Around the Clubs November 2021

 

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North Region

 

Cairns CLAMS

We have had visitors from Brisbane join us on a few occasions who have provided us with some great inspiration. Aisha THORNTON was an awesome woman to train with, she is a real cut above our standard but we did complete a few of her sets.  She is hoping to represent Scotland next year at the Commonwealth Games.

We have had no major meets but… a lot of effort is being and was injected into the following:

• Support was provided to Jesse O’HARA and Marijn KERKHOVEN, ‘Reef Sharks’ who successfully swam the 27.7 kilometres between Green Island and Cairns.  A photograph (Swim the Gap) shows the lads about 7 kilometres from shore and gives a glimpse of the conditions they had to contend with. I was on the support boat and the effort and determination of these two guys was inspiring.
• We worked closely with Brisbane Company ‘Team Elite’, Quicksilver/Great Adventures (Who were the most excellent hosts on their pontoon on Moore Reef) and Craig NEEDHAM’, our MC from the Great Barrier Reef Games, in putting together, what will be an iconic Ocean Swim at Moore Reef 30 nautical miles off Cairns.  The first running of the event was on Saturday 30 October 2021 in spectacular conditions.  The photograph shows the start of the 3 kilometre event, stinger suits were recommended. More photographs can be seen on the Facebook page ‘Great Barrier Reef Ocean Swim Series’.  The hope next year is to hold two events and to hold them earlier in year to avoid the need for stinger suits. Visibility was amazing lots of coral and fish life. It would be great to have more Masters involvement to ensure that more of our members can enter the event. We also received great support from the Cairns community who ensured the success of the event and special thanks to the Volunteer Coast Guard.
• The Christmas 100 x 100 metres x 100 seconds… The lazy 10 km or 100 cubed swim is being prepared and other clubs are invited; and
• The 100 x 50 on the minute with the, for the keen, ‘jump out’ dive starts.  Other clubs are invited to this fun morning of intoxicating swimming and effort.

 

Whitsunday Masters

The Whitsunday Master swimmers have recently participating in a Lapathon to raise money for the Cannonvale Cannons Junior Swim club. Training has resumed at the Proserpine Pool after training throughout winter at the Cannonvale heated Pool. Proserpine Pool is under construction of a new canteen/office and hopefully a new heating system. Although our club is small with only ten members, we are still enjoying our swimming and social events.

 

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Central Region

 

Gladstone Gropers

Congratulations Gladstone Gropers – an amazing effort at the MS Swimathon 2021. Over 14 Gropers & friends swam 828 x 50m laps (41.4km) over 12 hours. Fran Moroney was awarded Lane of Fame – MS Queensland recognised Fran’s efforts for the outstanding dedication and support to the Swimathons.

No other team could get anywhere near that. What a mammoth effort by all the Gropers & Friends that committed to this worthy event and cause. We had fun, fitness and friendship aplenty today and raised money as well. A big thank you and congratulations to all that participated today. What a great club!

 

 

Hervey Bay Humpbacks

This year we had four swimmers compete at the Noosa meet. Two oldies and two of our newer swimmers. This was the second meet for Sharon who had previously competed at Rum City, but a first Masters’ competition for Anne. Terry & Paula made up the rest of the team. Thankfully the weather was kind to us although a slight breeze was cool enough to find us looking for long sleeves between races. All four swimmers competed well with Anne, Sharon and Terry all swimming all races faster than nominated times and Paula happy with her performances. An enjoyable day out, Anne sorted out her goggles “problem” and we are all looking forward the next event at Maryborough.

The Junction Inaugural Open Water Swim

Saturday 25 September saw seven Humpbacks lining up for this slightly different swim organised by the Hervey Bay Triathlon Club. Swimmers could choose to swim for 20 minutes, 40 minutes or 60 minutes around a 300m course in front of the Hervey Bay Surf Club. At the end of each lap the swimmers ran up onto the beach and around a marker before re-entering the swim course. The idea was to challenge oneself to complete as many laps as possible in the time allowed.

The day before the sea was “glassy”. Not so on Saturday!!! A northerly had sprung up making for a “challenging” swim. Debbie, Anne, Sharon, Paula and Jason swam the 40-minute event whilst Stewart and Viv took on the 60 minute swim. Anne swam 5 laps to win the over 40 female event, while Debbie, Sharon and Paula completed 4 laps. Jason also completed 5 laps to win the over 40s male event. In the longer event, Viv completed 8 laps with Stewart swimming 7.

