Read This!!!!

 1) Annual subscription of $60 is now due, payment can be made on line to our bank account no 123089 0087168-00,

please be sure to include your family name. Payment can also be made by cheque or cash to Sally Walker or John Trubnick.

2) Annual Cambridge swim meet 14th.February, if you intend to swim please let Fiona know as if there is enough interest we will

be taking a mini bus for the day.

3) Annual club handicap sea swim and BBQ. This is a handicapped swim over 1km or 2km. We have set the date at Sunday 15th February as this is the only Sunday around that time with an afternoon high tide that does not have another sea swim pre arranged.Swim to commence arount 4.00 p.m. (to be confirmed), BBQ to take place afterwards.Entries will be required in writing nearer the actual date. This year your handicapping committee will be Lapo, Dave B,and Giles.  

Race Night Results Up, Harbour Crossing, Everyday Hero

Race Night
Race night results are now up on the respective pages for viewing. There were 14 or 15 swimmers taking part and 10 more records were smashed - 7 to the ladies and 3 to the gents. Well done team.

Avy took out the honours for Swimmer of the Month. Unless you've been under a rock you will have known that she took a trip over the ditch to compete in the Pan Pacific's. Not surprisingly she covered herself all over in glory, taking out 6 gold medals. That's 6 gold medals in international competition. That is setting a new standard for us all to aspire to.

Harbour Crossing
This 2.9 km ocean swim took place this morning in near perfect conditions - sunny and no wind. Most swimmer's times however were around 4 minutes slower than last year's time so perhaps there was some strange currenty thingummy going on somewhere.

I can't give out full results yet as for some reason Avy's result is unavailable and she is likely a podium finish so I will put out a full report later. However, I will tell you that Liz smashed out a 1st place in her age group and the 2 Dave's (Donaldson and Bradding) had a right old tussle, finishing just 3 seconds apart with Dave D coming 2nd in age and Dave B coming 3rd in age group. I wonder if they were swimming next to each other and didn't know it or did they just converge at the finish line.

So far that is 3 podium finishes with Avy's almost certain podium finish to be confirmed once they find her (!!!).

Everyday Hero
A big shout out to our Denise who swam the Harbour Crossing for the first time. She has been building up to this swim for several months as was doing this swim for her sister (ask her about that if you wish to know). Denise has received amazing support throughout from hubby Adam and her 2 sons. Denise isn't just an Everyday Hero, she is a hero every day.

Christmas/End of Year Brunch

Drat! I will be in Whangamata for this day, but the rest of you need to get this in your diaty - 14th December. This is the day we all, except me :(, get together for some nice food (I shall still be doing that), enjoy great company (yes, I'm doing that too) and reminisce about the good times of 2014 (which I will also be doing).

What is a diaty? I have no idea but I have just noticed my typo and decided to just go with it.

This year's  brunch is at the Homestead Cafe. This is a very nice venue so you need to get your name on the sign up sheet lickety split as spots will fill up fast.

Check out the poster below for more details.

Mystery Current at Paihia

November 22nd marked race one of this season's State Ocean Swim Series. The day started out bright and sunny and with flat-as-a-pancake water. The swim was scheduled for early afternoon though and on a low tide so it was likely there would be at least a little breeze and the usual ocean swell or chop by then. Everyone eagerly looked forward to good times.

There was just a smattering of drizzle before the start, nothing major, and then the swimming was underway in balmy, swim-friendly conditions.

I suspect most swimmers will agree that everything went fairly smoothly until only around 400m from shore when something rather mysterious happened. Swimmers could see the finish gantry and knew that it wasn't far to go. Then what? They all started heading south instead of west. Not on purpose mind, nor was there a floating barman south of Paihia handing out free beer. In fact, it was somewhat frustrating with so few metres left to swim to find yourself heading away from the finish.

Eventually the swimmers made it in to shore though. Most found their times were 8 to 12 minutes slower than year's times. To the credit of the organisers they extended the cutoff time to allow for the extra minutes it was taking to negotiate the last section.

South City had 8 swimmers at the race and 4 made the podium so that's a 50% podium hit rate - pretty good huh? Giles came 4th and Pat came 6th so we nearly had 2 others on the podium. Avy, of course, finished in her usual 1st place.

Here are the results:
Avy Judelson          1st in age      (27th female)    1.11.12
Dave Donaldson     2nd in age     (37th male)       1.04.20
Liz Hayes                2nd in age     (39th female)    1.13.37
Deryn McGregor     2nd in age      (18th female)   1.08.03
Giles Walker           4th in age       (52 male)          1.05.43
David Walker          10th in age     (140th male)     1.16.53
Pat Castles              6th in age      (167th male)      1.20.33
Sarah Lodge           14th in age    (102nd female)  1.25.05

There were 638 finishers and ALL our swimmers were well in the top half of the field.

