Club Picnic, FREE Togs

Firstly though it  is RACE NIGHT on Wednesday. Yes it is the start of another month. What, already? Don't tell me Christmas is coming again! Wednesday 3rd February will be the day to take to the start blocks. You can do 25m, 50m, 100m or 200m and you can do any stroke you like so long as it is a recognisable swim stroke.

Club Sea Swim & Picnic
This is only 2 weeks away now so if you don't have your entry in yet you better hurry up. Here is a message from Tony:

"Hi all

You probably know we have our annual BBQ & swim set for Sunday 14th February and we're starting to get things ready.

Just a reminder it's at the southern end of Little Bucklands Beach (or if the wind is unfavourable, the contingency is the northern end of Eastern Beach.) The swim will start at 12:00 midday with the BBQ after it at 1:30 pm. We hope to see you all there.

Please note for the swim we need entry forms filled in so we can do the handicapping knowing who will swim what distances and whether or not they're wearing a wetsuit. John T is collecting the entries, but any of the committee will take them. If you don't get an entry in, of course you can swim for pleasure, but you won't be handicapped or eligible for a trophy.

We'd appreciate some people paddling the course to keep the swimmers company. We're not offering search & rescue support, but it's comforting to think there a few people able to spot anyone in trouble. Anyone interested let us know and bring your vessel!

The club will provide sausages, bread, etc., but please bring something salad or sweet to share.

We need to cook the sausages, so we're looking for a volunteer to lend a barbecue. Let any of the committee know if you can help.

Looking forward to another pleasant afternoon in good company!"

Thanks Tony. I'm glad you have ordered good weather for the event.

Free Togs

How often are togs being given away? Hardly ever, if at all. So be quick if you want to take advantage. 

John Trubnick has available, free to any club member, the following NEW unworn, men's swim togs.

2 pairs Speedo Endurance Jammers size 22 (100cm) and one pair Speedo Endurance size 22 (100 cm) club badged racing briefs. See John Trubnick - first in, first served.

Race Night Results

Results from the first race night of the year are now up. This was 400's night, any stroke so long as it was 400m. This would have to be the first night no records were broken though the relay team came very close.

Swimmer of the Month went to Fiona Little. Fiona had a rip roaring swim in the recent Harbour Crossing. At the time she was credited with a 3rd spot. However, after the 2nd placegetter was dq'd and then the 1st placegetter was tossed out for thinking it was ok to wear flippers in a race our honest Fiona was elevated to her rightful position on the top of the podium. Good job too.

The North Island Champs are still providing fodder for Wooden Spoon. This was given to Dawn W for thinking a tiny little toast rack might in fact be a dish rack (kind of like calling a thimble a trough). I'm not sure how the dinner plates were supposed to balance on a toast rack.

Annual Sea Swim, Club Hoodies

We have left just two club hoodies. Both are Men's Large, around 40" to 42". At $15 they are a bargain; reserve yours today.

The date for the annual South City Masters club BBQ and handicapped sea swim, (1 km and 2 km courses) has been set. Get your diaries out now and put a big mark on February 14th. This year the venue for the BBQ and sea swim is Little Bucks Beach (contingency at Eastern Beach). 

The swim is to commence at 12 noon (high tide) with the BBQ afterwards at around 1.30 p.m. 

Entries must be on the signed entry form which will be available at the pool in the middle of January. There is no charge and entries close on Monday 8th February. Late entries for the sea swim cannot be accepted due to the handicapped nature of the event. 

Santa Has Left the North Pole!

You may have noticed Christmas is coming. You may also have wondered what training you can do over the festive season to compensate for the expected over-indulgence. Well, we've confirmed that we can train our regular hours (except the extra 1/2 hour on Mondays), i.e.

Sunday 27th December 8:00 - 9:00 am

Monday 28th December 7:00 - 8:00 pm

Wednesday 30th December 7:00 - 8:00 pm

Sunday 3rd January 8:00 - 9:00 am

Monday 5th January 7:00 - 8:00 pm

We hope you all enjoy Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year.

Tony Shacklock

for the Committee

And from the swimmers...........

A huge thanks to our very hard working committee for the endless, long, and often unheralded work done behind the scenes.

 

Message From Club Committee

Dear members

Following our committee meeting on Sunday, we'd like to point out…

Sometimes the numbers in each lane are quite unbalanced, crowded in some but empty in others. It's usually better for everyone if people move between lanes to even out the numbers. If your normal lane is crowded (8 or more) and you're one of the followers in the lane, consider moving to a slower lane. If you take the lead and aim to come in on a fast time you should still get a good work-out. If you're one of the faster swimmers, consider moving to a faster lane and try to keep up with them.

Just a reminder that annual subscriptions are due. Thanks to those who've already paid. Payments can be made to the club bank account:

Account: ASB 12-3089-0087168-02

Please clearly reference your family name so we can identify your payment.

Alternatively, a cheque or cash can be given to John or Sally.

We still have lots of our especially good South City swim caps. John will happily let you have one for $5.00.

Thanks

Tony Shacklock

for the committee

Update on the Last Post

Who's done their Christmas shopping? Me, that's who. Hah!!! I even have the Christmas tree up when I thought I wouldn't bother. I got the grandkids to do it though. I knew I'd find a use for the little blighters. Don't start screaming at me something about slave labour, I gave them some water and stale bread for their trouble.