The event was sponsored by “The Junction on Truro” who hosted the afternoon presentation. All four swimmers competed well with Anne, Sharon and Terry all swimming all races faster than nominated times and Paula happy with her performances.

 

Maryborough Masters

Maryborough Masters Swimming Club Long Course Meet was held on Saturday the 23rd of October at Maryborough War Memorial Pool. This was a very successful day with a whopping 101 registrations from all around Queensland. It was great to have so much support at Maryborough’s only swim carnival of the year!

11 Swimmers represented the Maryborough Masters Club and 7 received age champion awards:-

• Muff Skov-Christensen – bronze ladies 70 – 74
• Valeria Wecke – bronze ladies 45 – 49
• “John” Michael Morris – gold  men’s 40 – 45 
• Don Mackay – silver men’s 55 – 59
• Eboni Davis  – silver ladies 30 – 34
• Annemarie Grainger –  gold ladies 50 – 54
• Cobie Van Wageningen – silver ladies 75 – 79

Thank you to the local volunteers, sponsors of the Maryborough Masters Games and the swim carnival for making this event possible. This includes: Fraser Coast Regional Council, Richers Transport, Spirit of Hervey Bay, MBO Office Equipment, Priceline Pharmacy, Autobarn, Sports Power, Big W, Bob Jane T Mart and Zip Print.

The last month of weekends has seen a range of adult sports competitions including runners and walkers, soccer, 8 ball, darts, shooting and gymnastics. This was the last sporting event on the calendar for the Maryborough Masters Games, which is celebrating 30 years of competitive sports events specifically for adults in Maryborough.

 

North Mackay Sinkers

The new financial year saw the sinkers slumbering through what remained of the cool weather, but activity picked up as the months progressed! We were indeed surprisingly active for warm water swimmers.

Events & Activities

Our informal Monday & Wednesday swims were sporadically attended with members often crossing paths as we enjoyed a less regimented time to exercise. A few members have commenced sessions with the Pioneer swim club coach who holds adult sessions twice a week. More on this later.

Our Saturday morning swims continue unabated with swimmers enjoying the sets thoughtfully put together by our unofficial coach Jim. But rumours abound that a coup is coming, at least for one session.

June – This was our quite month with just our regular informal swims and thanks to Jane Conlon we actually had some endurance swims completed on our Saturday sessions but sadly do not expect to threaten any top 10 teams in Queensland this year.

July – A social and fundraising period with members enjoying some non-swimming activities including our much appreciated “Curry night” hosted by Sue & Rik that was well attended. It also saw an opportunity to raise funds for our MS Swimathon with members generously supporting our Bunnings sizzle with a total of $1300 being raised for the annual event.

August – Well what a month for swimming with the Olympics being televised and inspiring us all to increase our couch time over pool time! Later in the month several swimmers headed to Townsville for the Long Tan Legends meet and backed up the next day by enjoying the TOWSA “Ship to Shore” 1.5 & 3 k events.

September – A few members elected to participate in the River to Reef charity riding event to support another great cause and enjoy the great outdoor at the same time. This was followed the next day (Sun 12.09.21) with the Annual MS Swimathon that is a regular feature on the club calendar. Our well supported team of some 20 swimmers raised a total of $9,694 to set a new club PB. A more detailed report can be read here

This was all backed up by the commencement of our 2021-22 swim season on Monday 13/9 where we were greeted by our new coach Igor Demin and the refreshingly cool school pool waters. The earlier start and coach have seen the club commence on a very positive note with some new memberships as well.

A sole sinker made the trip to the Noosa meet this month and Robbo was able to swim well and renew old friendships as he flew the sinkers flag.

We also have our annual “Weekend at Charlies” in September were members travel to the Eungella plateau for an overnight stay enjoying the country and company around a camp fire at a members beef property.

In addition to welcoming our new coach we officially bid farewell to our former coach Greg Born at our favourite Saturday morning coffee spot. The club presented Greg with a beautiful timber engraved bowl, crafted by a member, an embroidered club towel and a bottle of Greg’s favourite beverage. Greg has coached the Sinkers since about 2008 until this year and we wish him well on his new endeavours.

