Dude where are my goggles????

Well where do i start....How about at the beginning WHOA SNAP !

Ok 36 years ago my mum and dad...oh wait wrong beginning.....

Ok last November at the Club Captains meeting Claremont Aussi put forward the idea of running a short course relay carnival. The idea was well received by all and sundry, and cut my legs off and call me shorty 10 months later it all came together today up at challenge stadium...

Let me say right away that this was VERY well run and organised, there were plenty of swimmers and even the odd record set but more on that later. A great atmosphere as nobody was particularly worried about times...the whole Fitness Fun and Friendship thing that our President is always banging on about (when he wants a rest !) was well and truly on display.

So grasshopper what was that you asked??
What about Riverton?
Well I thought you would never ask !

8 Redbacks made the trek up to Challenge Stadium

GP
Kazza
Tammy (the south african version)
Barbara
McElroy
Steve-O
Malira
Damo

The official results are not up as yet, I will post a link when they are available, however, as always the mighty Redbacks still produced their own highlight reel ! (Bullet points as always!)

• Steve-O first thing was he showed up = 1 gold star, he also swam some excellent legs none better than his 50 free in the mixed 4x50 = 2 gold stars well done !
  
• McElroy (Shane) Dare I say it??? Ok ok it was a PB in the 4x100 Free lead off leg..1.08 nice work, I think it is time to throw away those fins Nemo ! Yes even the little ones !!!!
  
• Kazza stepped up when we were short on personell for a couple of events and ended up with 6 swims...Great TEAM work Kazza
  
• In true team spirit Barbara swam some butterfly and backstroke legs and might I add swam them VERY well ! (Much better than McElroy)
• Who says South Africans are not team players? Considering what I would call a "limited" preparation (and that is a MAJOR understatement) Tammy swam very well with a great 35 for her 50 back and 1.08 for her 100 Free in the 4x100 Free
  
• In contrast GP has had a "SOLID" preparation and it showed. He headed up the Riverton Wrinklies (200+ age group) and swam very well
• Cold feet, cold hands, cold nose too probably - fair to say Malira was cold ! All great swims again and held it together very very nicely in the 4 x 100 free
  

The Highlight for Riverton was undoubtedly our STATE RECORD (unofficial at the moment) in the 160-199 age group we ripped more than 20 secs off the old record. The team of McElroy, Tammy, Malira and Damo layed down a 4.31.20 and the old record was 4.52.30. We won our age group and considering the reluctance of EVERYONE ELSE EXCEPT ME to swim it, I would call it a great result.

So I have waffled on a bit but it was a great morning with a fantastic atmosphere and I am sure that everyone who participated had a great time.

See you in the pool !

Cheers
Damo

Dude, Where's my Bowling Ball?

The Coen brothers may have immortalised the sport of bowling in their movie 'The Big Lebowski', but the Riverton AUSSI Masters members, families and friends have taken it to even greater heights. The latest event on the club's social calendar was bowling at AMF Cannington on Sunday 26 July.


Some stellar footwork and arm action was on show by all 14 bowlers that made up 3 teams of adults and kids and some very fancy scores were recorded. Everyone that attended had a great time and enjoyed the fun. Many thanks to Lesley for organising the event.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Attached is the flyer for the SHORT COURSE RELAY CARNIVAL

WHERE – Challenge Stadium

WHEN – SUNDAY 16th August 9.15am Start

WHY –This is all about swimming together as a CLUB. There are NO individual swims. Only 25 and 50m relay swims.

4x25 Free, Medley and Mixed Relays
4x50 Free, Medley and Mixed Relays

That’s it !

COST - $5 INCLUDES POOL ENTRY AND FREE LUNCH AFTERWARDS !! -

WHAT NEXT – Simply click on the reply button and type “Damo I am in” Then click on send.

I strongly encourage anyone who has thought about having swim to enter, it’s all about having fun, No PB’s to worry about, just dive in and swim !

Yes or No by 6th August.

