You've got that seedy feeling..Whoa that seedy feeling...

"Dad get up i want some weetbix".....Hang on what?? Man i was sure that Curtis went to bed about 30 mins before me, why the heck does he still wake up at 6am then? Ahhh of course he was not consuming alcohol the night before...

What an excellent night it was though, once again the Riverton Christmas party was held at Sandy and GP's place. Again they outdid themselves with decorations, chair coverings and HOW CLEAN WAS THE BBQ???

A great time was had by all, even Steve-O managed to show up without a reminder phone call. Sure he was 90 mins late and bought some weird beer that already had lime in it, hence the reason for my distinct lack of sparkle today, moving on.

Coach Caris popped in on her way to Subiaco for a night out and i am reliably informed that she ignored my request for her to be home by midnight (lest she turn into a pumpkin!) and was in fact not home until 3am....I can only assume that she had taken along some "sensible" shoes to walk in as the ones she was wearing looked lovely, however, i bet the old feet were starting to ache when wandering aimlessly around trying to get a taxi......

Believe it or not i did have a plan to get lots of photos and then do it Kazza style and have this great video to post on You Tube. Sadly my plan did not come together A-Team style as it appears my camera and me don't quite click (get it??) Anyway i managed to get a couple of half decent snaps which you see on this page somewhere.

It would be remiss of me not to thank everyone who came along last night and for the lovely food we all got to sample, the salads and desserts were fantastic and as always El Presidente's lollie jar was quickly emptied thus ensuring a night of sugar highs which kept everyone buzzing.

Again would like to thank Sandy and GP for their wonderful hospitality and ensuring a great night was had by all....

Yours in the Christmas Sprit (and Beer) Damo

PS - Is 8.15pm too early to go to bed??

Lock it in Eddie. Riverton Triumphs at Somerset and Brings Home the Bacon

No Competition Whatsoever for the Somerset Handicap Trophy. Riverton Wins it Hands Down!

At this very moment, newspaper headlines around the world are reporting the latest masters swimming news.

From the New York Times, the front page leads with the headline: 'Is the All-Points-Scoring Riverton Club Captain No Longer Needed in Inter-Club Competitions?'

The Chicago Tribune reports: 'Who Needs State Champions When ‘The Rest of the Team' Can Bring Home the Trophy?'

On a morning of blue skies and warm conditions, seven Riverton competition stalwarts (Robert, Graeme, Shane, Lea, Barbara, Hilary and Kazza) arrived at the Aqualife Centre in Victoria Park to take on all-comers in the final BACC event on Riverton’s 2009 calendar. They were greeted early by the shocking news that Damo, the Club Captain, would not be swimming due to a sore shoulder. Did Graeme, who arrived with his arm in a sling, complain about a minor injury preventing him from putting in for the team? No! Did Barbara, who arrived on crutches, complain about a minor injury preventing her from swimming for the team? No! Why? Because there is no I in TEAM! Riverton Club Captains have passed down that mantra from generation to generation. It’s all about the team and it’s all about the points!

So, what happened at the meet? Let's have the meet report. In another tradition that we’ve followed since the first swimming reporter picked up a chisel and etched a list into a slab of rock, it’s bullet points from here on in.

The Fairly Fantastic
· Robert’s 200 m IM. Poetry in motion and beautiful to watch.
· Shane taking yet another 4 seconds off his 200 IM PB. When is this man ever going to stop improving?!?!
· Barbara’s swag of points from a variety of events. She was happy with her times and is always thinking of the Club.
· Graeme’s 100 m breaststroke. Masterful from start to finish and blitzing the entire field.
· Hilary’s 1.45 in the 100 m freestyle. A brilliant time! So brilliant that she recorded it in her ‘swimming records notebook’.
· The Club’s only relay entry – the women’s 200 m medley. Last event of the day with Lea, Hilary, Barbara and Kazza bringing the team home in fine style.
· Graeme and Lea going head to head in the 100 m freestyle.
· Lea’s sizzling 50 m freestyle in the first heat for that event. She made it to the end before any of the other swimmers had surfaced from their dives. Brilliant!
· Paul putting in a brilliant morning of time-keeping and cheering for the team.