So that’s it from the Sinkers, we wish clubs all the best in the run to the Christmas period.

 

 

Rum City Masters

A team of 12 swimmers attended the Maryborough Masters Carnival, including the oldest swimmer at the meet, Pauline Yates aged 86 – Well Done Pauline! Rum City Bundaberg received the Maryborough Masters Swim Meet award for the most points awarded for a large team. Michelle Pearson presented with a silver medal in the 55-59 age group.

• Jailmarie Durano – Gold
• Ellen Randle-O’Sullivan – Silver
• Thomas Hosking – Gold
• Trudy Ford – Silver
• Gary Luthe – Gold
• Jann Edwards – Gold
• Lyle Ferguson – Gold
• Pauline Yates – Gold

 

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Sunshine Region

 

Beerwah Masters

We were so excited to enter our very first meet officially as Beerwah Masters Swim Team at Noosa last month. Our little team of three was made to feel so welcome and we thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere of the day. Jo, Janine and Kylie all came away with personal best times and our day was topped off with a bronze medal for Jo and silver for Kylie. Our masters team is steadily building and training hard. We can’t wait to participate in more events in the future and get involved in some relays!

 

Belgravia Masters

Since our last report in June, we have welcomed several new members with membership now at 24, ranging in age from 18 to 78.

Unfortunately our Long Distance Swim Meet did not go ahead due to COVID Lockdown at the last minute, but our meet on the 4^th September went ahead as planned and by all accounts was a huge success. Many competitors commented on the friendly atmosphere and the quality of the facilities.

We had several of our members attend the Noosa Swim Meet, Rackley Swim Meet and Maryborough Swim Meet with many members setting PB’s and winning medals.  Special mention must be given to Marsha Reddiex for breaking the State 200 metre butterfly record 2 meets in a row.  (That’s 3 times this year).

Our members are looking forward to celebrating our end of year function at the Caboolture Sports Clubs who are one of our major sponsors.

We are hoping next year will bring growth in our membership and planning is already underway for our two day long course swim meet in August 2022.

 

Brisbane Northside Masters

Brisbane Northside Masters has been keeping busy.  With the warmer weather and coach Irene back from her holidays, many members are turning up for Sunday training at the lovely Valley Pool. We’ve had members attending meets both in QLD and Tasmania and some significant achievements and milestones reached.

Belgravia Meet 4 September

After missing two local meets because of lockdowns, some QBN swimmers swam in the Belgravia Masters Meet at Burpengary. It was a successful meet for QBN, who came third in the men, women, total points and average points club list. 

Noosa Meet 18 September

Congratulations to Chris Hurling, being QBN’s only swimmer at the Noosa Swim Meet! Chris finished second in the 45-49 men’s age group.

Rackley Meet 11 October

QBN had 13 swimmers entered in the Rackley Masters Meet at Centenary Pool on Saturday 11th October. It was a fun meet and we put together four relay teams on the day. We managed to come second overall in total point scores behind UQ. QBN won the 4 x 50 mixed medley relay (200+) (Tracy, Mike, Myles and Maz) to finish the meet, which was a highlight. All our relays gained valuable points for the team. A special mention to two of our dedicated members Alison and Richard who spent their day at the meet timekeeping.

Maryborough Meet 23 October

Scott Greensill and Chris Hurling represented QBN at Maryborough Masters  Meet. Both came first in their age groups. 

QBN Member Achievements

Shirley Kerr – Shirley was recognised for her achievement of World Number 8 in the 2020 Fina World Top 10s. 

Tracy Clarkson – Congratulations to Tracy who was awarded World no. 1 among other impressive results in the 2020 FINA World program. She has also set a new QLD Branch Record for 200m Backstroke, and recently broke 3 state records at the Tasmanian Long Course Long Distance Championships in Hobart, Tasmania.

Bradley Matthews – Brad has broken a national record for his short course breaststroke split 25m time of 13.65.

Liz Little – Liz is the first QBN club member to finish all 62 swims in the Endurance 1000 program for 2021, all with top points. 

 

 

 

 

Cotton Tree Masters

We have received 10 new members to date in 2021 and have had our members represent our club at 8 swim meets for the year including 10 members at the State Championships and 4 members at the Great Barrier Masters Games.

