Vikings take on the World at Masters Championships 2023

Report by Caz Makin, Publicity Officer

The World Aquatics (Fina) Masters Championships post-Covid lockdowns finally took place in early August 2023 in Fukuoka, Japan, after 2 years of postponements.

The event includes swimming, open water swimming, diving, artistic swimming and water polo.

With over 6,000 swimmers competing from around the world. The Aussie contingent proudly displayed their team gear and Aussie flags, with great spirit and enthusiasm!


The Fukuoka 2023 mascots, Sealight and Shirney were super cute!

The pool swimming took place across two venues: Marine Messe Fukuoka Hall (where the elites swam) and Fukuoka Nishi Civic Pool.

It was very hot and very humid in Japan in August! Fukuoka was a maze of high-rise buildings, underground shopping streets, subway stations, and an enormous network of 7/11’s which did the most amazing selection of convenience food and smoothies to go! 

Of the 114 Australian swimmers, we had two Tuggeranong Masters swimmers who took part: Andreas Falkenau and Caz Makin.

Here are their summaries of their personal experiences:

Andreas

After years of waiting it finally arrived …. World Championships in Japan. What an adventure. First time to Japan ‘Oh yeah bring it on’!

The swimming was fantastic. With two different pools, it provided a great opportunity to experience something different and it was different. Especially the warmup situation. One venue provided an indoor 10-lane 50-metre pool to warm up and down whereas the other provided a 6-lane 25-metre pool to do the same. Being crowded was an understatement. Too many swimmers in a too small pool. But, I survived it.

Swimming in five different events was good and the swims were nicely staggered. 400m IM, 200m IM, 200m Butterly, 100m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle (not in that order). In all events I achieved times that were faster than my entry times which made me very happy. The most memorable moment was the last 10 meters in the 200 Fly, the arms just did not want to get faster anymore, and I just made it. My friend John videoed me and it was not pretty to watch but I do not care one little bit!

My holidays afterwards saw me visiting Osaka, Kyoto and Nagasaki all which were amazing. I was going to make it to Tokyo but the Typhoon had a different idea – it will be on the list for my next visit to Japan!

Caz

The swimming venues were very different – with the main Marine Messe (where the elites swam) being faboulous and the Nishi Civic pool an ‘interesting’ expereince with only a 25m warm up/cool down pool, spectator stands far too small and marshalling done on the pool deck of the warm up pool .. just a tad crazy and not the best but hey we got on with it!

My favourite exprience was the 200 Freestyle – my only swim day in the main Marine Messe pool – and going head to head with the Chilean girl in lanes 4 and 5 of the 2nd fastest heat and putting on the burners with 25m to go to beat her to 9th place and her getting 10th – our dual celebrations afterward meant everything that is true to Masters swimming! I also made good friends with a lovely Mexican girl in my age group and now have a fabulous bright pink MEX cap in my collection after a swap with a Tuggeranong swim cap.

I was very happy to grab two ‘top ten placings’ with 9th in the 200m & 400m Freestyle plus 11th in the 100 mFreestyle, 21st in the 50m Butterfly and 22nd in the 50m Freestyle (from 135 competitors in my 55-59 age group).

I actally swam for River City Masters in Queensland, my second claim interstate club this Worlds, so that I could do womens relays with my Queenslander swimming pals.  Relay day was super fun and marshalling at Marine Messe was organised chaos! We placed 9th in the 4x50m Freestyle Relay.

The holiday Scott and I took with the MSQ tour afterwards saw us visit Hisoshima, Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo.

It was a fast and furious tour with lots of walking, climbing up and down steps, shrines and temples galore, beautfiful japenese gardens, subway train trips, trips on the bullet train, watching sumo wrestling plus beer, excellent food and plenty of laughter!

 

Full results are available on the World Aquatics 2023 Masters Championships website.