The Fairly Fabulous
· Heaps of food for lunch. Just when we thought that meat, gravy, bread rolls and fruit was enough, plates of gorgeous cakes were wheeled out. We’re no slouches in the pool and neither are we at the food tables!
· A very well organised event from the Somerset AUSSI Club.
· Swimming outside in the sunshine in a gorgeous pool on a warm day.



The Ginormously Brilliant
· The team triumphing in the Handicap Competition. Fling open that trophy cabinet and let’s add another shield to the shelves!!!
· The team of 7 coming in 6th out of 9 teams with 72 points in the overall competition. A brilliant effort!

Barbecue Caps Off Big Training Evening

With no barbecues on the social agenda for over six months and all members suffering withdrawal symptoms, a special Club Night Training event and barbecue was held on Monday 9 November.

Caris put everyone through their paces in the pool with some warm-up laps followed by timed 50 metre races and relay practice as preparation for the club’s final inter-club challenge this Sunday.

Everyone quickly made their way out to the barbecue area for eating and socialising. Presentations were made to Malira, Damo and Shane for setting various state records in the pool this year. (Photo shown below). Special congratulations also go to Robert and Tammy for setting some state records.

While not everyone is a state champion in the pool, everyone is a winner out of the pool. Everyone was presented with a Leisureplex drink bottle and a special RentWA cap. Hats off to Mick whose RentWA company has sponsored the Club.

Another great barbecue was enjoyed by all. Special thanks go to the Social Committee (Lesley, Hilary and Lea) for organising the barbecue and making sure the cooking was done to perfection.

A short photo montage of the evening can be seen here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGrwf06tKZM

Carb Loading Proves a WINNER !

Rolled out of bed, rubbed the sleep from my eyes, looked in the mirror and thought "Not a bad night last night great food, great company (except Shane)".
Gave the wife, kids and dog a kiss (in that order)grabbed AC/DC's greatest album ever - Back in Black - which by the way sold over 42 million copies, and i was off cruising down the new bypass to Mandurah for a 400/800 meet.

3 intrepid Redbacks made the trip, unfortunately Kazza was a late scratching as my spies tell me she was seen kicking up her heels until sunrise at the White Stag Hotel in Northbridge.

So without anymore preamble it is time to get the nitty gritty !!!!

Shane finally put his mind at rest after a tough couple of weeks to swim a VERY GOOD 6.51 for a 400 IM..yes this was WITHOUT FINS !

Lea Munyard/McAskey (who in my opinion greatly underestimates her swimming ability) shrugged off an upset stomach to swim 7.03 for a 400 free. It should be noted this was a negative split 400m this means that her 2nd 200 was WAY faster than her 1st 200...In fact her last 50 free was the fastest 50 of her swim !!

Your correspondent had a great time. After enjoying some quality pasta last night and the last piece of pizza from the other table (thanks Kaz), I managed to bang out a state record for each swim 5.15 for 400 back and 5.46 for 400 Fly and also backed up for an outstanding morning tea provided by Mandurah Aussi.

MMMMMMMMMM lamingtons !

It is also worth noting that Des Seery (ex redback, now member of Mandurah) swum a 400 free sans fins,however Des did not hear the whistle so ended up swiming 450m instead...Solid Effort Des, the comfort for Des was that Shane did this exact same thing last year. Although the jury is still out on just HOW MUCH comfort this was to Des.


So as a club we have ONE MORE meet this year on Nov 15th. Everyone has been training very hard and it would be great to finish the season with a big turnout. Details will be emailed soon

Your in H20

Damo

Severino – that’s Italian for ‘good eating’

Well, not really, but the food WAS fabulous. Having searched the southern suburbs for a suitable Italian restaurant, we settled on Severino Garden Restaurant in South Fremantle where a lively group of 19 met on Saturday to enjoy an evening of tasty food and BYO drinks. Delicious plates of various pizzas, pasta with special sauces and well presented salads were brought to the tables and devoured to the last morsel. The restaurant staff were happy to please by bringing out a couple more pizzas for those diners who just couldn’t get enough. Well done to the table of people that ordered a second round of pizzas and who were able to eat all but one slice which was then quickly downed by a certain club captain celebrating his birthday.

Tutto si è divertito. (That’s Italian for ‘everyone had a good time’.)