Our club activities include coffee after squad training, birthday breakfasts and some social lunches.

We currently have no technical officials and our clubs coaching is through the adult squad at the Cotton Tree Pool with their professional coaches.

Two of our new members are multiclass and our biggest success of the year was the Great Barrier Reef Masters Games bringing home 28 medals.

Next year will see us focusing on recruiting new members to our club.

 

Genesis Aquatics

Genesis Aquatic Masters club has continued to grow throughout 2021. We now have 16 members, 4 new since the Noosa meet. Our swimmers have enjoyed meets at Belgravia, Noosa and Rackley with us being able to submit more than one relay team at Rackley with 11 swimmers at the meet. This is a first for Genesis.

We are all looking forward to future events both in and out of the pool and hope that 2022 turns out to be a year filled with more fun, fitness and friendship.

Club Secretary, Charlotte Hickman.

 

Noosa Masters

The Noosa Master swimming club is coming out of the Covid 19 period in a strong position. As well as hosting our own carnival in September we have attended the Belgavia, Rackley and most recently the Maryborough carnivals. The club was written up in the local newspaper for its involvement at the Maryborough Swim meet.

We have been maintaining our Aerobic program over the year and continue to work towards doing well this year as we have in past years.

The Noosa Tri (one of the world’s biggest tri’s) was run over the last week in October and the club provided substantial volunteering support for this event.

We held an AGM in October and some new faces were elected to management positions. The social side of the club continues to the strong with a few events run for members. The most recent event being a Pizza event at the Noosa Hinterland. The club is looking forward to a big year in 2022 with a number of major events to attend.

 

 

Redcliffe Peninsula Masters

2020 had been a write off due to COVID lockdowns and the Redcliffe War Memorial Pool being closed for upgrade works.

The pool re-opened earlier this year, which was fantastic, and our marketing efforts led to a number of new members joining.

Members of the club entered the Brisbane Southside short course meet and the Belgravia Masters long course meet. This was great to see as we hadn’t any representation at any meets for a while, and it is something the club is keen to do more of.

The club held an open water swim & breakfast at Suttons Beach in October, which was very popular, as was our lunch on the beach social event.

A big thank you to Terry Bourke and Colleen Brinton, who after volunteering their coaching services to the club for many years, have decided to take a well-earned rest. It is great to see Terry in the water with us at training sessions.

2022 holds a few challenges for the club, as we have a number of members moving away from the area, and increased costs with regard to access to the Redcliffe War Memorial Pool. However, we remain confident that the Redcliffe Peninsula Masters Swimming Club has a bright future ahead.

Stephen Lilley, President. 

 

Sunshine Coast Masters

QSC will have a change of coach in November. Sue Senent who has been coaching Sunshine Coast Masters for the past few years on Sunday mornings will be devoting her Sunday morning to other interests.  Gratefully Bruce Allender, who joined the club this year after moving from Victoria, will step up to take the Sunday sessions.   

QSC swimmers have been enjoying competition in recent months. Congratulations to the Belgravia club hosting a very successful inaugural meet. The QSC competitors who attended enjoyed the indoor pool and came away with 7 medals and lots of PB’s. At the Noosa meet QSC was represented by 12 competitors. Seven from QSC travelled to Maryborough. Congratulations to Sheila Tweedy on winning the $50 dash for cash with her cheer squad racing along the pool shouting encouragement. Sheila was completely exhausted and barely had the strength to get out of the pool. A huge achievement, after swimming five individual events and two relays.

Our wonderful social planner Carol continues to organise a monthly lunch to celebrate members’ birthdays and other occasions. QSC members and friends will be donning fascinators and hats for the Melbourne Cup function at Kawana Bowls Club this week and in December for our end of year celebrations we are taking a cruise on the Pumicestone Passage followed by lunch at the Pelican Waters Tavern.

 

 

 

 

UQ Masters

We are back in full training with multiple one hour sessions on offer at UQ Sport. There are at least 15 sessions across the week, with multiple coaches across the time slots. UQ was represented at most meets this period however some meets had only a few members in attendance.

