RIVERTON REDFINS READY TO GO

CUE THE MUSIC EVERYONE !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1ifJPqB218

Well this is the best kind of blog - THE UNEXPECTED BLOG

8 mighty Redfins turned up for the swim in the Coogee Jetty to Jetty Swim. The sun was shining, the water was lovely and there were no stingers !

Damo, Mark D, Nadine, GP, Barb, Hils, Tara and Simon all donned a cap for a good cause. Unfortunately Shane was a no show as after his last effort in this swim, a GRUELLING 750m swim he has retired with the title. Some swam the 1500m and some swam the 750m. It did not matter. Everyone had a go and i think they were pleasantly suprised with their efforts !

One thing that sent a wave of suspicion through the team was during the pre-race briefing when the assembled swimmers were told that fins were not allowed to be worn during the swim.

This prompted intense speculation that a certain ex-president had tried to persuade MSWA that everyone should wear fins....i am happy to report that even though there is the allegation of bribery, that nothing was uncovered during the investigation, swiftly conducted by your correspondant.

Results can be found here

http://www.cockburnmasters.org.au/previousresults.php?cID=64

Yours in very expensive BANANAS.
Damo

Play that Funky Music White Boy......

Hey i can do that....

Cue the music....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe1ScoePqVA

Well it was that sort of weekend really wasn't it folks, after getting down and then getting back up again at Hilary's "Funky 40th" on the Saturday night it was time to dust off the cobwebs and get blown away by not only the wind but some awesome swimming as well.

So as i sit here and flip a coin...............................HEADS it is....Ok time to make up some nicknames..

9 Intrepid Riverton Red Fins (you will read more about this later) arrived at Newman College in Churchlands ready for our first hit out of 2011, unfortunately Shane "Funky Trunks" Wallace had stubbed his big toe whilst refereeing a jelly wrestling match the night before so was a late scratching. However as a team we decided to pull together and try our best anyway..

Hey guess what we finished FOURTH in the overall points score with 85 points !!!! Fantastic considering there were only 9 swimmers and 14 clubs participated, so lets break it down a bit more shall we??

Results can be found here -

http://www.portal.aussi.org.au/meets/index.php?EventId=151972&filter=*&split=no&js=on

Karen "plantar fasciitis" Anderson shrugged off the disappointment of her Harley breaking down last night and not being able to warm up this morning to crank out a fantastic 50 Free....the coach was heard to mention the word "PB", however this was met with a non-committal shrug of the shoulders by Kazza and continued to brush her hair.

Nadine "Phantom" Neethling suprised even herself when she cranked out 3.18 for her 200 Free a great swim from start to finish. Nadine also managed to AGAIN keep her goggles on in her 50 backstroke.

Emma "Do you need a root canal" Dolby really enjoyed her first "gala" with us today. Em proved to herself that she could in fact swim a 50 fly quite well. Also swum an AWESOME last leg in the women's relay which pushed the team into 3rd place !

Malira"Green Thumbs" Cocking cranked out a great 3rd leg in the relay and although was slightly disappointed with her times is now a firm believer in the old adage "More is less"

Graeme"GP" Pow swum very well and after some serious carb loading the night before this Spring Chicken tore into a hectic program with gusto.

Steve "One Lung" Wills has finally succumbed to a nasty virus that tends to hit you when you work 29 hrs a day and think that sleep is for pussies. On one leg (cramps) and one lung (virus) Steve-O still managed a VERY impressive 50 Free.

Steve "Father of the Year" Jakubans - After picking up a rather tanked teenage son from a party and looking after him as he proceeded to regurgitate all and sundry, Steve rubbed the sleep from his eyes and cranked out a great 35 for his 50 Free and a great leg in the relay too. Steve can also lay claim to our new name which has already been ratified ladies and gentleman i give you the "RIVERTON RED-FINS" Apparently Red-fins are freshwater fish so my suggestion is if you ever need some advice on fresh water fishing speak to Steve.

Mark"I am going to belt someone" Davey was a tad frustrated in the warm up as he struggled to understand how many people did not understand the sign that reads "FAST LANE". Mark was also a victim of some poor planning as he finished his "leisurely" 50 back and wandered back down to the blocks for his 100 Fly ! Mark was also the fastest man in the pool today over 50 Free with 27 secs.