And now for some piccies:

Giles running for the finish

Perennial winner Avy

Silver medalists Dave and Deryn

That's enough swimming, let's sit for a bit

Gotta have some fun after the work

Now I'm not going to mention any names, or who was involved but from this text I guess it could be said that it is very important to look good while you are swimming.

 

Note to self: do hair before swimming tonight

Some Stretching Exercises

 Hi all

We’ve all noticed elite swimmers limbering up and stretching before they race, but we usually don’t do it ourselves. However, a good warm-up and appropriate stretching can help our shoulders and neck stay healthy, and perhaps improve our flexibility in the right way.

Here’s a link to a great article about warm-ups and stretches designed to reduce the chance of shoulder injury in swimmers.
http://www.usmsswimmer.com/201001/swimmer_stretching.pdf

I strongly recommend you give it a read. The warm-ups are quick and simple to do before you get in the water; and the stretches (best done at another time) don’t take long.”

Cheers
Tony
 

Club Night Results Out, Buddy System

Club Night

Firstly, apologies for the delay. I went away for the weekend and although Vodafone claims to have 97% of the country covered, I managed to find the 3% not. As usual there were more slick times swum on club night and another swag of records broken, 6 to the men and 3 to the women.

Swimmer of the month was hotly contested with 3 nominees. For various reasons this was VERY difficult to choose this month as all 3 nominees were very worthy. At the end of the day the vote went to GILES WALKER for his breaking of a very long-standing record in the 50m breaststroke for men 35-39 while at the North Island champs in Whakatane. To put this swim in perspective, the former record holder is currently ranked 2nd in the WORLD for the same event in the mens 50 to 54. This record was the culmination of a lot of analysis and focus. Great going Giles.

The wooden spoon was also given out for the month. This had to be one of the funniest wooden spoons so far. Dawn W was in the changing room and saw Tanya getting changed. She went up and starting 'pinging' her undergarment strap and saying 'I've got the same one' (don't we all do that - well, actually, no we don't Dawn!). Anyhoo.......Tanya turned around, ummm except Tanya wasn't Tanya. Nice one Dawn! Enjoy that wooden spoon.

Buddy System

The club is flourishing and numbers are increasing. This is a good thing. However, it can be a little daunting when you are the new club member and don't know anyone or how things work or even what is on offer besides training sessions.

So, committee have come up with a buddy system. We want new members to have designated 'go to' people so they feel at easy with their early days in the club. Of course as time goes on the members are likely to rely on their 'lane mates' for support etc. That would be you. So, although new members have a buddy, it is up to everyone to be supportive.

Here are the club members who will be buddies for new members:

Men <45
Giles Walker
Lapo Nustrini

Men 45+
Tony Shacklock
Dave Bradding

Women <45
Dawn Walker
Fiona Grigg

Women 45+
Avy Judelson
Deryn McGregor 
 


 

Race Night Schedule

Here it is......the schedule for the next few race night's, starting with tomorrow:

November race night
25 brst or free
50 free
100 back
100 IM or free

December race night
25 fly or free
50 brst or free
50 back
100 free

January race night
400 free
400 IM

If you feel like a mellowpuff (eating one that is, not being one) then come along, swim a few lengths then you have a good excuse to eat dessert before your veggies.

Ka-blam! Bazinga! Kapow!

Villainous national records were no match for our swimming superheroes at this weekend's North Island Champs.

Wonder Woman (Avy Judelson) orchestrated a stealth attack on the record for the women's 200 Free. She ensnared the record in her Lasso of Truth, found the record to be a lie, and set the record onto the path of honesty with a new time of 2.46

Giles (Captain America) Walker then noticed a dastardly record that had been lying underground for 13 years. Captain America laid his body on the line and dealt the supervillain a swift uppercut in just 32.03 seconds. KABOOM!

Congratulations to Avy and Giles, our 2 latest holders of individual records (to be ratified).

The whole team had a very successful weekend in Whakatane which for all intents and purposes seems to be a very quick pool.

Overall, there were 17 personal bests swum (6 of them by Tanya!) and Fiona and Giles won silver age group medals and Avy a gold age group medals. But, EVERYONE swum extraordinarily well and swum exceptional times. The hard work at training and on technical improvement has really paid off. No one left disappointed and a great time was had by all. Whakatane ran the meet like a well oiled machine and yes please if they want to put their hand up again.

A special mention also to Rachel who smashed out a 6.03 400m butterfly (holy cow!) and Richard who flew up and down the pool for 1500m in just 18m45 (more cows being holy!)

Swim Programmes Freestyle Clinic - Coming To Us!!!

If you enjoyed the butterfly and breaststroke clinic then hang on to your hats. We have a freestyle clinic coming right up. It will be on the 30th of November in our pool and will be 2 whole hours of lovely freestyle learning. It will be for all levels. That means YOU.

Thomas can take 20 swimmers and it is first come, first served.