Membership:

As at November 01 2021, Team UQ consisted of 41 active members, up from 29 at the end of 2021. We have seen a few new members sign up from around the state who have heard of us by reputation and want to be a part of the success we have been building. Some are just looking for a local team to be a part of at UQ.

We have three of our members involved with Masters Swimming Queensland administration/board.

Activities:

• Training hard, with some competition
• A couple of us joined Miami Masters for a Saturday training session
• A couple of us had training sessions at Hamilton Island with a local or two joining in
• Social events such as breakfast after training at Cafe Saint Lucy

Meets and results:

1. Miscellaneous meets
   • Long Tan Legends – attended by new UQ member living in Townsville
   • Belgravia Masters
   • Noosa Masters
   • Rackley Masters – larger team attending. Won points score, club average large, and multiple category awards with a few Qld records
   • Maryborough Masters
2. Upcoming meets
   • Miami Masters – Team UQ may enter a team or two
3. Swimming Queensland meets – A number of our swimmers are also SQ members joining the other component of our One Club UQ Swimming Club.
   • The Swim Academy SC Preparation Meet
   • The Glennie Transition Meet 2021
   • 2021 Vorgee Brisbane Senior Short Course Championships
   • 2021 Queensland Short Course Championships
   • 2021 Long Course Preparation Meet
   • 2021 Queensland Championships in December – very difficult to qualify for
4. QUQ 2022 Short Course Preparation Meet
   • Date: 26 March 2022
   • Planning has commenced with the focus being a preparation meet for Nationals SC and State SC
   • A number of new approaches are planned

 

 

 

 

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South Region

 

Brisbane Southside Masters

Since our last update, the official BSM SC meet results were awarded.  We would like to congratulate Nicole Taylor, Viv Broadbent, Michelle Andrews and Nadine Loof for setting a new Queensland Branch relay record for the Women’s 120-159 event. What a day for Nadine who also set National and Queensland Branch 35-39 SC records for 25FS, 50FS and 100FS. Well, done ladies!

Over the last couple of months BSM team members represented the club at Noosa, Belgravia, River City, Rackleys and Maryborough meets. Thanks to the clubs for managing great meets and to our members for their commitment to swimming. We had several members achieve their PBs and win medals in their age groups. Well done team!

From a social perspective, BSM members got together for an afternoon of Disc Golf at Alexandra Hills, trying out some new throwing skills. We all decided it’s harder than it looks, and no one is planning to abandon swimming for disc golf at this stage! Full preparations are now underway for the Christmas Party.

Finally, always looking to innovate BSM have commenced trialling early morning sessions on Monday and Fridays at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre, Chandler. Implementing these sessions has increased our coaching team to four – Nathan Dortmann, Elaine Sng, Peter Duell and John Watson.  

Stay safe and well, so that we can all continue to enjoy our swimming.

 

 

Gold Coast Masters

The Gold Coast Masters Swimming Club is pleased to announce that we are starting up time trials every Friday 6pm to 7pm followed by drinks at Catalina Cafe. The Gold Coast Masters is also home to the swim club for the Gold Coast Pride, which is part of Gold Coast Rainbow Communities Qld Inc, a support network for the LGBT family. We are a community based social club and we welcome everyone to join in our swim club activities.

I hope to see you there – Steve Cornelius. 

 

Ipswich City Masters

After the brief lockdown hiatus in late June and early July the members of the Ipswich City Masters Swimming Club have continued to train hard and reap the rewards of their hard work.

A number of members have competed in swim meets and open water swims around Queensland with much success. Peter and Annabelle Johnstone went to the Short and Sweet meet in Bundaberg in July and had a fun time winning silver in both their age groups. Some great PBs as well. Peter and Annabelle also went to the Maryborough meet in late October and enjoyed a warm spring day of racing in a fabulous pool. Annabelle finished with silver and Peter came fourth in very competitive age groups. Two fantastic swim meets enjoyed everyone who attended.

Shiralee Bielenberg and Rod Winton swam the Burleigh Ocean swim 2km on Oct 24.  It was a beautiful morning, but the surf was a little bit challenging – getting to the first buoy seemed to take forever, but it was much better once they rounded that first buoy! There were lots of little non stinging jellyfish as well to contend with! Rod came 14th in his age group (after a limited preparation) and Shiralee came 2nd in her age group. Both were very happy with their swims after not doing any ocean swims – Shiralee since March, and Rod since February!

