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.