President's Prattle

I would like to give a big vote of thanks to all those who helped make Sunday’s Club Challenge an enjoyable success. Well done Gerry for another well organised swim and our first back in our home base. Beyond our swimmers we had an excellent group of helpers. Well done club members and spouses for once again coming out in force. Deb, Sue and Lyn again organised an excellent luncheon. I’m sure this is the reason many of the swimmers make the trip. Thanks to Deb, Karen and Pauline for their work on the recording desk….calm under pressure! While I thanked visiting officials at the lunch, it was impressive to see Ken, Des and Ivan give the panel a local flavour (although Kirk and his relay team may beg to disagree??) Well done timekeepers especially Janet and David who sat in the chairs for the full meeting. Thanks to the staff at MARC who were extra helpful at all times. Of course thanks to the swimmers who came in numbers to ensure the trophy stays in our own trophy cabinet!! It was great to see some first time “eventers”, and a few PBs as well. Many of the swimmers expressed facility envy. We are certainly well catered for in our new pool surrounds.

We have relaxing in Koh Samui for a while. One thing that was for sure in Thailand was that the water is a lot warmer at the moment…indeed it was almost too warm as any attempt at strenuous swimming left you overheated. I quickly acclimatised and swam eeeeasy, not wishing to risk health issues. Actually it was a great time to practice slowly the changes to my stroke suggested by our coaches after a “go pro” filming session. This is a process I fully recommend. Despite Ken and my suspicions of the efficacy of the camera, evidently it doesn’t lie, and we both required changes to our style.

It is interesting that whilst our club membership is quite healthy and the numbers in the Sunday swim excellent, the numbers of swim club members actually swimming in our Tuesday, Thursday and Sundays training sessions is quite low. These are the foundation of the clubs activities. We have a terrific panel of coaches who are giving of their time, and it would be great to grow the numbers making use of their skills. Even though it is winter, the pool is a delight to swim in (even if we sometimes sneak inside).

For the hardier folk, the ocean continues to be fun. Wetsuits are definitely to the fore now with many staying in the swim by wearing them. Ray has been implementing a number of safety procedures including buddy-swimming and swimming with highly visible inflatable floats under the watchful eye of the beach spotter. In the often rougher winter waters these safety features are welcomed.

Well, keep swimming and look after each other

Steve C