One of our members John Reugebrink has taken the big step into triathlon competing in two events this year with great success. Well done John!

Our Sunday morning endurance sessions are hotting up with members getting in and doing the longer and more challenging swims. The reward is always a great morning tea, fellowship and lot of laughter.

 

 

 

Lowood District Masters

Welcome Lowood District Masters! This newly formed club in the Somerset Region plans to start squads mid-November in the 25m pool at 159 Main Street, Lowood. Run by accredited Masters Coach Karin Reddecliffe, the 1.5hr-long squads will be held on Mon 9.30am, Fri and Sat 7am. Contact Karin at kreddecliffe@gmail.com Phone: 0435 956 466

 

Miami Masters

BSM Meet

Our team of 40 swimmers put on quite a show at Chandler on June 19. Miami won the overall prize for the highest club points, and Denise Robertson won the ‘Swimmer of the Meet’ with five National individual records!

The highlight of the day was the win by our 320+ age group Women’s 4×100 Freestyle Relay which smashed the old World Record, held by Japan, by more than 25 seconds! Congratulations to Denise Robertson, Margie Watts, Margie Fittock and Carole Simpson – it was an amazing feat.

 

Noosa Meet

We had 8 swimmers competing, winning a number of medals along with the trophy for best average points!

Rackley Masters Meet

We had 11 swimmers who competed at the Rackley Masters Meet on Oct 9. The men’s team finished 2^nd overall for total points, which was a great result from a relatively small group.

Forthcoming events

We are looking forward to our upcoming Relay Meet on Nov 27 and also our “Swimathon for Claire” which will be held on Dec 5. Miami Masters member Claire Reaburn was diagnosed at 53 years of age with Juvenile Granulosa Cell Tumor (an extremely rare form of ovarian cancer that usually affects younger women) and this event is to raise funds for the research needed to understand and cure JGCT.  

Membership

The motto during COVID might be “Keep on swimming!” as our membership continues to grow at a healthy rate; standing at 113 members to date. The 6-month and 16-month membership options generated interest as has participation at meets. We are hoping that holding our Meet early in 2022 will be a good impetus to retain existing members and recruit newcomers.

Training through recent months has been well attended with an average of 30 swimmers at training on Saturdays and 16 on Tuesday evenings in September and more in October.

Vale Ken Winter

It was with great sadness that we received news of the passing of Ken Winter on 20^th September. Ken was one of our long-term members and was just shy of his 90th birthday. Ken had been a member until age 87. Ken was a good friend of Miami Masters and a keen competitor over the years and many members will remember swimming at meets with him. Ken will be sadly missed.

Mercantile Relay

On Sept 4, Miami Masters had 3 teams participating in the 2021 Miami Mercantile Relay Comp, a fundraiser for the Miami Swimming Club’s national team. The aim of the comp was for teams to swim as close as possible to the time recorded on their first relay swim. Our teams were Swimmin’ Women (Margie. W, Denise, Lindy, Carole), the Super Jets (Ed, Todd, Hugh, Annalise) and the Mid-Life Madmen (Andrew, Chris, Graeme, Noah).

The Super Jets were the overall winners, swimming their last relay within 0.2 seconds of their first swim, and taking home the major prize which was generously re-donated back to the Miami Swimming Club. Congratulations Ed, Todd, Hugh, and Annalise.

 

Redlands Bayside Masters

Farewell to Ann And Gail

The Club farewelled Ann Gartshore, our outstanding coach of many years and daughter Gail who joined the coaching team in 2019. Ann has been involved with Masters Swimming for many years, and has coached beginners which has always been her passion.

To pay tribute to Ann’s ability as a coach, the club would have to stress her unique solutions to any imperfections in stroking techniques. She accomplished this by studied analysis and innovation. Ann evaluated individually and helped beginners overcome their fears and improve their confidence in the water. Ann’s knowledge, diligence and inquiring mind when it came to exercise meant that she was not just coaching but she had an awareness of how poor technique could lead to injury, which is important, particularly for the older swimmer.

To say Ann is a stalwart is no exaggeration as she has been a prolific competitor with many medals to her credit and she has always been an inspiration to her student swimmers.

