On the weekend of 4/5 June 2011, an intrepid bunch of swimmers and supporters settled in at the AIS Pool for the Canberra 24 Hour Mega Swim.
The AIS Canberra 24 Hour Mega Swim raises money for MS Australia’s Go For Gold scholarship program, and ran from 12 noon on Saturday 4th to 12 noon on Sunday 5th June 2011 .
Report by Anne Smyth & Caroline Makin
This was a huge event with over $102,00 raised from MS, and our two Vikings teams – the SENSATIONS lead by captain Anne Smyth and the SUPERSTARS lead by captain Caroline Makin, swam a combined total of 144.10 kms and raised $6589.70. What a fantastic effort!!
Vikings Mega Swimmers
Not only did we support MS, but we also managed to clock up a huge amount of aerobic swims which should see us in close contention to win the trophy this year!
Asuko was a late withdrawal due to illness, but our iron women Suzie and Leisa stepped up and swam an extra half hour each during the afternoon to fill her spot. Jeff also had a late replacement due to an eye op, with Hitch swimming in his spot. Jane arrived hot off the plane from England — her jet lag worked to her advantage — she thought she was swimming in the morning in England!
Sensations Liz & Jeanette
The pool was pumping with music booming out to help us all stay motivated, with some swimmers staying up all night counting laps and timekeeping. Ann put in a fabulous dance performance to the Macarena at 4am, whilst lollies and chocolate kept us going with David almost overdosing on Red Bull!
Ann Reid Dances The Macerana at 4am!
The night went pretty quickly, with Greg notching up a mammoth two-hour non-stop straight swim and and a number of swimmers clocking up two and three hours of swimming over the night shift.
David, Caroline and Philippa finished off the off the last half hour of the 24 hours of mega swimming for the Superstars, doing 3x200m relay repeats as a last surge to knock off as many laps as possible, alongside Anne bringing the Sensations home for their final leg.
Superstars ....... David, Caroline & Philippa's Final Relay Dash
Our teams were…
| Tuggeranong Masters Swim SENSATIONS | Tuggeranong Masters Swim SUPERSTARS |
| Anne Smyth | Caroline Makin |
| Annette Britten | David Bale |
| Jeanette Droop | Philippa Rickard |
| Ann Reid | Jill Blomeley |
| Jane Lindsay | Kristen Leydon |
| Ian Hampton | Veronika Ferfolia |
| Brenda Day | Richard Brown |
| Paul Hitchman | Leisa Cass |
| Lily Gilroy | Julia Everingham |
| Pam Munday | Suzie Gunning |
| Mandy Coggins | Kristy Messenger |
| Liz Needham | Mark Raymond |
| Jeff Day | Atsuko McGowan |
A big thank you to all those who came along to swim, support, time keep and count laps, in particular club members Jon, Pauline, Jeff; supporters’ kids Brianna, Brooke and Sandi; and partners Fran, Mij, Rod, Scott and Rob for all helping out.
5 Minute Final Countdown
We’re all set to enter the event again next year, so keep your eye on FASTLANE and the website for information in early 2012. It was a great cause to support and it was good to participate in a community swimming event, particularly as we are a swimming club. It was lots of fun!
Official photos and full results from the Canberra Mega will be posted on the webiste at www.megaswim.com/results-photos.asp and you can view the team pages via the relevant team link below …
| Captain | Team |
| Anne Smyth | Tuggeranong Masters Swim Sensations |
| Caroline Makin | Tuggeranong Masters Swim Superstars |
