Important Message from our President

Club Committee Update

Please note this important message from Dave concerning our club committee:

As many of you may know by now, Giles Walker has recently decided to step down from the SCM committee, after having been a member for close to a year and a half.

On behalf of the committee and wider membership, I would like to thank Giles very much for his many efforts during his time, especially the huge effort he put into the detailed planning & organisation for the Long Course National Champs recently jointly hosted by us and Manukau, and also his valuable insights and enthusiasm overall.  It's been a pleasure working with you Giles!

As we were already two members short of our maximum quota prior to Giles' leaving, we have been on the lookout for potential new committee members, as we are permitted to do under the club constitution.  After some negotiations & encouragement, we are pleased to welcome Christine Ferguson, Mike Harrison and Peter Lane as new committee members, effective immediately.  All three bring a wealth of knowledge & experience with them, and together with the current committee should provide a good ‘spread’ of member representation and views across the various pool lanes.  Welcome aboard all.

Dave Bradding

SCM President

A Whale of Fun at Langs Beach  

Andy Simpson can count himself to be one lucky dog! He was up at Langs Beach (near Mangawhai) when a whale came swimming in. What does a swimmer do? Get in and swim with it of course! Jealous much? I know I am. People pay huge money just to see these amazing creatures from helicopters and boats while Andy got up close and personal for free.

Here are some pics of his epic encounter.

Race Night Results

August's race night results and new records are now up. There were 7 new records set which was a great effort.

Even if you don't generally compete Race Night is a chance to see how fast you can go from the start blocks and best of all it is an opportunity to guage your progress. We also enjoy a bit of a chinwag and a mellowpuff (or a savoury if you are being healthy) afterwards.

There was no Swimmer of the Month due to the pool closure, however the Ladies 200-239 4 x 50 long course Freestyle relay that broke a record at the Nationals were presented with their certificates.

Message from Club Secretary

Message from Tony S, Club Secretary:

What's Happening With Our Training Programmes?

We're trialing a change to the way we do our training programmes.
From now until the North Island champs in October, Deryn will write programmes for Lanes 1 & 2 for Monday, Wednesday and Sunday, and John will write programmes for the other lanes for the whole week.
Deryn's programmes will be aimed at swimming performance, in the pool or open water racing, and John's will be the ones we've known & loved for years.

Why?

Within our club we have swimmers who enjoy regular fitness training and others who are more serious about their swimming performance, so the trial is to see if we can satisfy both needs.
Programmes for swimming performance are usually different from those for general fitness, although there is a lot in common. By allocating 2 lanes for performance programmes, it gives Deryn the opportunity to design a longer term training programme that targets specific goals.

Who can participate?

The trial is not limited to those who normally swim in Lanes 1 & 2, so if you're interested, talk to Deryn.
Conversely, if you normally swim in Lane 1 or 2 and prefer the Sunday and Wednesday programmes Lane 3 should offer a suitable programme.

What will happen after the trial?

During the trial the committee will seek feedback to gauge it's value and plan what happens afterwards. As this trial progresses we will be asking people for their thoughts, but please don't be shy and let any of the committee know your thoughts.

Tony Shacklock
Secretary

Fun at Mid Winter Dinner/Awards Ceremony

Last night about 40 of our swimmers and their partners descended upon Star Restaurant in Botany to escape a cold wintery night for a few hours. The lights were bright and so was the conversation and company.

You can check out the pics by clicking on the link below:
Pics from 2015 dinner

As for last year the dinner doubled as an Awards Ceremony. Grand Poobah (aka President) Dave B did a fantastic job informing us of the achievements of both the club as a whole and of our individuals. It is wonderful to watch the club grow from strength to strength.

In particular, 3 cups were awarded to individuals:
Club Member of the Year: Deryn McGregor
Most Improved Swimmer: Ross Faulkner
Swimmer of the Year: Avy Judelson

After the awards and a few photos and some musings about whether Ross was at the pool still working on his swimming, the main course came out.  There was certainly plenty of it so it is just as well we have access to other pools during LEP's maintenance break so we can work it off.

