Subs Are Due Please And Handicap Swim Coming

Subscriptions Due
It's that time of year and annual subscriptions are due. Subscription for the coming year remains at $60, same as this year. Please put your $60, cash or cheque, in an envelope with your name on it and hand it to John T by the end of the year. He only needs your email, phone and address if they have changed since you last gave them to John. On that note, if you have not been receiving emails chances are there is something wrong with the one we have for you (or our ability to read your handwriting). Please provide your email address again.

Open Water Handicap Swim and Picnic
You might want to put the 10th March in your diary, go do it now. On this date at Little Bucks we will be having our annual handicap o/w swim and picnic that we have been holding every year since next year. You can swim either 1 km or 2 km with or without a wetsuit and we will have trophies and spot prizes. Entry will be free but you will need to submit a 400m free time for handicapping purposes. Don't worry yet as there will be more info on entering coming later. The swim will be at 5.30pm and the bbq and prizegiving will be at 6.30pm. It would make it a whole lot simpler to cook the meat if there was a barbeque at the location so if anyone has a portable barbeque that would be suitable for cooking large(ish) quantities of meat could you please have a word to John?

Race Night Results Are Out

If you were at race night last night these are now posted on all the right pages (I hope!), results are on the results pages, records on records pages etc. We had 20 swimmers which is the usual numbers and 2 free lanes for those who wanted to do 'other stuff'.  3 New men's records were set, 2 ladies records and 1 relay record (good call do the medley relay by the way!).

While admiring some of the amazing times our men swam I looked up some of the NZ records for the men's 400 free. There was one thing that stood out in particular, the men's record for the 30-34 year age group is 4.23 and the record for the men's 55-59 year age group is 4.24. There are 25 more years and only 1 second difference. Think about that for a bit. Quite astounding really. This nicely illustrates that you don't have to slow down as you age, the challenge continues.

Swimmer of the Month
Denise Munday is our November Swimmer of the Month. Denise has lined up for the first time for the Kohi Swim Series and done it style, returning for more swims in the series. Denise has inspired others to take the challenge. Nice job Denise.

This Week's Club News

Max Fagerstroem
A 'send off' Cath Fagerstroem's husband, Max, will be held this coming Friday at 1pm at Maraetai Boating Club. Everyone is very welcome to attend and have a glass of champagne and a few nibbles while honouring Max and memories of him. Cath would be delighted to see you there. Maraetai Boating Club is at 188 Maraetai Drive.

December Birthdays
We have quite a bunch this month. Here are our birthday babes for December: Mark Cowling, Elliott Crawford, David Donaldson, Vince Kirrane, Lapo Nustrini, Angela Tomlinson, John Trubnick and Dawn Walker. If I've added up correctly that's 8 members blowing out candles this month. By my reckoning that's a cake being eaten every 4 days or so.

Race Night
The last race night for the year is this Wednesday the 5th. We are going long. Brace yourselves for the 400 Free (or IM). There will be a couple of spare lanes for swimmers to do their own training in.

State Harbour Crossing
We had what might well be a record number of entries from South City with 14 swimmers entered. Here are the results of our swimmers (apologies to anyone left off):

Giles Walker  49.15
Dave Donaldson  49.52,  3rd in age group
Grant Sykes  51.10
Dawn Walker  52.52, 3rd in age group
Avy Judelson  54.37, 1st in age group
Jon Flatley 55.40
Elliott Crawford  56.01
Liz Hayes   57.13
Tony Shacklock  1.01.20
Angela Tomlinson  1.01.55
David Walker 1.02.23
David Spencer 1.05.27
Angela Oliver 1.06.29
Anne Smith 1.20.42

Condolences

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the loss of Max, much loved husband of good friend and club member Cath Fagerstroem. Our thoughts are with Cath during this difficult time. Flowers are being sent to Cath on behalf of all club members.

Pool Closure Over Christmas Period

Seasonal Pool Closure
The word on the street is that the pool will be closed on December 24th, 26th and 31st. There was no mention of the 25th but presumably no one is going to be wanting a swim that day anyhow. Right?

Kohi Swim Series
This is on every Thursday evening at Kohi Beach. Last week we had a very good turnout with 10 swimmers there and swimmers in the 1000, 1500 and 2000m categories. There is also a 500m category if you want to have a crack at it but aren't too sure. I won't be posting individual results each week as it is a 16 week series so the season is long but suffice to say all our swimmers did a grand job and no doubt will be back for more.

Christmas Function - Be In! Russell to Paihia Results

Christmas Function
It's that time of year again and Christmas is sneaking up on us. It's a good excuse to get together in something other than togs and goggles. It could be difficult to recognise each other with dry hair, maybe we should think about name tags (?). Anyhow, Anne, our social controller, has been working behind the scenes on a venue and has asked me to pass on the following:

You are invited to South City Christmas Brunch

10.30am on Sunday 16th December

Ara-Tai Cafe, 1/C4 Ara Tai Road, Half Moon Bay

Pay Your Own Way – Cold Cabinet or Menu Board

There will be a sign up sheet at the pool on Wednesday. Please put your name on it (only if you are coming to the brunch - duh!) because we need to know numbers.

As an aside, I just this minute received an email in my inbox that told me to 'say NO to socks this Christmas'. I'm thinking if that's all I have to say 'no' to it's going to be a very happy Christmas this year.

Russell to Paihia Ocean Swim

We had a strong contingent of 8 swimmers make the trek north this year and they all did the club proud. Four of our swimmers medalled which is a 50% hit rate, excellent by any standards. Here are the individual results:

Dave Donaldson   56.43     3rd in age group

Giles Walker         57.06     2nd in age group

Dawn Walker       1.00.27   2nd in age group

Dave Bradding    1.01.51 

Grant Sykes         1.02.38

Jon Flatley           1.03.22

Liz Hayes            1.03.49    2nd in age group

Anne Smith         1.45.27

Great work, we are looking forward to seeing our swimmers on the podium at the end of the season (no pressure!).

