Author: Virginia Birch

As we get to the pointy end of the season, there’s so much going on that it’s hard to keep up!

Heidi Jessup won Swimmer of the Week in Week 15 for smashing the 50m butterfly qualifying time with 33s flat. Poppy Rimondi got the award in Week 16 for her qualifying time in the 50 m backstroke. Well done girls and sorry I didn’t get a pic.

Week 17 saw Isabel Steele get the award for qualifying for 50 m butterfly. 

It’s been a busy few weeks as the club championships have progressed. The stakes are high and Chris has been working overtime trying to corral everyone into their races.

We have also squeezed in club swims and some exciting relays too.

The camping trip to Coledale took place last weekend and by all accounts it was a great weekend and the kids loved taking to the surf with the Coledale nippers.

Swim and Survive continues and our club members, young and old, are helping to teach kids important water safety techniques. Thanks to all our vollies for giving up that extra hour on Saturday mornings.

See you next week!

Week 14 saw a near-record number of swims as everyone raced to qualify for the club championships. Olivia Pappas was our Swimmer of the Week for her qualification in the 30m butterfly. Good work Olivia!

Last week saw the start of the Club championships, so excitement was high and tension was palpable. A few personal bests were achieved and a new club record was set by Aaron.

Two massive qualifications each by Xavier Hussey and Amelie Rimondi from the previous week meant that Swimmer of the Week honours was split between them. Well done to you both.

Special mention goes to Simon Jessup, who took 5s off his prior season best for 50m BR and 2s off his 100m FS time.  (He would have got Swimmer of the Week but he was 21s slower in his 400m!)

Swim and Survive kicked off after the club meet, and it was great to see lots of kids attending, both from within and outside the club. Thanks especially to all the volunteers who make this happen.

See you next week…

We had a great turnout for Aaron’s racing skills workshop on Feb 3rd.

The kids practised their racing dives and fast finishes for that extra edge on race day. And the adults did stroke correction, learning very quickly that most of us had been doing it wrong all this time.

Club records will no doubt tumble after this informative session. Thanks Aaron for sharing your vast experience and skills with us.

A slightly belated post to mark the beginning of 2019 so there’s lots to catch up on. It was our first wet and cloudy day for club this season, but that didn’t dampen the spirits. The pool was a fantastic balmy 26 degrees.

This week the kids took over… Amelia Barry gave us the race report from last week and Eli Langman assisted with making sure everyone up to date to qualify for the club championship events starting February 16. Well done kids and you’ll be running the show in no time!

Week 11 saw Evelyn Mawer awarded Swimmer of the Week, with 2 qualifications in the same week, one of which was the 400m. Great effort Evelyn! That’s the second award she’s had this season. No pic unfortunately as our photographer was on holiday.

Week 12 SOTW went to Eshana Singh for her two qualifications, 50m backstroke and  100m  freestyle. Well done Eshana!

See you next week!

We had a bumper last week for 2018… along with the JC 1000, we had the kids novelty races, a brekkie barbecue and the monster raffle.

Swimmer of the Week was William Jenkins (he wasn’t there to pick up his certificate so congratulations William!)

Last week’s S’sOTW were Ben Bates and Sam Barry – top work boys!

For the novelty races, Chris and David had to rethink the program to compensate for the lack of a shallow end, so no tug of war,  tunnel swim or leap frog this year.  Instead we had double helpings of armless backstroke, the worm, sidestroke and the corkscrew. Everyone had a ball and there was much good-natured festive cheating!

The monster raffle was as raucous as ever, with lots of great prizes being won and a new catchphrase coined…  ‘take the chalk, take the chalk…’ Watch the action here IMG_0598.TRIM

Merry Christmas to all and see you back on Jan 19th 2019!

 

 

Week 6 saw the first round of our Mixed Relay Challenge, where young and old, male and female,  join forces in teams of four, choose a corny/clever team name and pit themselves against each other. The excitement was palpable, and BEBS got the first weeks’ points. It’s not over yet!

Edward Bates took out Swimmer of the Week. He has had 3 qualifications for the year and has also racked up the most swims of any member this year. Well done Edward!

Week 7 had everything…. a few super-quick starts off the blocks (looking at you, Shonks), TWO redraws in the raffle, another close finish on the mixed relay and some rugby player star-spotting.

Olivia Pappas was Swimmer of the Week, she qualified for the 50m freestyle. Well done Olivia!

See you all next week for the Mixed Relay decider.

Happy swimming!

 

Week 5 and yet another cracking day at Cabarita Pool.

The kids were on fire in week four, so we had not one but three – count them, three! –  swimmers of the week. Well done Alfie, Amelia and Kaiella.

Aaron’s skills training is on Sunday February 3rd and we are all looking forward  to learning the secrets of his success.

And well done to all those who attended the Inner West Council meeting last week to show their support for the Ashfield Pool Development. Thanks to stirring speeches from David C-W and Alfie, the council voted to start construction on our new pool before Xmas. Great news!

And a special shout out to our timekeepers, young and old, who volunteer week in, week out to keep the races running smoothly. See you next week!

 

 

We were blessed with perfect weather again this week, and all swimmers were on good form with great participation in all races. Congratulations to our swimmers of the week, Luke Glasscock and Matilda Birch, who both earned double qualifications the week before. Well done!

We finished with our welcome breakfast which was a truly impressive spread – perfect for those post-swim appetites. Thanks to everyone who baked, chopped and shopped, for making it a great success. And to Frank for excellent vacuuming skills

See you next week!