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.

Strange Happenings

If you were at training on Monday night you would have been involved in a strange but enjoyable session. After a brief warm up everyone was divided into teams for a 30 minute continuous relay, the object of which was to see how far the teams could swim in half an hour. Everyone swum freestyle and swum 50 metres at a time before changeover to a team mate. It was a close race and all 5 teams completed more than 2000 metres.

Here are the results. Team 1 swam in lane 1. I wonder how long they spent coming up with that hugely imaginative team name, hours I bet. Team 1 swam 2425m. Team 2 (equally creative with their team name) swimming in lane 2 swam 2395m. Team Spongebob from lane 5 swam 2145m. Team Durafast from lane 4 swam 2100m and not far behind was Team 4 (what's with the names?) from lane 4 with 2025m.

27 Swimmers took part, John T kept time and 4 or 5 club members counted so all in all more than 30 people were kept busy. The feedback has been positive and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Robyn M wants to do it as a half hour wine drinking relay next time. We'll consider anything Robyn; swim 50m drink wine, swim 50m eat a pie, we know where that one is going don't we?

Finally, just a reminder that if you are going to the Roskill meet in the mini-van please be at the Lloyd Elsmore Pool car park at 11.30am on Saturday.

Mini-van transport for Roskill meet

If you put your name down to travel by mini-van to the meet at Roskill next Saturday 12th May please meet at the Lloyd Elsmore Swimming Pool carpark at 11.30 am. The next thing you should do is get in it because the mini-van will be leaving shortly afterwards. Mike W has kindly offered to be the driver and he will make sure you get safely to Cameron Pool in time for the 12.30 pm warm up.

If you haven't been to a swimming pool meet before you might be wondering what to bring besides togs, goggles, swim cap and the clothes you wish to wear home. Here are a few ideas:

• 2 towels - one to keep you warm and dry between races and one to use after racing as the other one will be very soggy by then. If you have a chamois you will find it very useful.
• 2 t-shirts - likewise, they get very wet in between races and you don't want to get cold so have a dry one to put on.
• sweatshirt - even though it's warm in the pool area a wet body = a cold body.
• drink bottle - even though you are in the water, swimming is thirsty work. Beat dehydration. That goes for supporters too, swimming pool environments are dehydrating.
• a healthy snack - you can't race well if you are hungry. Avoid apples as they are high in fiber and difficult to digest. Bananas and creamed rice (not necessarily together!) are good choices.

Race Night Results Are Out. May Birthdays.

My apologies for the delay. I pretty much earned (yet another) wooden spoon by more or less wiping out half of the women's records table immediately before Blogger did an autosave (who asked for that by the way?). Barry has the records templates so...............some hours later it has been recreated, phew. We do miss Barry don't we?

Results are up and records have been amended. There were 9 new individual records but no new relay records this time around.

Races were followed by a light supper and the awards. The wooden spoon was awarded to Denise Munday for her inability to find her earplugs in her own ears. She'll be looking for her goggles next. I hope she doesn't lose her togs, that could be truly embarrassing. The Swimmer of the Month was yours truly for rolling back the clock 10 years in the 400IM at the nationals. There's nothing like getting younger is there.

I might be getting younger but some folk are getting older (oops, that's not tactful is it?). There are only 4 people celebrating birthdays in May. Perhaps May isn't a popular month but these 4 people are very popular and we would like to wish them a very Happy Birthday - Diane Grogan, Fiona Grigg, David Jamieson and David Warburton.

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!