sensible bunch, and I still do what my mother tells me, we will swim and then eat. Problem solved.

Meet down at Little Bucks at 6pm on 5th Feb for a swim (as long or as short as you like) and then we will eat at around 6.45pm. High tide for those who like knowing that kind of thing is 6.27pm. Bring as many non-swimmers as you like.

Bring a picnic or you will starve.

Cambridge Swim Meet
This has been cancelled. If you were going to this meet - don't.


Race Night
First one for the year is this coming Wednesday 1st Feb. It is 400 free. We will keep 2 or 3 lanes available for those who want to do general training.

Technical Posting
There is a new posting on the Technical Tips page. It's all about swimmer's shoulder, how to overcome it and how to avoid it. Everyone who swims should read this article.

Coaching With Gary Hollywood, First Race Night of 2012

The first race night of 2012 is on Wednesday 1st February at 7pm. We are holding the 400 Free so all you enduro swimmers who like swimming long will want to be there. If you have a nomination for either swimmer of the month or the wooden spoon please contact me. You can contact me from the home page by clicking on the 'view my complete profile link' then click on 'email'. Remember, in advance of race night Avy is holding coaching on basics and starts in place of relays (one lane only) on Sunday 29th.

Technical Coaching
Gary Hollywood starts his most excellent technical sessions on Saturday 4th Feb at 11am at the Pakuranga College pool. He is starting with a block course on the ever popular freestyle. If you don't know Gary he is Head Coach with HPK Swimming Club and is a rising star of NZ Swimming having been coaching assistant for NZ Swimming for several tours during 2011. He really knows how to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse and if you haven't been to his sessions yet it's about time you came for a look. $10 per session payable directly to Gary. This is NOT training, this is 1 whole hour of technique, people give their right arm for this. Full information below.

What Will You Pay? Nothing, Zero, Nada, Zip.

Before I get to the free stuff my Satellite Spy has sent in the following report from the Round the Mount Swim:

"Dave Walker, Angela Oliver, Tony Shacklock and Ross Faulkner (supported by Anne) traveled to Mt Maunganui for the annual Round the Mount swim. It was a first for Ross & Angela and they both swam well. Dave didn’t actually swim, however, due to some planning and execution difficulties ;-) ((is this a wooden spoon moment? - Ed)) As usual, the Mount Lifeguards turned on great organisation and support for the swimmers, including loads of spot prizes and barbecued bacon & egg rolls. It did seem that there were fewer entrants than last year (about 150) but the spirit was good. The swim offered something for everyone – cold water, jellyfish, sea weed, strong currents....((how is this for everyone? - Ed)). Although the air temperature had dropped, there was no rain and the water was flat, offering the chance of good times. The fastest time was just under 50 min and ours were in region of 1 hr 10 min plus.

Ron & Dawn Tomlinson showed up for the prize giving. I suspect Ron thought he’d wander up and claim a prize or two. ((and he probably did! - Ed))" Thanks Tony, er, I mean, Assistant Reporter.

Did Dave forget his togs? Great swimming team!

Now For The Free Stuff!

Our skills coach Tony The Professor Shacklock is available for intensive/video/one to one coaching on Monday nights; HPK Head Coach Gary Hollywood runs block courses on Saturdays but WAIT, there's now more.

Avy has offered to present short bursts of coaching for those interested during the Sunday 15 minute relay time, to be held in one lane set aside for that purpose. These 15 minute sessions are confidence building sessions rather than comprehensive ones.

We though that it would be most valuable to conduct these sessions on the Sunday morning before each Club Night, especially for starts and turns. So, below is the proposed schedule (also posted on the Coaching Corner page for later easy reference). If you wish to have more intensive coaching, please see Gary on Saturdays or Tony on Monday nights.  

Wait, what? Where's the breaststroke? Have we left it off because we don't like breaststroke? Not at all, we love breaststroke. Deryn (hang on, that's me) is planning to run an intensive in the winter on breaststroke for all those breaststroke lovers out there. Meantime, there is all this wonderful free, yes FREE coaching on offer from Tony and Avy. Get in there! 

 

Club Night Dates	Date of Sunday Coaching	Area to be Coached
1 Feb 2012	29 Jan 2012	Basics & Starts
7 Mar 2012	4 Mar 2012	All Turns  (as requested)
4 Apr 2012	1 Apr 2012	Free Body Positioning
2 May 2012	29 Apr 2012	Free kick
6 June 2012	27 May 2012	Free arms (& whole stroke)
4 July 2012	1 July 2012	All turns (tumble & open)
1 Aug 2012	29 July 2012	Back Body Positioning
5 Sep 2012	2 Sep 2012	Back kick
3 Oct 2012	30 Sep 2012	Back arms (& whole stroke)
7 Nov 2012	4 Nov 2012	Fly kick
5 Dec 2012	2 Dec 2012	Fly arms (& whole stroke)