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.

Congratulations Maria

Just over a week ago, Maria Tarandetti travelled to Alice Springs to compete in the Masters Games, held between Saturday 9 October and Friday 15 October.

Maria was just one of a small handful of competitors from WA.

She swam in six events: 50 metres, 100 metres and 200 metres in each of freestyle and breaststroke. All up, Maria turned in some top performances, most notably in the 100 metres freestyle where she shaved 8 seconds off her PB and in the 100 metres breaststroke coming in 11 seconds under nominated time in 2.21.89.

Well done Maria!

Elie's Tent no Belly Flop on the Social Calendar

When 15 Riverton people arrived at Elie's Tent in Victoria Park on Saturday evening, they were anticipating the taste of delicious Lebanese cuisine - perhaps some hoummos, perhaps some tabbouleh, even some falafel and maybe some shish kebabs. There was certainly that - AND MORE!!!

With more spectacular costumes than you'd see at a Lady Gaga concert, Fatima the gorgeous belly dancer took to the floor.

With all the men on the Riverton table calling "Pick me", she must have known we didn't have the moves as she delicately bypassed us to entice other dancers to join her.

NOW, THAT'S A KNIFE!!!

Where this girl could balance a knife defied imagination.

All up, the evening was a fabulous mix of food, conversation and entertainment.

Thanks to Lesley for organising the evening.

Round 23 - Barbecues: 3 votes; Training: 2 votes; Dynamic Coach: 1 vote

What the Brownlow Medal is to the AFL world, a barbecue with awards is to the Riverton swimming world.

Less bling ... but more T-shirts
Fewer Manolo Blahniks ... but more thongs and sneakers
Fewer cheesy acceptance speeches ... but more awards to be given

On Monday evening, 22 of us barbecued after a short and sharp training session in the pool. The event was to mark the presentation of a series of awards reaped by members over the past few months. As president, Mark introduced the theme of the evening and then passed over to Coach Damo to make the presentations.

First up were the presentations of certificates to everyone who participated in and completed the Bunbury Postal Swim. This comprised swimming 400 metres of each of freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke. Congratulations to everyone who participated. A top effort!

Special congratulations go to Robert Weir who swam the fastest overall time by a swimmer from all the clubs that participated in the event. In doing so, Robert was awarded a medal. (Seen in the picture below being held by Damo). A fantastic achievement Robert! Well done!

Seen below are various members scrutinising and comparing their times recorded on their certificates.

A couple of further certificates were presented to Malira Cocking for breaking her own state records in her age group for the 100 metres and 25 metres breaststroke events at the State Swim held earlier in the year. (See picture below). To continue to break state records is a fabulous achievement. Well done Malira!

Thanks to Lesley for organising the barbecue, her team of helpers with the cooking, and to everyone who attended for helping to make the evening another successful social event.