Race night results out. There was a good turnout and it seems as if some members quite like having a go at the 200 anything with a few swimmers saving their energy for this event only. Out of 16 swimmers there were 7 new records set which are good odds.

Swimmer of the Month went to Diane Lane. Diane did a fantabulous job of training herself up to do the Russell to Paihia Ocean Swim race. She trained up to get not just stronger and fitter but the all important faster. Come race day she put in a mighty effort and completed the swim in a time that was rather staggering. Roll on Harbour Capital Classic.

The wooden spoon was also passed on. This was for another episode that occurred at the North Island Champs. Most of us wanted a little nap before getting ready for the evenings dine and dance, including Avy. Avy set her alarm clock for her nap; only she set it for next week!

Last Race Night of the Year

Good grief, who's done their Christmas shopping? Not me. How did Christmas roll around again so quickly?

Anyway, it's race night on Wednesday. The last one for 2015. On the menu is:
25 Back or Free
50 Fly or Free
100 Breast
200 anything (so long as it's swimming)

Race Night, SOM and Wooden Spoon

Results for Wednesday's race night are now up in all the right places. All the usual suspects were there, along with a few unusual ones. Out of the 14 swimmers racing 6 new records were set so that was a good effort. Four records went to the women and 2 to the men; also 4 records were for breaststroke, one for freestyle and one for backstroke. As a club we seem to be very good at breaststroke. I don't know why, I'm just making small talk.

Swimmer of the Month
This month it was awarded to Angela Oliver. Angela has really dedicated herself to her training and built up her fitness and her speed. She went to the North Island champs in Levin and swam a PB in every event, and absolutely walloped her 400IM PB in particular. This took a lot of dedication - great work Angela!

WS - aka Enthusiasm Award
The North Island champs gave a few opportunities to award the wooden spoon. In reality, this month it is more of an enthusiasm award. Just like Angela, Dave B was showing great dedication, this time in a relay. He was putting so much effort though that by a whisker he missed his turn. Fortunately, so did the IOT. We like your style Dave.

Why do we sometimes swim at easy pace?
If you find swimming at cruise (basic endurance) pace boring or difficult you are not alone. As athletes we tend to want to work hard and push ourselves. Not only that but our bodies are very good at tricking us into thinking we are working at an easier pace than we realise. In other words we are often putting in more effort than we think we are.

However, to make gains we need to work at a variety of paces and intensities, both lower and higher. I've been promising a venn diagram (remember those) for some time and finally produced it. It will nicely show the different benefits derived from the 3 main endurance training zones. If you are interested then head over to the Technical Tips page on this blog or be lazy (like me) and just click this link.

Benefits of Endurance Training (Venn Diagram)

I will post it on Facebook plus I've saved the diagram as a pdf if anyone wants me to send it to them.

Get Your Game Face On

We have race night on tomorrow night (Wednesday 4th) so if you want to practice your starts, try and beat your lane mate or simply feel the rush of water past your ears then show up ready to race.

Races on the menu include 25m Br or Free, 50 Free, 100 Back and 100 IM or Free. Afterwards please stay for a mellowpuff (not too many though coz I don't like to miss out) and a laugh at the expense of whoever is being handed the wooden spoon. On that front, all I can say is the North Island champs presented many wooden spoon opportunities.

Good Times in Levin

Last weekend's North Island Champs would have to be considered one of the most successful Masters meets in recent times. 129 Swimmers descended on Levin and this would be the largest number of swimmers at a Masters event for quite some time.

South City showed up and had a couple of houses booked at the nearby holiday 'village' of Waitarere Beach; a 'safe swimming beach' though due to thechigh winds it didn't look much like safe swimming while we were there.

Friday night was a long one with a number of events including the 800/1500 Freestyle so it was nearly 10.30 pm before we left the pool. Levin Masters came up trumps again though, providing a variety of soups and buns for the hungry swimmers. Great idea Levin, very much appreciated.

An early start on Saturday morning had me wondering 'why?' but when we were rewarded with a 2 hour recovery period in the middle of the day it was all worthwhile. It was easier to contemplate being able to perform well in the afternoon after a decent rest.

The afternoon session culminated in a number of relays which were so well attended it required 3 heats to complete the mixed freestyle. Finishing up the meet was the all important Thomas Cup which is a 3 man, 3 woman freestyle relay. There was a nail biting finish between Levin and South City. Who won? More on that later.

The evening dine and dance was at the local Cozzie Club with a quite delightful 2 piece resident band who may have been a little confused about what decade it was. Everyone was having a good time but seemed pretty tired; swimming your heart out will do that to you. We lead a bit of a pansy night life really don't we? One day I might try staying up past 10 pm just to see what it is like.

How did we go, swimming wise? Very well indeed with some very fancy times being swum. I know of one of our swimmers who took 4 minutes off his 1500 freestyle time and another of our swimmers who did a PB in every event. Most swimmers swam at least one PB if not more. As for that very important club trophy, the Thomas Cup, yes, we just beat out the home team.

Thanks Levin for putting on a great meet, you can run this one again any time you like. 

You can find all the photos on our Flickr page. A big thanks to Tanya for the wonderful photos.
2015 NI Champs Photos

The whole squad

Thomas Cup team, minus Dan Feisst