All details below but ask Giles if you have any questions.

October Race Results, Swimmer Of The Month, November Freestyle Clinic

It's all happening isn't it.

October races might have been a little while ago but the results were worth waiting for. A bunch of new records were posted and times were quick quick quick. 5 men's and 4 ladies records were broken. Check out the results on results pages and records on records pages. Where else would they be?

Swimmer of the Month was also worth waiting for. In fact we have been waiting 6 months for this one. Our very own magical Mike Harrison was selected earlier this year to compete for good old NZ at the WORLD triathlon champs. The long awaited event finally came around in August and a very excited Mike packed his bags and escaped the New Zealand winter for some Canadian sunshine. If you followed his blog you will know how well he did. Great job Mike, we are proud of you!

The wooden spoon has been on short hiatus but was given out this month to none other than.........me! For getting things back to front, or was that front to back. I'm still confused.

The excitement never ends - see below:

***NOVEMBER FREESTYLE CLINIC***

We are looking to run another swim clinic with the assistance of Thomas Ansorg. This will be a FREESTYLE clinic, aimed at technique and efficiency. The clinic is limited to 20 people (only Masters swimmers from South City) and the club will pay 50% of your tuition fee. We are waiting to confirm a few things but the likelihood is it will be a 2 hour clinic, with 30 minute debrief, and you will need to pay $30. This is really excellent value.

We need to get 20 swimmers, and lock in the date so we can get the pool time. The available dates are:

- Sunday 2nd Nov
- Sunday 9th Nov
- Sunday 30th Nov

Start time approx. 6.45am in the water at Lloyd Elsmore.

If you are interested, please talk to, or email Giles (gileswalker@rocketmail.com) with your date preference - if it makes it easier please list only the dates you can make, and then your preference. We will move with a majority vote. Remember first come first served.

(Just for those interested in knowing about date clashes, the Russell to Paihia State Ocewn Swim is Saturday 22nd hence the Sunday 23rd date is being excluded.)

Club Night and Postal Meet

The next club night is Wednesday 1st October. Club night is free so why not come along and give it a go.

There is also a postal meet coming up for 800m and 1500m which you can try your hand at. What is a postal meet? That's a good question, I'm so glad you asked. Sometimes a swimming club would like to hold a swim meet but for whatever reason they are unable - perhaps they don't have enough club members to help out or the cost of hiring the pool would be too great. So they conduct a postal meet. The swimmer gets to swim in their home pool and has a timekeeper time them (with the current event it is 800 and/or 1500 Free). The timekeeper must record splits so that the time can be verified. Then the timekeeper posts the entry in. The officiating club compiles all results and figures out who won each category and sends out results. Boom!!! Generally, there is around a one month period in which the swimmer gets to do the swim and so can work out with their timekeeper when is a good time to get together. At our club John Trubnick generally does all the timekeeping on one night (sometimes with a helper if there are lots of swimmers) and swimmers are allotted a time to go into the designated postal meet lane to do their 'race'.

The current postal meet will be timed on Monday 6th October between 7pm and 9pm. If you want to enter, please see Fiona. It is possible to do both the 800 and the 1500; they will run concurrently - in other words you will swim 1500m and a split will be taken at the 800m mark and then an entry put in for both events.

September Race Night Results Posted, New Swimmer Of The Month

It was the long-awaited 400's challenge at the most recent race night and some rip-roaring times were swum. Three swimmers even took on the decathlon of swimming - the 400 IM. 14 Swimmers took on swimming a 400 and everyone looked rather pleased with their times. A few even had enough energy to race over another 50m afterwards. Why? Because they can. However, a few exhausted swimmers were already heading for the showers leaving only 8 swimmers to tackle the relays.

Only 1 woman's record and 3 men's records were broken and no relay records were harmed in the making of this post. However, traditionally the number of records broken on 400's night has always been low given that there is only 1 event on the menu. A mention should be made of Rachel Richardson's rather spectacular swim in the 400 IM, going under 6 minutes. As a member of Manukau Masters Rachel is unable to break or hold any of our club records, however any woman of any age swimming under 6 minutes for this event deserves applause. Well done Rachel.

Then it was on to the Mellowpuffs (sometimes I stoop to eating a piece of fruit). Swimmer of the month was also announced. Unless you have been buried under a rock you would have heard that Dawn managed a hugely impressive 2nd woman overall placing at the Samoa Swim Series in spite of being very ill with swine flu. This is a really serious illness and racing 12km over 3 days in difficult weather conditions took enormous guts and determination. You will be pleased to learn that Dawn is slowly on the mend and getting back in the water again.

Trial Training Changes

We have the opportunity to use the pool for an extra hour after our normal time on Monday evenings. It seems too good an opportunity to ignore, so we have booked it for the months of September and October as a trial to see if we can make good use of it. Monday 1st September will be first extended session.