Damo"Is it ok if i talk about myself in the 3rd Person"Eyre thoroughly enjoyed himself today, very happy with all 3 swims.

The other exciting news was that we had a couple of winners in the raffle today a certain Club President who snaffled a 500g box of truffles, Malira no word yet on what lovely prize she chose and ME, although not present i will allegedly receive my prize tomorrow night...either a lovely cap and water bottle (lets face it i dont really need a cap) or a half eaten box of truffles :-)

Special thanks to Jon and Simon for coming along to support us. Jon also took a team photo which is posted somewhere in this blog.

Again it was a great day and even at training everyone's energy and enthusiasm is fantastic and i am looking forward to waffling on in many more blog entries this year !

Yours in Overpriced Gatorade
Damo

All the F words: Fitness, Friendship, Fun and FINS!!!

With our favourite backdrop (the outdoor area of the Leisureplex) as the centrepiece for another social occasion, a group of 20 gathered on Monday evening after training to barbecue.

Not only was this our first barbecue of the year, it was also a special occasion to farewell Mark Hevron and wish him and his wife well for their move to Adelaide next week. Mark occupied the position of president of the club for almost four years until the end of 2010 and his enthusiasm for swimming has seen him rarely miss a Monday, Wednesday and Saturday morning training session.

In this club, Mark and fins are synonymous, so was anyone really surprised when one of the parting gifts was a pair of golden fins?!?!? We certainly weren't!

But the question on everyone's lips must surely be this: Will the golden fins make an appearance in Adelaide?

Once again, the barbecue was fantastic and everyone had a great time.

Thanks to Hilary for organising the event and to Hilary and Kevin for the fabulous cooking.

Quiet Conclusion to Huge Swimming Year

On a balmy December evening, 17 members gathered at the barbecue area to enjoy the final event on the club's social calendar. The event was somewhat less boisterous than previous events but that could have been a function of the tough training program and the huge array of delicious food to be eaten.

Lesley and Barbara did a great job of organising and cooking the meat and generally pulling the event together. Many thanks for making this evening a successful one.

This Wednesday, 15 December marks our last official evening of training for the year.

We resume again on Monday 10 January to kick off 2011 in fine style. Same training days, same lanes.

2010 has been an exceptionally successful year for the Riverton Masters Swimming Club.

May 2011 be even better!

State Records Set

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Well, as you all may know back in August, Riverton competed at a Relay Carnival (see the witty and very funny post further down the page).

Our ladies' team stood up and managed to set two state records and break a further two records.

CONGRATULATIONS to Nadine, Jana, Yvonne and Tammy for:
4 x 25m IM
4 x 25m Free
4 x 50m Free.

In the 4 x 100m Free - CONGRATULATIONS to Malira, Nadine, Jana and Tammy.

Tammy also received her long overdue certificates for 100m Back record and 25m Fly records set back at States in May!

Well, the ladies got their certificates on Monday night and were more than happy to pose for a photo. Unfortunately, Jana was unable to make the photo shoot.

Yours in Lemon, Lime and Bitters signing off for 2010.
Damo.

RIVERTON SCARE THE BIG FISH

Goodness gracious.....Is it that time of the year ALREADY....Cue the music

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

That's right everybody tell me what the word is.....WORD UP....so grab your black Lycra, Nike hi-tops and red cod piece, we are going downtown on this bodacious track so crank it up nice and loud....Are you picking up what i am laying down???

"Oh for goodness sake Damo enough with the waffling, what happened at the Gala (aka Swimming Carnival) today?"

Yes right sorry about that i digress....well where do i finish? With both hands together.....SNAP !!! That was for you Kazza !

Ok Ok i am now officially "Getting on with it"

WORD UP - 8 Mighty Riverton Redbacks (i am bringing the name back - it sounds scary) rocked up to Tuart College Pool. After our wonderful Christmas Party last night we were all feeling the effects of a little overeating, however, we were not going to let that bring us down.

