Newsletter July 2007

General Notes

We are rostered for selling raffle tickets at the Vikings Club at Erindale this Friday; see the noticeboard at the pool for details. Now that the club is smoke-free, this is a far more pleasant task than it used to be, so do consider coming along to help. Proceeds from the raffle are donated to the rostered club, and this forms an important part of our club’s annual income. We will be having an informal dinner afterwards; Ann will be booking a table, so please let her know if you intend dining with us: ann.reid@westnet.com.au

Our own annual swim meet, The Vikings Challenge, is booked for 17 November at the Tuggeranong pool. Last year we had to cancel it for lack of support, so do consider entering this year. It’s a “different” sort of meet, one in which the slowest swimmer can be the winner. It involves only three swims - 50m, 100m, 200m - each in a different stroke; you nominate the stroke you wish to swim for each event, and you nominate your expected time. The winner is the one going closest to their nominated aggregated time. There will also be a novelty event, and handicap relays (entry optional for these two) .If you still feel that you can’t do it, perhaps you could help as a volunteer. Please contact Ann (e-mail address above) if you would like to help.


Bunbury Postal Swim 2007

Fourteen of our members completed their Bunbury 400m swims during May and June. Entry fees ($10 per swimmer) are now due. Please pay Jane Lindsay as soon as possible.

More Postal Swims

The Baddaginnie Animal runs from now until the end of September. This one’s a real challenge. In one day you have to swim 800FR, 200BR, 200BA, 200BU and 400IM.

The Murrumbidgee Monster Medley is an even bigger challenge. This is a 2Km individual medley, ie 500m of each stroke, in medley order. This one runs from now until the end of August.

If you want to enter either of these swims, just come along to one of our aerobic sessions (see next page for dates and times).

There will be more postal swims in September and October, including a half-hour swim organized by one of the New Zealand clubs. If you enter this one, you will be killing two birds with one stone - the postal swim, plus aerobic participation and points for our club, so start getting into shape for this one now.

Aerobic Swim Programme

We had two new aerobic swimmers last Saturday. Gordon came voluntarily, and he did two 400m swims, having never done one before. Bernie just happened to be at the pool, so he was bullied into a 400m swim. Well done, both of you. I wonder why neither of them turned up for training on Sunday evening?

If anyone else wants to join the programme, there is still time to fit in your sets of 400m and 800m swims before the end of November. And of course longer swims can be started at any time of year. You get instant points for longer swims, but for 400m and 800m you have to do five swims in one stroke, spread over five months, before you get any points.

In theory the programme runs until the end of December, but now that we belong to New South Wales, we have to finish a bit earlier so that the state recorder can deal with the results from all the clubs. Also, people get busy during December, and find it difficult to get to aerobic sessions.

Aerobic Swims for July and August

Tuesday 3 July, 10.30 - 12 noon
Saturday 14 July, 2-4pm
Tuesday 17 July, 10.30 - 12 noon
Saturday 28 July, 2-4pm

Tuesday 7 August, 10.30 – 12 noon
Saturday 11 August, 2-4pm
Tuesday 21 August, 10.30 – 12 noon
Saturday 25 August, 2-4pm

Swimmers are asked to contribute $2 at each session to help defray the cost of hiring lanes.