We're planning a format that we hope will satisfy a few requests we've had, which include longer training sessions, more coaching / stroke correction and time to practice other specific things like dives & turns. We'll start with the plan below and review it after a few weeks based on feedback we get, so please speak up if you have suggestions or observations we may not have accounted for.

For the first hour, the session will be as normal, so you don't need to change your Monday swimming habit if it doesn't suit you.

After the first hour:

·        Lanes 1, 2 & 3 will train for an additional 30 minutes, i.e. Deryn's programme will last 90 minutes. Swimmers from other lanes who want to train longer please let Deryn or Tony know so we can work out how to do it.

·        Lane 4 will be for anyone wanting to swim their own plan.

·        Tony will offer stroke correction in lanes 5 & 6. Each session will have a theme (announced beforehand), and the aim is to identify specific improvements desired and explain the drills for that.

·        Lane 7 will be available for dives, turns or other specific practice (because the starting block lines up with the lane).

This is just a trial so please let Deryn, Tony or any of the committee know your thoughts on how to do it better.

Club Night Results Are Up

It was a small but enthusiastic group that showed up to race on Wednesday. Even though numbers were down a bit that didn't stop the records from tumbling. There were 2 new ladies records, 6 for the men and 1 new relay record.

Interestingly, most of these records aren't events no swimmer has tackled yet, these are records broken, meaning we are getting faster.

Lane Etiquette - Keeping Us All Safe

Here's some suggestions on lane etiquette that will help to keep us all safe, skull-fracture free, and simply make swimming in a busy lane more enjoyable.

The lanes are getting busier and things would flow better if we agreed on some lane etiquette. A couple of things are generating a bit of discussion, so here’s a reminder for the old hands and guidance for others:

Turning:
Different swimmers approach the wall differently, which sometimes makes it tricky to avoid collisions, so…
Veer right as you approach the wall. Turn on the RHS of the lane and push off straight.
The out-going swimmer needs to know they can push off straight and hard without fear of collision, and it’s easier for the incoming swimmer to judge when to cross the lane.
This applies to all types of turn; flip turns, touch turns, stand-up-and-walk turns, etc.

Toe tapping:
Nobody minds an accidental touch on the feet from the swimmer behind, but continually being tapped on your feet is usually annoying, so…
Let’s agree that touching the next swimmer's toes generally means you are faster & should really go before them; kind of like saying “excuse me”.
If your toes are touched, stop in the LH corner at the end of the lane and let the following swimmer past. The person following can turn as above without interruption.
If someone stops to let you ahead, go ahead. If you didn’t mean it, swap back at the end of the swim.

Spacing:
To reduce unnecessary toe tapping, leave 3 – 5 seconds apart.
If you're faster but don't want to be in front, swim slower. Leaving a huge gap and swimming faster than everyone else makes it harder for the swimmers behind; perhaps go last.

Stopping:
If you stop at the end of the lane during a swim, keep to the left hand corner (as you approach the wall). Incoming swimmers will be veering right to make their turns.

And now, just for fun follow the link below: 

how swimmers react to getting to an easy main set 

Midwinter Dinner Doubles as Awards Night

Photos here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/72194999@N03/

It was almost standing room only at the Thai Flame on Saturday night for the club's midwinter bash. The Thai Flame is a large venue but this annual event has become so popular that if you don't want to miss out next year you'd better be VERY quick getting your name down. There was a marvelous array of attire and it seemed that red bow ties were the order of the evening. However, whether a frock or a tie or a t-shirt was worn it didn't matter at all since at least no one was wearing togs.

A well kept secret was that this year's dinner was also an Awards Dinner. That was a bit of a surprise wasn't it? The club formally acknowledged a few teams that have broken NZ records over the last year and Avy Judelson, Giles Walker, Dawn Walker and Andrew Simpson had their NZ record for the 200+ Free set in May acknowledged and received their certificates. Andrew Simpson's individual record for the 50m Free, also set in May, has now been ratified.

Three trophies were also awarded to individual club members.

Club Member of the Year: Sally Walker
Sally totally epitomises the club spirit, giving freely of her time, she is always on hand to collect the money, timekeep, collect the money, work on the desk at meets, collect the money,  and do pretty much anything that needs doing, especially collecting money. Sally is the 'go to' person when you need something done.

Most Improved Swimmer of the Year: Denise Munday
Denise's improvement has been nothing short of astounding. She has paid attention to technique and turned up to training sessions and has been spotted doing sneaky extra sessions. The results are clear for all to see. Denise keeps moving up and up lanes with alarming regularity. We will run out of lanes for her to move into if she keeps this up.

Swimmer of the Year: Deryn McGregor
Deryn has been working extremely hard for about 3 years on her breaststroke technique and it all came to fruition over the last season with the snaffling up of all 6 NZ records in her age group for breaststroke. You might think she is going to retire quietly to her rocking chair now to crochet but NO! There will be new goals - just ask what they are.