Club Night Results Out

Results from Wednesday's races have now been posted to the Results and Records pages. There were 20 swimmers in attendance. 12 New records were set, 5 by the men, 6 from the women and 1 new relay record. A big thanks as always to our dedicated timekeepers who give up their time to make sure our swimmers racing always have enough hands on deck.

Swimmer of the Month award was most deserved (isn't it always?). As most of you will know, unless you live under a rock, Jo Cook has has been powering away all year for the World Triathlon Grand Finals here in Auckland. This involved biking, swimming, running, swimming, biking, swimming over and over and over and doing all this in between work and family commitments. Superwoman! She did this through illness and injury, one injury during the taper phase. Grand Final day came and Jo finished an extraordinary 39th in the stunning time of 1 hour 43. Well done Jo, we are all proud of you.

Kath, I believe, is very attached to the wooden spoon.

November Birthdays, Kohi Swim Series

November Birthdays
November is a busy month for birthdays. Here are our special people celebrating this month: Rochelle Gebbie (milestone - we'll keep that to ourselves though won't we Rochelle?), Colleen White, Dave Bradding (also a milestone but doesn't he look so much younger than he is?), Jo Cook, Julie Devonshire, Neil Finnigan, Jon Flatley and Anne Smith. Now, if all those people could just slip me a bit of their birthday cake........

Kohi Swim Series
As a club we would like to win the points trophy this season. Everyone earns points no matter where you finish and it's a lot of fun. There will be lots of us there so come and join us. The Kohi sea swims are every Thursday at Kohi beach with a break over Christmas. The start time is 6.15 pm. You can enter online or at the beach that evening, and the entry is discounted (for online) if you enter before the Tuesday prior to the swim. You can also pay for the whole series at a less expensive per-swim price. Distances are 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 metres. You can mix up the distances so you can do 500m one week and 1000m the next etc. There is boat support and good spot prizes, some to the value of your entry for the whole 16 weeks. Make sure you select South City Masters as your swimming club so your points count towards the trophy for the winning club.

Here is the website Kohi Swim Series

Inter-Club Challenge Won By...................

........both clubs. Yes, it was a draw! Who would have predicted that?

South City got off to a rip roaring start in the first 2 events and had a handy points lead. But Manukau would not be denied and with each passing event the points gap got ever closer. With one event to go South City's lead had been whittled down to a miserable 2 points. The final event was the Flying Squadron Relay - 3 men and 3 women swimming as fast as they could over one 25m length. It was worth double points. Manukau took an early lead and although South City were coming back at them, South City simply ran out of pool. This win gave Manukau Masters 8 points to South City's 6, so the final tally for the challenge was South City Masters 135 points, Manukau Masters 135 points. Tie!

Both clubs thoroughly enjoyed themselves and are looking forward to the tie-breaker in February.

A huge thanks goes out to all the helpers. They are too many to name but they know who they are - the challenge manager, team manager, starter, marshall, IOT's, place judges and recorders. You did a magnificent job and it couldn't have happened without you.

Race Night
Scheduled for Wednesday 7th November. Is it really November already? I better start thinking about Christmas shopping. Events for race night will be 25 Breast or Free, 50 Free, 100 Back (NOT or free as that would defeat the next event which is), 100 IM or Free.

Bag Alert
John Shackleton from Manukau Masters is looking for his son's swimming bag which he thinks was left in the party room after the challenge meet. It is a black drawstring bag and contains a couple of towels, goggles, and some kiddy togs. Can you help get John out of the dog box? If anyone has seen this bag, come see me.

Inter-Club Challenge Meet On This Sunday

This Sunday, 28th October, we are hosting the first of the Inter-Club Challenges, this one to be held between South City Masters and Manukau Masters. Warm up starts and 7.00am and the racing starts at 7.30am. If you aren't racing or officiating come along and cheer your team on to victory. There is swimming at the usual time, see below.

For the challenge meet there are 2 age groups, babies and derelicts who will compete over 5 individual and 3 relay events. Here is your team:

The youngsters include Fiona Grigg, Jo Cook, Dawn Walker, Grant Sykes, David Main, Giles Walker and Lapo Nustrini. 
Golden oldies include Liz Hayes, Deryn McGregor, Avy Judelson, Mark Cowling, Mark Clavey, Dave Donaldson and Mike Harrison.

There is also a very organised and highly trained group of officials including Barry Davies, John Trubnick, Tony Shacklock, Rochelle Gebbie, Angela Tomlinson, Diane Lane, Peter Lane, Anne Legg, Sally Walker, Ivo Prabbruwe and there may be one or two others whose names haven't reached me yet.

Photographer Required

If you are an enthusiastic photographer it would be great if you could come along and take some photographic evidence for the archives.

South City Club Swim:  0800 am to 0900 am

The four lanes in the recreation Pool will be available to members not taking part in the Inter Club Challenge.

A swim programme will be made available.

No Pool Charges:

There will be no Pool charges for those taking part in either the Inter Club Challenge or the South City Swim.

Other Activities This Weekend: 

South City have many club members involved in other big events this weekend. No one will be named as inevitably people get left off the list, however several are off to cycle either K1 (100km) or K2 (200km) on Saturday. Sunday is Auckland Marathon day and that means we have swimmers (!) running varying distances, mostly the half marathon. We do, however, have one complete loony, and we can all guess who it is, who is cycling K1 on Saturday and then running the full marathon on Sunday. Yikes! I wonder if he will be walking on Monday?

Good luck to everyone involved in 'stuff' this weekend.