Gail followed in the tradition of her mother as a coach, helping swimmers to improve their stroke and avoid injury. We are particularly indebted to Gail for her instruction in breaststroke and butterfly, strokes where she exhibited a high level of competence and was able to spot incorrect technique in club members. Gail was active in the role of Vice President since 2019 and her common sense approach and technological know-how was appreciated by all.

Current coaches Sharon Dvitt and Trevor Green will continue to take the squads.

Meets

In September Club members Robert Patterson and Georgia Phillips attended the Belgravia Meet at Burpengary with Robert scoring gold and Georgia bronze in their age groups. QRB was represented by six competitors in Noosa and resulted in gold for Georgia Phillips and Clive Griffin, silver to Courtney McKinnon and bronze to Nathan Mead.

Seven swimmers attended the Rackley Long Course event at the Centenary Aquatic Centre on Oct 9 and Club Captain Heather Robinson and John King contested the Maryborough Long Course event on Oct 23.

 

 

River City Masters

With a membership of 28 members, River City continues to make its mark on the Masters scene with swimmers competing regularly at meets. Of note was the club’s Sprint Meet on Sept 11 which was a great morning of races that started at 7am and was over by 9am. The well-attended event raised and donated $367 to the R U OK campaign. Training is held at Somerville House in South Brisbane offering 6 sessions a week. Email: rivercityswimteam@gmail.com

 

 

Southport Masters

Palm Beach Masters have now changed their club name to Southport Masters. They are now based at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in Southport, and have recently revealed their new logo. They are working hard to build their membership, and have a large number of training sessions available. For all details, please contact John Munro on 0407 595 177.

 

Toowoomba Tadpoles

The club on top of the Great Dividing Range have welcomed the warmer spring weather, longer daylight hours.

The increased membership has continued throughout 2021 and the total membership is now 88 members. Fortunately, or unfortunately we have not had to accommodate all the members coming along all at once to join in the club’s Fun, Fitness and Friendship program of activities.

Speaking of program, the club is now able to offer members some insightful coaching and development with one of the most seasoned masters’ swimmers and competitors, Don Taylor. This option has attracted a growing number of members wanting to improve their overall swimming technique as well prepare for upcoming masters competitions. There is lots of enthusiasm and member interest in this initiative and the club is quite fortunate to be able gain from Don’s vast experience.

Another incentive that the committee has introduced to encourage members to become regular swimmers is a free swim session on the 5^th Sunday of the months that have 5 weekends. The fifth weekend to start this will be on Oct 31, 2021.

From a competitive perspective, the club will be offering some added financial incentive to encourage members who would like to test themselves through competition at sanctioned masters swimming events.

The combined initiatives are intended to help all members gain the most from their membership and enjoy their experiences through masters swimming.

 

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Barbarians

The Barbarian team has continued to grow in leaps and bounds. What a fantastic day we all enjoyed at the Rackley Masters Meet. Congratulations to all of our swimmers, well done. It was great to meet our new members, Thomas, Rob, Grace and Jason. It wouldn’t be a meet without our Chris losing his cap during his race. Rob has returned from a 12-year break from competitive swimming in the UK, and this was Thomas’s first competitive race in several years. The Barbarians Team wish to congratulate the Rackley Masters for running a great inaugural swim meet. Fantastic selection of Raffles. It was lovely for Alycia and her Mum to win some of those large raffles. 

There were plenty of long drives up and down to meet at the Maryborough pool for the Maryborough Masters Swim Meet on 23 October. We all met at the pool on Saturday, welcoming Eddie from Bundaberg who has re-joined us after a five-year break. Jason has also returned to competition after a 30-year break.  It was lovely to meet Maryborough members and others from various clubs. Many swimmers gained PBs in their individual events. Our men’s relay teams did us proud in the two relay events being overall winners in their age groups. Andree 70 – 74 EQ 1st. Rob 30 – 34 2nd, Thomas 30 – 34 3rd. Eddie 40 – 44 3rd. Carlos 50 – 54 1st. Jason 50 – 54 3rd. Kalvin 65 – 69 5th and Maurice 80 – 84 1st.  At the conclusion of the meet, swimmers enjoyed a BBQ and other refreshments during the presentations. Congratulations to the Maryborough Masters club for a well-run fantastic meet. Looking forward to seeing you in 2022.

 

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