More about the Stadium Snappers interclub meet

Further to Karen's blog regarding our last interclub swim meet (at Challenge Stadium), the results of the meet have now been posted onto the MSWA web site.

The good stuff:

• Riverton finished a credible 6th place (out of 10) with 89 points - not bad with 10 swimmers. This is the most points the Club has received at an interclub meet this year;


• Malira and Tammy scored a perfect 12 points in their 3 events (a first place in each one);


• Graeme just behind them with 11 points (2 first places and a second);


• everyone else scored points and contributed overall;


• our Women's Medley Relay team of Tammy, Malira, Uli and Lea won their age group (by 26 seconds!) - great stuff, ladies; and


• our Men's Medley Relay team of Shane, Graeme, Steve & Paul were second in their age group - good effort, boys.

The not-so-good:

Five of our swimmers swam in only 2 out of a permissible 3 events. If they had all done an extra event and received even just one point each for finishing, that would have put the Club on 94 points, moving us up to equal 5th with Leisurepark club. So it would be good if our swimmers in future interclub meets all swim in 3 events to help with overall points (do it for the team!)

Can Too Much Swimming Ever be Enough?

In a week where sport was heavily on the agenda, only the big questions were asked:
· Are Roger Federer’s days numbered?
· Was Kim Clijsters’ US Open tennis win merely a fluke?
· Is the Australian cricket team’s potential 7-0 one-day series whitewash of England really such a big deal?

And the biggest question of them all:
· Is there any AUSSI masters club in Perth big enough to take on the might of the Riverton team at the Stadium Snappers Carnival on Sunday?!?!?

That question and more would be answered on Sunday 20 September when the team of 10 from Riverton were to front up at Challenge Stadium on a day when the skies outside looked ominous, but the pool inside looked inviting.



Since the first pool was built and the first swim meet report filed, the legacy of bullet-point reporting has stood the test of time. Like an Olympic baton, it’s been passed down from generation to generation. We’re not a club to tinker with finely-tuned tradition, so it’s bullet points from here on in.



The Fairly Brilliant
· Tammy’s first outing in fine style with a 36.60 in the 50 m backstroke. A brilliant swim from start to finish coming in on her nominated time. (Picture above)
· Lea and Graeme vying for first place in the same heat of the 100 m freestyle. Beautiful to watch as they touched for first and second place. (Picture below)
· Paul’s 40.04 in the 50 m freestyle. Unfortunately we’re instigating a Royal Commission on that swim because we’ve never seen anything remotely that fast at training before!
· The women’s 4 x 50 m medley relay coming in first on 2.36. On each leg, Tammy, Malira, Uli and Lea progressively increased the lead over the opposition – as well as over our own men’s team who only managed 2.47!


The Fairly Tidy
· Barbara’s 200 m breaststroke which kicked the team off in fine style. A time she was happy with and one that added points to our total. (Picture below)
· Steve’s magnificent dive that led the field in the 100 m freestyle (picture above). He pulled off a great time and then brought home an even better time in the 50 m free. One of his best outings.
· Shane’s fabulous 50 m butterfly in a time way under his nominated time, on a day when he was not quite 100%.
· Kazza’s ‘scorching’ (!?!) PB in the 50 m freestyle. A PB’s been a long time coming but it was worth the wait.
· Malira and Tammy going head to head in the 50 m butterfly.
· Graeme’s very strong showing in every event, pulling in first place in just about each one.
· The team placing 6th out of 10 clubs with a total of 92 points. It was a great effort and good to see so many members swimming.
· Great organisation once again by the host club. Smooth from start to finish and heaps of food supplied for lunch.

The Fairly Frustrating
· Another equipment malfunction that cannot be put down to operator error – even though the same member seems to be involved on each occasion! The club will be holding a referendum next month asking members to vote YES or NO to the question: ‘Have we had enough of these latex swimming caps that never seem to stay on?’
· Being beaten for 5th place by ONE SINGLE POINT.
· A somewhat disappointing turn-out by other clubs. Only 6 lanes were operating and the stands seemed totally depleted of competitors.

All up, it was an enjoyable meet and full of team spirit. It was great to see the team being supported also by various family members who came along to watch.

A 2-minute montage of pictures from the meet can be seen here:

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