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.