As usual, the Thai Flame did a lovely job with the food and I don't think anyone left hungry though I have a sneaky suspicion that some people may have got two desserts (but I won't dob them in).

Dave Walker also did a wonderful job as photographer. It's fantastic having a club member who is happy to fulfill this role and provide us all with the means to so easily access such great photos, and we don't need to think about taking our own cameras, we just need to be ready to photo bomb. Thanks Dave, you do a grand job!

Pool Closure Dates

Sunday is the last of training at LEP before it closes for it's annual maintenance. The pool is only shut for a couple of weeks and then it's back to normal. John T has arranged some swimming at Papatoetoe pool (thanks John) and our friends at Manukau Masters have invited us to swim with them at Manurewa pool, Sykes Rd, Manurewa on Mondays (thanks Manukau Masters). So there is no need for you to miss your weekly fixes of swimming training. And it's FREE while we are away from home. What could be better than a free holiday?

Don't forget the mid-winter dinner at the Thai Flame on the 26th July. There has been some mention of 'frocks 'n' crocs' for the ladies and tuxes for the men. Just kidding...... but I think we are not supposed to wear our togs to this.

Race Night Results Are Up and Date Set for Next Race Night

Last night's races saw 17 swimmers brave the cold and show up for some really fantastic racing. For some reason numbers are down a little. I was busy visualising the bottom of the pool - you would think that after 40 years of swimming I had some idea what it looks like but you are WRONG, I am clueless! So that's my excuse, what's yours? If it's the cold, well the news is that last June was the warmest June on record. So come along, if for no other reason than the mellowpuff at the end of it.

These 17 swimmers produced 19 records between them. That's more than a record each, that's an amazing effort; 16 to the men, 2 to the men and 1 relay record. Check out the record pages, they are looking quite impressive.

Tanya (is that Queen Tanya) Sutton was crowned Swimmer of the Month. Tanya has shown a great deal of discipline and enthusiasm and is very eager to learn everything she can to improve her swimming. The pay off has been extraordinary - she has moved up 3 lanes and is delicately poised for another lane shift. Well done Tanya (or is that Tanz when you come from Oz?).

Finally, please note in your diaries that next race night will be on 13th August due to the annual pool closure and a few regular race night attendees being out of action while they attend the Samoa Swim Series (most notably the person who compiles all the results so I think we all agree a delay is in order - hear hear).

Winter Solstice, 21 June.......Hey, That's Tomorrow!!!!!!

Winter solstice is the moment at which the sun is at it's greatest height as observed from the North Pole. On this day we will have our longest night and our shortest day. Most people, however, will just call this 'mid-winter'. Greatest height, shortest day, mid-winter - this all pales into insignificance. The really important news is.......

SOUTH CITY ARE HAVING THEIR ANNUAL MID-WINTER DINNER

The mid-winter dinner will be at the Thai Flame on 26th July (and so will you!). Kick off is at 6.30pm for a 7pm start. There is a set menu and club members are subsidised. See the poster below for details.

Winter solstice may be but a moment in time but the memories from the South City festival of fun (aka dinner) will last a lifetime.

Nikki will be collecting money and sign up details at the pool. Don't dilly dally!

Another Challenge Meet Done and Dusted

It was quite early for a Sunday morning and there were a few bleary eyed swimmers walking rather slowly through the car park towards the pool but once the whistle blew everyone perked up and it was all on. The racing in this contest is fast and furious as there is only one hour to complete the competition so swimmers have to stay on their toes and be on alert for their next race. For some, there really was no rest as they were in every, or almost every event.

Racing was tight, much tighter than the scoreboard would suggest. By racing's end South City had achieved what they were unable to in 2013 and that was to defeat Manukau in the Challenge. The final score was 217 South City to 150 Manukau. As retainers of the Challenge trophy it is now up to South City to challenge another masters swimming club.

The format of the challenge seems to be working superbly; with a little bit of everything and it's able to be completed in an hour. Any club should be able to complete the competition within their normal training period and so not have to book any additional pool time. So far, it seems that clubs are happy with it and keen to be included.

After the racing was done and dusted the only thing left was to sit down together over the usual Sunday coffee and muffin. The cafe staff were a little stretched but seemed to cope ok (thanks Young for drumming up some extra chairs for us).

South City and Manukau may be rivals in the pool but that is where the rivalry ends; these two clubs are great friends and there is always enjoyable camaraderie between the swimmers. It's no coincidence that during the Kohi Summer Series season we all hang around the same area together.

A big thanks goes to all the club members who officiated at the meet; these things never run without you. You can't all be named individually but you know who you are: starters, marshals, recorders, IOT's, counters, managers. Also, thanks to everyone who came to cheer the team on. Finally, thanks to the swimmers - from both clubs; thanks for an enjoyable hour of entertaining and very high quality swimming.

