ACT Interclub Meet – 4 June 2017

Report by Ian Spencer

Sunday, 4 June 2017 saw the running of the second ACT Interclub Meet for 2017 hosted by Tuggeranong Vikings.  As a new swimmer with Tuggeranong and with only a few weeks swim training completed after a 28 year rest phase, Ian found himself quietly thinking ‘what have I done?’ as he drove towards Lakeside Leisure Centre.  He need not have worried as the happy greetings from other swimmers quickly identified Masters swimmers as a friendly lot with a welcoming attitude.

Invitations for the event were sent far and wide and 46 competitors signed up including 24 Vikings, 15 Water Dragons, 6 Ginninderra Masters and lone entries each from the Novocastrian Novos and Penrith Masters.

Masters Swimmers in warmer climes had clearly read the Canberra weather report and couldn’t find enough jumpers in time for the meet. Well done to the hardier souls who attended.

After a well organised warm up, timekeepers were called for, the starting gun was tested and the first swimmers were away swimming 100m Backstroke.  Anne Smyth, Kylie Lane and Caz Makin showed their Tuggeranong teammates how it was done with some very smooth and fast swimming. Event 2 was the 50m Butterfly and Ian sheepishly wished he had been brave enough to sign up for it … next time!   The 50m Freestyle was next and unsurprisingly was the most popular event.  Nick Grinter posted the fastest time of the day for Tuggeranong closely followed by Paul Quinn, with an impressively quick first attempt at 50m Freestyle by Ian Spencer (sorry Ian … editor’s privilege to add this in!!). Event 4 was 100m Breaststroke with nice swims from Donna Campbell, Richard Phillips, Al Byrne and Ian Hampton.

Being a Masters event and therefore very civilised, tea and cake were served at the midway point and various awards presented for what can only be described as extraordinary feats of endurance swimming during 2016 – well done to all those swimmers who received their endurance towels. Thank you also to those who provided the plates of delicious food for afternoon tea.

The performance enhancing properties of cake and chocolate brownies became obvious in the final events with some fast individual swims and even faster relays.  Ian particularly enjoyed the timekeeping for the 200m events, getting to know other club members who were also helping out and watching some very smooth and effortless looking swimming from many Masters.

After the relays bringing the event to an end, the Tuggeranong Vikings had enough points to win the day, followed by the Water Dragons and Ginninderra. The club point scores were as follows:

As a new member of the club, Ian found the afternoon especially enjoyable …

“Masters swimmers are a social and friendly crew, thank you for welcoming me.  To anyone hesitant to join because they have not swum for a long while, I would certainly encourage you to just join and start.  There is a wide range of abilities and you will be made to feel welcome.  Lessons for me from the day were have a go at butterfly, tighten the googles and eat performance enhancing cake.  Thank you to all the organisers and officials on the day whose efforts made the day such a success“.

Full results are available.