 

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Vale Jane Lindsay 23/9/1940 – 16/8/2023

Written by Annette Britten

It was a lovely service under the gum trees in the natural burial section of the Gungahlin Cemetery.  Natural burials have no memorialisation at the grave location.  A small shrub chosen by the family from a list of approved natives can be planted at the grave location by cemetery staff.  The intent is for graves to blend into the beautiful surroundings of bushland.  By choosing a natural burial Jane was choosing a burial method that has a lower environmental impact, allowing her remains to decompose sustainably and return back to nature.  Jane was buried in a hand-woven Eco Friendly Casket which was just lovely.  Jane had every last detail planned just the way she wanted it.

Annette Britten, long-standing member of Tuggeranong Masters Swimming prepared a lovely writeup about Jane who was an extremely valuable member of the club over the years. 

Jane passed away on 16 August after a long battle with cancer and radiation enteritis.  Jane requested in lieu of flowers, that donations could be made to the National Cancer Foundation.

Our club is proposing renaming our Postal Swim Trophy to the Jane Lindsay Memorial Postal Swim Trophy in honour of Jane’s contribution to not just the postal swims but also the contribution she made to the aerobics/endurance program.  Given Jane was the sole person that made the Tuggeranong Trifecta come to fruition it is only fitting to honour her in this way. 

Rest in Peace, Jane – you were a remarkable lady!

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Vikings lap it up at the Great Barrier Reef Masters Games 2023

Report by Caz Makin, Publicity Officer

The Great Barrier Reef Masters Games are held every two years in Cairns. The sixth edition took place from 25-27 May 2023, with the swimming event being run by Masters Swimming Queensland at the Tobruk Memorial Pool over three days, attracting 162 participants from 45 clubs around the country. 

Donna, Caz & Kris at the Tobruk Memorial Pool

Three Vikings: Donna Campbell, Caz Makin, and Kris Kennedy headed to beautiful North Queensland to participate.

One additional Viking, Ron Watkins, who lives locally in Cairns also participated.

The medals on offer were slightly different from the usual format, being made from carved wood rather than metal. The Viking warriors brought a fair amount of wooden bling back to Canberra with them!

Participation was sadly a lot lower numbers than in 2021, which meant some very fast turnarounds between swims with little recovery time!

Donna Campbell enjoyed the GBRMG for the second time, claiming it was “a beautiful pool, beautiful weather, and beautiful Cairns“. Donna was happy with her two gold and two silver placings after a disrupted training schedule in the lead-up.

Kris Kennedy “had a great time at the Games both in and out of the pool” and the highlight for Kris was her gold placings in the four Backstroke events: 50m, 100m, 200m, and 400m, and a bronze in the 200m Individual Medley.

Donna and Kris were excited and chuffed to have met Leisel Jones as well as Arianna Titmus and coach Dean Boxall whilst at the event. Donna and Kris stayed on in Cairns for a couple of days to do some tourist activities including a boat trip out to the reef.

Kris and Donna with Arianne Titmus
Donna and Kris with swimming legend, Leisel Jones

Caz Makin was also a second-time participant at the Games, and had “lots of fun at the pool hanging out with NSW and QLD swimming friends“.

Caz scored four gold and three silver placings plus she broke Games Records in the 100m, 200m, and 400m Freestyle.

Caz also swam with a team of NSW Ladies in the 4x50m Freestyle who placed first and a 4x50m Mixed Medley relay with Qld swimmers, also placing first.

NSW Ladies Freestyle Relay Team: Megan, Caz, Bel & Lauren
Caz with River City swimmers

Dinner location in Port Douglas!

Caz had lots of social time with Brisbane swimming pals, which even included a trip to Port Douglas for dinner to enjoy amazing food at the beautiful Harrisons Restaurant at the Sheraton Grand Mirage Resort.

Ron Watkins, who swims magnificently in the 80-85 age group and lives in Cairns, swam in four individual events: 50m and 100m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly, and 50m Backstroke securing four gold placings. Ron also caught up with his son Troy who swims for Woden Masters in Canberra and was also participating in a number of pool events.

Read the full report from Masters Swimming Queensland.

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