Swimmers from both clubs - apparently I was supposed to push the mute button on my jersey but I can't be bothered (deal with it!!!)

Club Night Results Are Up

4th June was the first Wednesday of the new month and as per usual that meant race night. There were 17 swimmers and 6 officials enjoying the splashing and dashing. Another 12 new records were set, 7 for the men, 4 for the women and for the first time in a while, a new relay record went down. Well done to all new record holders.

Swimmer of the month was awarded to our very own Fiona Grigg. Fiona did a magnificent job of rallying the troops for the Roskill meet in a fine display of organisational skills; putting the relay teams together and making sure everyone was in the right place at the right time, booking the dinner venue and driving the mini-van to and from the pool. Fiona had to think about her own racing while having all these distractions. Take my word for it, it is no easy task as organising us lot is a bit like herding cats so well done Fiona (I pick you to do it again next time!).

The wooden spoon was handed out this month and there were probably not too many surprises there since Lapo's start in the 50 back has become quite legendary. To be honest, I think Lapo showed geat fitness and lung power and deserves a pat on the back for that too.

**SPECIAL NOTICE**

Thomas Ansorg Swim Clinic at Lloyd Elsmore Pool

Current NZ Commonwealth swimming coach Thomas Ansorg has agreed to come to Lloyd Elsmore to lead a private swim clinic on both breaststroke and fly (both in 1 session).

Proposed dates/times are:

• Sunday August 10th, 7am to 9.30am
• Sunday September 28th, 7am to 9.30am

Based on overall attendance the price will be somewhere between $40-$60 to be paid by members beforehand. Cost will be confirmed once we have firm numbers.

This may sound expensive but Thomas does provide first class training. Several members have attended sessions recently at G.I. and the Millennium, and found it extremely valuable (Giles, Dawn, Avy, Dan, Nicole, Sarah L, Mark Cowling). Please approach them for details if needed.

Max attendance is 20 people. First come, first served. All South City club members are welcome.

Please note the session will be approx 2hrs in the pool with a 30 minute poolside debrief after the session. The session is a mixture of theory and practice so there will be a bit of standing about between explanations and swimming.

There is an expectation that swimmers attending have already grasped the basics of these strokes, and will use this session to improve their technique, learn drills etc. Thomas is happy to discuss individuals goals prior to the session to assist in focussing the clinic content.

We need to know numbers to secure one of the proposed dates with Thomas, and also to book the pool.

Please email Giles to indicate interest on:

gileswalker@rocketmail.com

Closing date for expressions of interest is Saturday 14th June. If interested please indicate your preferred date(s) and your full name.

Twisting By The Pool

John and Avy were very lucky to have a holiday in Mexico recently while the rest of us plebs were were rugging up in the looming winter. Here are a couple of pics of what we missed just to make us a little jealous.

Now I will just drink this one and order a few more. Oh, look below, there are a few more!

I love the nightlife, I've got to boogie.....and try drinks of every colour

Erratum

The challenge meet with Manukau Masters will be at 7.30 am on Sunday 8th June at Lloyd Elsmore pool, not 7 am.

This error was deliberate so you would appreciate the extra half hour sleep in when you realised you were getting one.

Enjoy!

Grrrrrr - time to get your challenging!

This years South City v Manukau Masters Challenge cup will take place at Lloyd Elsmore pool, 7am on Sunday 8th June.

Team - It's time to win the challenge and show what all our hard training can achieve!

Our team selectors will be contacting certain club members in the next few days to assess availability for this meet before final selection, and who is swimming which events (subject to negotiation!!)

Please keep an eye on your email for further information.

Go South City!!

We Missed You

Camp Mum (aka Fiona) rocked up to LEP Saturday lunchtime in a van which might described as a large fridge on wheels into which 8 of us piled and headed off to the Cameron pools for the annual Auckland Short Course meet. Another 8 of us plus supporters were already there so things were shaping up to be both successful and fun.

Roskill Masters had a fantastic turnout for this fun and friendly meet and everything ran like clockwork. Roskill really should be commended, particularly these days when it is difficult for any club to run a sanctioned meet. Well done Roskill Masters!

All our swimmers were on form, swimming well and a whole bunch of PB's were achieved. Anne discovered that carbo loading for 2 weeks on the trot and going on a cruise is the new way to taper for a swim meet while Angela O was busy figuring out how to knock a whole 10 seconds off her 100 IM time (what's your secret Angela?). Giles was a very happy chappy when he cracked the 60 second barrier for his 100 Free while Mike H also had a scorcher in the 100 Free with a 1.04 - these lads just keep getting faster and one might wonder where it will end, but hey, there's Rio in 2016. Fiona, Tania and Mark all tackled the 100 Fly - why is anyone's guess but they were all looking very stylee.

