Like Sands Through the Hour Glass, so are the Barbecues of our Lives ...

A large group of Club members gathered at the Riverton Leisureplex this evening for the end of an era – the final social event on the Club’s social calendar and the last barbecue EVER of the Riverton AUSSI Masters Swimming Club.

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him well.
(Shakespeare’s oft-misquoted phrase from Hamlet on the fragility of life)

By the end of this year, the Club will no longer exist under a name which has stood the test of time since its inception. However, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Club will resurrect itself under a new name for 2010 and beyond, and move onwards and upwards.

The evening was balmy, the food was delicious and the camaraderie was evident and it was a great note to end the social calendar for the year. Mark addressed the gathering and reminded everyone about the AGM next Monday evening from 7 pm until 9 pm. Members are welcome to swim from 6 pm until 6.45 pm prior to the meeting getting underway in the crèche which has been booked for the evening. The meeting will commence at 7 pm and will break part way through for a pizza break.

Thanks to Mick and Leanne who cooked up a storm at the final barbecue, delivering everything done to perfection, and thanks to Lea who organised the event.

FUNNY PHOTO TIME
I just HAD to include the following photo. We had an interested spectator behind the glass! A potential new member - maybe!

Christmas Comes Early at Riverton

The Club celebrated its Christmas function last evening at Graeme and Sandy Pow's home in Willetton. Gorgeous pre-summer weather, a lovely outdoor setting and plenty of beautiful food all came together to ensure that the evening was a winner for those members who attended.

Many thanks to Graeme and Sandy for their generosity in allowing us to use their home for our function and being such gracious hosts.

Special congratulations go to Makayla Cocking who won the Christmas raffle dolphin prize.

Thanks to Hilary for organising the function.

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’.)