WORD UP - results can be found here http://www.portal.aussi.org.au/

WORD UP - Our results were in a "WORD" EXCELLENT.

So as not to be accused of waffling anymore than is absolutely necessary here come the GOOD...the BAD and the UGLY (in bullet points of course)

THE GOOD

• First off and big THANK YOU to Jason, Tom and Seoul for helping out with the timekeeping - much appreciated !


• All other team members who also helped to time keep it's a bit like paying taxes - inevitable (unless you are Paul Hogan)
  
• Kazza had great swims in both relays and a very solid 200 Breast.
  
• Barbara took one for the team and led off the medley relay with a terrific backstroke swim.
  
  
• Tammy swam an excellent 200 Free and was a key member in both relays


• Tara one of the newer and youngest (born in 91) members decided to swim and swum really well. I think Tara was pleasantly surprised by her times


• GP REALLY took one for the team when he was volunteered to swim the 50 fly in the medley relay nice one GP !


• Steve J swam an excellent 36.5 for his 50 free more on his other swims a bit later....


• Mark D enjoyed (i think) his return to competition after a few years out of the pool a lazy 26.7 for his 50 free certainly got his heart rate up !


• Your correspondent had a good day in the pool the best part was being involved in the 2 relays !


• Riverton finished 4th with 101 points !!


• 2 state records in the mixed 4x50 Medley Relay and 4x50 Free Relay for 72-119 age group. The team was the same for both swims Tara, Tammy, Mark D and Damo.
  

(Shown here at right is the crowd going wild at the news of the Riverton state records.)

The BAD

• Shane being unable to swim, unfortunately for Shane he developed a severe case of "nocando" which rendered him bedridden for 48 hrs. His doctors tell me he will make a full recovery

THE UGLY

• For the first time we have a TIE in this category....Your correspondent's 100 Breast was truly ugly AND Steve J is swimming his 50 back and goes under the flags nearing the wall and decides it is time to turn over swim 2 strokes of Freestyle roll over onto his back again touch the wall and push off to complete the 50 back in a 3 sec PB....Well done Steve he did not even get DQ !
  

Cliff Notes - The weather was lovely. The meet was well run. Riverton gave a VERY good account of themselves and we came home with ANOTHER 2 state records.

This ends our GALA (swimming carnivals) for 2010. Thank you to everyone for another great year in the pool. As a club we continue to punch above our weight and it is great to see so much enthusiasm at training and at the club.

Yours in Fructose

Damo

Golden Tongs and Burning Embers

When the Social Committee mentions the word 'BARBECUE', no one from the Riverton Masters Swimming Club is backward in stepping forward. In fact, it's all bodies on the pool deck and out to the barbecue area.

With 20 people on hand to swim, eat and socialise, hats are off the Master Shopper Barbara, Iron Chef Damo and Master Chef Steve. We've had some fabulous barbecues in the past but none can compare to this evening's barbecue when the word 'SENSATIONAL' is hardly superlative enough to describe the gathering.

Barbara did a magnificent job in shopping for the supplies and preparing everything for cooking.

Has anyone met a better chef than Iron Chef Damo? Meat that was cooked to perfection and served efficiently. Did someone use the work 'TRIUMPH' to describe the cooking effort? If they didn't, they should have.

But the revelation of the evening surely belongs to Master Chef Steve. What this man whipped up from his mystery box of mango, walnuts, rocket lettuce and mayonnaise was a supremely impressive effort. Did someone use the word 'MAGNIFICENT' to describe that salad? If they didn't, they should have. AND, we can't wait to see what he pulls out of his chef's hat for the Christmas barbecue!

Mark reminded everyone about the AGM on Monday 6 December being held in the creche at 7pm. No training as such that night but members are welcome to swim in the public lanes beforehand and then join the meeting. All Committee positions are open for nomination.

Damo reminded everyone about two more events on the competition calendar: the Osborne Park BACC on Sunday 28 November and a potential road trip to Narrogin in early December.

Thanks to Lesley and Barbara for organising the barbecue. Thanks to everyone else who contributed salads and desserts.

Details will be out shortly regarding the club's Christmas barbecue.