Lapo stretched his new butterfly muscles in the 50 Fly and was looking very strong (it's ok Lapo, you can pay me for the clinic later). Now here is where I get a little confused; at one point of the 50 fly I realised Michael Phelps was in New Zealand but on a second look it turned out to be Dan making butterfly look like a doddle in the park. Dave B, Vince, Dawn, Avy and Andy were all looking very smooth in their 50 Free's and produced some very slick times that youngsters would be proud of.  Not least, Ross might just take the cake for achieving 4 PB's from 4 swims and cracking milestones in both the 50 and 100 Br. Phew! Have I left anyone out?

There was some light comical relief during the course of the evening, some of which was provided by Mike in the van who was quite convinced that doing several tasks one at a time qualified as multitasking. Also, if you look at the photo below you might get a glimpse of the view that Lapo may well have seen during his backstroke start.

If you want an explanation you may need to ask Lapo. No Lapo, you cannot have a refund on the backstroke clinic but yes, I may need to add a couple more drills to it next time I run it.

After all the fun of the swimming it was time to pile back into the van and head to Thai Flame to refuel. 

But wait, there's more, and this is the most important part because South City scored two more national records!

Andy Simpson is back after a long hiatus and is straight back into record breaking mode, smashing the record for 50m Free for men aged 65-69. Congrats Andy!

Next to score was the Mixed 4 x 50 Freestyle relay age 200 to 239. They lowered the record by 1.8s which is a huge amount on these relay records. A big woop woop to Andy Simpson, Avy Judelson, Dawn Walker and Giles Walker who made this record happen.

Once all the swimming was done and dusted and points added up pretty much everyone did well in their age group. As for overall points, South City were agonisingly close to taking it this year, gaining 287 points to Roskill's 300, a measly 13 points shy. That means we need more swimmers next year. This really is a fun meet with no pressure so if you think you might want to dip your toes into pool racing, this is the one to do it in.

The 'rockin' it team with the Joan Monaghan trophy won for the 4 x 50 Free 200+ mixed relay (NZ Record)

From our 'did you know' files - 13 months ago South City had been completely erased from from the record books, holding zero New Zealand Masters swimming records. At the Roskill meet 12 months ago we got back into record books with 2 individual records. Now, 12 months later our club holds a total of 9 individual national records and 4 national relay records (although yesterday's 2 and the 3 I set last weekend at the national LC champs are still to be ratified). 

Also, we now have no less than 10 club members holding NZ records. Here are our current NZ record holders, in alphabetical order:

Kath Barclay - 3 relays

Margaret Bell - 1 relay

Mark Cowling - 1 relay

Diane Grogan - 1 relay

Mike Harrison - 1 relay

Avy Judelson - 2 individual and 3 relays

Deryn McGregor - 6 individual and 2 relays

Andrew Simpson - 1 individual and 1 relay

Dawn Walker - 2 relays

Giles Walker - 1 relay

I'm guessing that's the most record holders we have EVER had! 

Just one more thing before I sign off. Thanks Fiona for doing such a fab job of meet manager, food booker, van driver and relay rallier - awesome. Also to the supporters who came and cheered and refereed and helped with timekeeping. And.........................I'm done.

Out At Last - Club Night Results

Thank you for your patience while waiting for last week's club night results. I've been out of town for a few days so am now playing catch up.

Race night last Wednesday saw numbers back up to usual with 20 swimmers strutting their stuff and our ever diligent band of officials doing their thing, keeping time, marshalling and starting. Timekeepers seemed pretty pleased with the new stopwatches. Times were quick, especially the men with the men setting 8 new records and the ladies backing them up with 3 new records. There was only time for one heat of relays; no records this month in the relays.

This month there were no surprises when Swimmer of the Month was handed out. Dawn has been smashing it out in the ocean all season. If it wasn't enough to be overall winner in her age group in the State Ocean Swim Series then what better way to spend a long Easter weekend than by swimming 10km and reaching shore ahead of all the other women. Top that!

The wooden spoon award is returning to its original roots and only going to be awarded when someone does something worthy. Anyone can nominate anyone for something they think is worth the wooden spoon (fun but not embarrassing please). Never fear, I'm always doing daft stuff so no doubt I will provide plenty of fodder if you keep your eyes open.

Marathon Swim, End of Season Triathlon

Better Late Than Never

Firstly, my apologies for not having already reported on this event. I was to write something up last week but a rather nasty bug knocked the stuffing out of me and then, oh well, enough excuses. The writing has now taken far longer than the swim itself.

Easter weekend saw Joe Average chilling out, eating hot cross buns and scoffing chocolate eggs like there’s no tomorrow. But club members Dave D, Liz, Dawn and Giles are no Joe Average, they are Joe Mighty. On Saturday 19^th April the Auckland Central Masters introduced their inaugural 10 km marathon swim. Yes, there was a zero after that one and it was indeed 10 km but only if the swimmers swum in a nice straight line (good luck with that).