Sensational Swimming at Swan Hills

A very early start on a cold morning saw six intrepid Riverton swimmers take on all comers from ten other clubs in a sensational morning of great swimming.


In a tradition that has been etched in concrete since time immemorial, here is the run down of the meet in the all-too-familiar list of bullet points (with a few sporting clichés thrown in for good measure!).

The Brilliant

• Robert’s sizzling 2.18 PB in the 200 metre freestyle. Absolutely sensational! Does it get any better than that?
• Graeme’s three relay legs on the trot after three other fantastic events. He dug deep and gave 110%.
• Lea’s ‘first place in her age group’ 50 metre freestyle in 38 seconds. Fabulous swimming from start to finish and she remained focused for both laps.
• Barbara’s herculean 25 metre butterfly to cap off a weekend of birthday celebrations. After a huge night of partying, she took the meet one heat at a time and came out a winner.
• Uli’s 33 seconds in the 50 metre freestyle. She’s got to be happy with that!
• Kazza’s ‘second place in her age group’ 25 metre backstroke, complete with a PB. She finally got the monkey off her back and gave backstroke a go.
• Riverton’s 4 X 50 metre freestyle relay team of Uli, Graeme, Lea and Robert. There’s no ‘I’ in team and they say that records are made to be broken. A pity there were no points for this event – it was beautiful to watch. Uli led the field at the first leg. Graeme increased the lead in the second leg and then Lea further increased the lead in the third. Robert brought the team home and showed a lot of heart in lapping one other team completely and almost lapping two other teams. In a word - simply sensational!!!

The Wrap-up

• Good venue and great organisation.
• The team placed ninth out of 11 teams and with only 6 competitors was a brilliant effort. I can honestly say it was a total team effort. A short movie of the action can be seen here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vn8SwO_JqQ

The movie shows Robert in action, Graeme and Barbara swimming, and then Lea handing over to Barbara in one of the relays.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Seven Spices

The latest event on the club's social calendar was an evening at Seven Spices restaurant in Applecross where a small group met for dinner on Saturday 20 June. The Indian and Sri Lankan food that was prepared was fabulous and we tasted a wide variety of dishes from the buffet table. A lovely ambiance, fantastic food and great company all combined to make a very pleasant dining experience.

Swan Hills Meet

Where - Swan Park Recreation Centre – Gray Drive, Midvale (25m Indoor heated pool)

When - SUNDAY 5th of JULY Time: 8.00am Warm-up, 8.30am Start (pool opens at 7.30am)

Cost: $4.30 Pool entry for swimmers ($3.40 Concession) - $1.30 Spectators

Entries must be in to me by Tuesday 24th June


THE PROGRAM

Event 1 200m Free (Choice)
Event 2 100m Breaststroke
Event 3 100m Butterfly
Event 4 50m Free (Choice)
Event 5 25m Back
Event 6 25m Free
Event 7 25m Breaststroke
Event 8 25m Butterfly
Event 9 4 x 25m Mixed Medley Relay
Event 10 4 x 25m Mixed Freestyle Relay
Event 11 4 x 50m Mixed Freestyle Relay (Not for points)

Swimmers may only compete in 3 individual events.

Stadium Snappers 1500 metre Event: 30 May 2009

On Saturday 30 May, a keen quartet of Riverton members arrived at Challenge Stadium to participate in the Stadium Snappers 1500 metre long course event. It was a very well organised event and there was some great swimming completed.

Damo swam the distance in a time of 18.24 – yet another PB. Is there no end to the PBs this man can gather? Very strong swimming from start to finish in the first heat of the afternoon. Great effort!

In a later heat, Iain’s 20.14 was also a brilliant swim. Great swimming for the entire distance. Well done!

Kazza’s 32.29 was smooth from start to finish, despite swimming with goggles full of water and not being able to see where she was going. Two jinxed experiences at Challenge Stadium in as many outings doesn’t augur well for the next one. They say things come in threes!

Shane did a great job of time-keeping (as did Damo, Iain and Kazza). Much appreciated!

Some footage of Damo and Iain in action can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmSZrRNJR9s