Report by Leisa Cass, Club President
We had around 50 people attend our 2014 Club Christmas Party/Presentation Night which turned out to be a very social and celebratory evening at at Tuggeranong Vikings Club on Sunday 14 December 2014.
Our club President, Leisa Cass, spoke about our successes as a club over the last 12 months and presented the perpetual club awards/trophies to this year’s winners.
It has been another outstanding year for Tuggeranong Masters and we have not only led the way for Masters Swimming in Canberra again this year, but we can also claim to have been a significant competitor and vocal supporter for Masters Swimming NSW and Masters Swimming Australia.
With a loud and competitive group of enthusiastic swimmers, we have descended on a variety of pool and open water events throughout the year and there has been plenty of publicity and praise throughout the year for individuals following these events, and there are so many highlights, it would take too long to list them all, so why not read about a few of the biggies in Leisa’s ‘Summary of 2014‘.
2014 Perpetual Club Awards/Trophies
Gill and David Buckley Encouragement Award
This award is for a Thursday morning swimmer who trains regularly, takes instruction and applies it to the best of their ability, and just plain tries hard but has fun too. The 2014 winner is Kirsten Madsen.
Our Thursday morning coach, Brenda Day said “Kirsten swims every Thursday morning and is very dedicated. She takes correction to heart and really strives to improve her stoke which this coach loves. Kirsten is always first in the water (YAY!) and is a very quiet and diligent person.”
Tuggeranong Masters Swimming Encouragement Award
This award which was introduced last year is for an evening swimmer, who again trains regularly, takes instruction and applies it to the best of their ability and tries hard but has fun doing it. It was hotly contested this year as to who would receive this award and in the end, it was too hard to split Donna Campbell and Gavin McGregor, so they are joint recipients for 2014.
Donna joined us mid-year and has thrown herself into the competition side of things, even heading up to Brisbane for the Pan Pacs. She often seeks out advice and extra assistance from the coaches as she tries to improve her swimming.
Gavin has been a member for a couple of years now, and after quietly building up his stroke technique and fitness in lane one for a while, has recently progressed quickly to being a Sunday lane three swimmer, and weekday lane two swimmer. He listens and takes direction readily and his improvement is a direct result of his diligence.
Tuggeranong AUSSI Masters Most Improved Swimmer
Most Improved Swimmer for 2014 goes to Katrina Burgess. Katrina joined us in early 2013 and has been a regular at training and endurance sessions since then. This year has seen Katrina consistently doing PB’s each meet, across all stokes and distances, with a NSW State record in the 400m LC Butterfly to finish off her year with. A well deserved reward for a consistently hard worker.
Postal Swimmer of the Year
Usually, the postal swimmer of the year is a simple process — who did the most postal swims this year? But this year, there were half a dozen who had done 2 swims and no-one with 3 swims. A rather poor effort by the club in an area we usually rank very well in. But watch out, our new Postal Swim co-ordinator, Katrina, is organised and ready for next year, so expect to be chased about getting entries in!!
The winner for 2014 is Maria Castles. We chose Maria as she was really keen to try these swims out and gave them her best effort.
Iron Person of the Year
Another hotly contested award that in the end proved too hard to split. The winners for 2014 are Andrea Teunissen and David Bale.
Andrea was chosen for her persistence with completing the entire Endurance 1000 program for the sixth consecutive year. Andrea is perhaps not so natural a swimmer as some, and perhaps not the fastest swimmer. Andrea receives the Endurance 1000 towel each year for completing the 62 swim program, not the towel for completing the program with maximum points, but complete the program she does and repeats some swims, sometimes making it a maximum point swim, but sometimes just improving on an earlier swim for a sense of personal achievement. That makes her an Iron Person.
It’s been an interesting year for David. With a sudden onset of what was a mystery illness early in the year, he has dealt with losing some use of his left leg by saying “Stuff it — I’m still gonna swim and I’m still gonna race”. He’s even learned that getting some help to get around the pool and onto the blocks is not a bad thing ! And he’s done some PB’s just to let the competition know he’s still a force to be reckoned with. And that make him an Iron Person.
Judy Gallagher Memorial Trophy for Swimmer of the Year
The 2014 Swimmer of the Year is Caroline Makin. Caz has again competed more than most and has consistently been dropping her times across all events throughout the year. From 25m sprints in the pool to 9km in the lake, Caz is willing to have a go at everything. She always pushes herself hard at training (and the rest of the lane too) and the results this year speak for her efforts. A worthy recipient of this award.
Club Person of the Year (President’s Choice)
The 2014 Club Person of the Year is Bill Eversham. Not many of you would realise just how much Bill does, beavering away quietly in the background. He is our Secretary who keeps us on track at committee meetings (well tries to anyway), and constantly responds to me saying “Hey Bill — can you just check how that works with regards to the Constitution” with a grin and “Yeah — sure”. He makes sure all the paperwork is done and that everyone has all the information they need to do the many other tasks that come with running the club. Well done and a very big thanks to Bill.
Recognition and thanks to our coaching team …
Thanks to the coaching team of Jeanette Droop, Brenda Day, Caroline Makin and Leisa Cass – led by Anne Smyth, the coaches have all worked hard to provide positive and meet focused training programs during the year, and this is reflected in how well the club has performed and individuals have improved across the year.
We also say goodbye to Jeanette from the coaching team – after spending the last five years on pool as well as swimming, Jeanette is turning her attentions to more time back in the water in 2015! Thank you Jeanette for all those hours of dedication to our training sessions 🙂
The committee wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year … and bring on 2015 and the mighty VIKINGS !!
Thanks also to Scott Makin as ‘official photographer’ for the event.