Numbers were limited and each swimmer was required to have their own kayak support to help with safety, navigation and feeding. The swim started at Glendowie boating club, took the swimmers around to St Heliers, past Kohimarama, turned them around in a U-turn at Tamaki Yacht Club and finished back at St Heliers beach.

While the weather wasn’t bad it wasn’t perfect either with some rough stuff particularly around St Heliers and Kohimarama. However, the most fun part (hmmm) was that the first 6.5 km was swum against an incoming spring tide. Couple that with the waves along the waterfront and you are left with very tired swimmers at the turnaround point at Tamaki Yacht Club.

62 Hardy swimmers entered the water at Glendowie and, remarkably, all 62 completed the swim. Amazing; not a single swimmer pulled out. Of our own clubbies, all four exited the water within a few minutes of each other. Dawn also won the cup for being first woman home – awesome effort.

Each of our swimmers took part in this event not as a race but as a personal challenge.  Were they up to it? There is no longer any doubt. Would they do it again? You will have to ask them that.

Last Triathlon Of The Season

Last Sunday saw quite a number of our club members take part in the last major triathlon event of the season. I couldn't be there but as you know, I have spies and roving reporters all over the place. It's wonderful that so many club members are willing and able to contribute material to the blog so we can all keep up to date with the going's on. A big thanks here to Denise for putting the results together and Mike H for writing up an entertaining report. Well done to all our athletes who have done so well in their triathlons throughout the season. Read on for Mike’s report of the last race and results.

Well it was a day that belied the fact that it is the end of April as we could not have asked for better conditions for the Panasonic Peoples Triathlon at Mission bay on Sunday 27 April. The start was early at 7:00 am for the standard triathlon and the sun rose across a sea that had less wrinkles than I had at 20 years old. The water made you catch your breath like an unsuspecting maiden but once going it was smooth sailing. Chrissie commented that it was impossible to see the turn buoy as she was looking directly into the rising sun so you needed only to follow the rest of the lemmings. Chrissie and Denise were doing the swim leg of the standard as part of a team and brave Nicole Youman (one piece) was doing the whole race solo.

The sprint tri started 35 minutes later and the sun had risen a little to allow for an unobscured view of the buoy, temporarily that is. The pack launched themselves into the ocean with high expectations only to realise that at a distance of 500 meters every kid and zimmer-framed jockey went out at a sprint which resulted in the start emulating a fish boil up in a mixer. Well, you will no doubt be aware of my aversion to being pummelled like a pilchard in a pot, so it resulted in my normal panic attack and moving to the side and waiting until the mass had gone past before I continued. I was to discover later that Adam Munday suffers the same affliction so we will jointly have to find a solution. Well the swim seemed to end before it started and it was a hurried run up the beach to the transition. I must say that I would like to meet the idiot, with the wicked sense of humour, who decided that we would have to run up and down the steps to get over the wall while trying to extricate oneself from a wetsuit. It was something akin to two teenagers trying to get their shirts off on the back seat of a Nissan micra.

The bike leg held oodles of promise as it was a flat course, no wind and drafting was allowed. Everybody was taking off like greyhounds after a rabbit trying to get into a group. What I soon realised was that my swimming ability was far superior to my cycling ability so I was out of the water before the serious cyclists. I was very intent on hooking on to one of these groups but very quickly learned that I had only started cycling again in January this year and got blown off the back of each group that came past averaging 40 kms per hour. The second issue with the cycle was that the earlier try-a-tri groups and relays were on the road weaving around at perilously slow speeds like drunken scholars on Queen St on a Saturday night. The cycle leg was like an Easter egg scramble in South Auckland with the adults bowling over the youngsters. Jeannie completed an excellent ride for her relay team completing a 40 km ride in 1:10. Well done that lady.

The run leg was out and back along Tamaki drive which was flat and hot. The pace was crazy, anybody would have thought the local school had received inside information that the legal highs were being made illegal and they were running to get the last stock. The positive was that we, as team mates, were all able to see and greet each other along the route. The end result was a successful day out for all as everybody finished. A special mention for Nicole Youman for a podium finish in her standard tri. That concludes the season and we will see how the winter training progresses.

Here are the results in all their glory:

Sprint Tri Results:

50 - 59 - Mike Harrison 1.10.28   11th Place

50 - 59 - Adam Munday 1.25.19   25th Place

40 - 49 - Murray Taylor  1.08.49   20th Place

Standard Tri Results:

20 - 29 - Nicole Youman  2.41.29  3rd Place

20 - 29 - Alex Viljoen 1.20.06   20th Place

Women's Team 2nd Place

Swim - Chrissy Penney 35.21

Bike   - Jeanie Smith     1.09.28

Run    - Rochelle Williams White 56.50

Mixed Team  7th Place

Swim  - Denise Munday 34.49

Bike    - John Alder   1.16.43

Run     - Neil Williams White 53.24