The meal finished with something sweet and then it was out into a rather bleak night that had a hint of the storm that was about to hit.

July Race Night Results Posted

It was a small turnout for July's race night and there were only 2 records broken - 1 to Tim and 1 to Dave J but they were very impressive records. Both record-breaking times were very quick. It's only a couple of weeks to the next race night so let's see if we can drum up a few more good times.

Remember, the pool is shut for the next couple of weeks for it's annual maintenance. Check out the posts below for details of contingency swim plans.

Bugger!

I need to learn how to use a calendar. Last day at LEP is a Wednesday this year so it is 15th July for the last day at LEP and first day elsewhere is Papatoetoe on 19th July. I think everything else is correct until someone else spots a deliberate mistatke (did you see it?).

SOM, Dinner, Closure, Other Stuff

First up, Swimmer of the Month. I pulled out my special camera this morning and took a snap of our winner, Rochelle Williams-White. Rochelle won for her enthusiasm throughout the recent breaststroke clinic but mostly for taking on board the suggestions, working on them and making improvements. Rochelle is always smiling (the evidence is in the pic). Great work Rochelle.

Car Park and Pool Closure
The car park is closed for the month of July. Walk - get used to it.

The pool is closed for 2 weeks after the school holidays for it's annual maintenance. As per usual there will be training at Papatoetoe and Manurewa pools during this time for those who wish. There is NO CHARGE during this time. As follows:

Monday 20th and 27th July from 7.30pm to 8.30pm at Manurewa Pool (Sykes Rd)
Wednesday 22nd and 29th July at Papatoetoe from 8pm to 9pm
Sunday 19th and 26th July and 2nd August at Papatoetoe from 8am to 9am

Last day of training at LEP is 19th July and first day back is 3rd August.

Mid Winter Dinner and Awards
It's not too late to get in on this. It's on the 18th July so it is the day before the last day of LEP training before pool closure. Details below:

NI Champs
These are in Levin on 16th and 17th October.
Entry form has now been released. Go here:
NI Champs Entry Form

New Kid on the Block

Out with the old, in with the new. We keep all our photos on our Flickr page now for all to see at any time by going to:

South City Masters Photo Albums

Sooooo...... we have replaced the blog's photo gallery with a page that is now more useful - a page with the upcoming race night schedules so everyone can see at a glance what date the next race night is on and what events are happening. Nifty eh?

The tab is second one in (next to the home page) so it's easy to find. A nice new feature. Tomorrow's training will start with a pop quiz on what events are being held next race night, just to see if you are paying attention.

Race Night Results, Postal Event

Postal Event

June is the half hour postal swim event month, which involves swimming as far as you can in half an hour. Results get posted to the organiser and at the end of the month, winners of each category are announced. John T is prepared to make arrangements for any one who would like to enter. He can arrange on any of the next 4 Wednesdays depending on how many swimmers would like to enter. Simply let John know if you want to take part in this event.

Race Night Results Posted

They are in all the usual places. This month we had a joint presentation for the Swimmer of the Month since we had skipped race night for May.

Aprils Swimmer of the Month was for a SMASHING ocean swim season by Liz Hayes. She took out line honours in her age group (i.e. she won it!) for the WHOLE season in the State Ocean Swim Series. Phew! That is Mega! Well done Liz. What will be your follow up trick?

Swimmer of the Month for May is Mark Cowling. At the recent Auckland Champs Mark took one for the team - sacrificing an individual swim that would have captured points for an individual points win so he could swim for a relay. That relay broke an NZ record btw so it was worth it for 4 people not 1. That is what teamwork is all about. Nice one Mark.

Now, how do these 2 share the trophy? Who gets the arms and who gets the legs?

Race Night Schedule Through September

Here is the race night schedule for the next few months:

June
25 fly or free
50 Breast or free
50 back
100 free

July
25 Breast or free
50 free
100 back
100 IM or free

August
25 back or free
50 fly or free
100 breast
200 any stroke

Sept
400 free or IM

That should keep you busy for a bit!