Report by Al Byrne
What could possibly be a more dinky-di way to spend the afternoon of Australia Day than a swim in the sunshine, followed by a picnic at the beach with family and friends? Answer: not much! So, our collection of little Aussie Bruces and Sheilas decided we’d do exactly that, and made our way to the popular Yarralumla Bay, on Lake Burley-Griffin here in Canberra.
On the picture-perfect sunny afternoon of Thursday 26 Jan 17, about a dozen Vikings took the plunge into the warm (but, with some random cold patches, just for surprise value!) waters of the lake.
After dodging random rowers, paddlers and windsurfers, as well as a passing water police boat, a quick lap around the island, for about 1600 metres, was achieved by all 13 of us.
This was the club’s first ‘open-water’ lake swim for the year, and, even before the drinks and picnic, it was pretty universally acclaimed as a great break from our routine pool swims.
In fact, it was so good that we’ll be doing it all again! Commencing 6:00pm Wednesday evening 01 Feb 17, swimmers are very welcome to gather at the Ferry Terminal at Acton for a weekly group distance swim. Pending attendance, we’ll try to keep these sessions going until it gets too cold. These will not be training sessions, as such, with no coaching involved. These swims will just be for fun. And, isn’t that why we’re all here!
