About South City Masters Swimming

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To send an email click on 'view my complete profile' (below) and click on 'email'. South City Masters Swimming swim at the Lloyd Elsemore Swimming pool located on Sir Lloyd Drive in Pakuranga, Auckland. We have 3 sessions per week of 1 hour duration each. Monday evening from 7pm to 8pm, Wednesday evening from 7pm to 8pm and Sunday morning from 8am to 9am.

Friday, March 30, 2012

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!

Friday, March 9, 2012

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.

Monday, March 5, 2012

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.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

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.