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.