The Dolphin Masters Swim Club Newsletter
e-mail:
ph: (021) 685 3388 / 082 904 8037
JULY / AUGUST 2004
Hi Dolphin swimmers old and new
It’s so long since we had contact that perhaps you are worrying about what you get for your Dolphin subs of R250!! Well firstly of course you get us – yes the Dolphin committee, who do everything on your behalf, and with a smile on our faces. Of your R250, affiliation fees for Western Province remain at R30, SAMS affiliation fees remain at R30 and SSA fees have increased to R62.70. So R122.70 goes to running Masters swimming and the remaining R127.30 stays with Dolphins to run the Club.
You should know by now that we have a new committee, elected at the last Dolphins AGM in May:
Chair: Britt Stott
Vice-Chair:Therese Russell
Membership Sec: Liz Webb
Newsletter: Mairi Brimble
Kit: Nadine Foster
Gala Rep:Denise Stirrat
Social Committee: Didi Petit & Gillian D’Arcy
If you have not yet paid your fees you should really do it before the end of September, as after that (as from 1st October) a penalty of R70 will be payable to SAMS until mid-January when registrations will close.
PLEASE SEND YOUR ID NUMBER WITH YOUR MONEY. The person to contact is Liz Webb and her e-mail address is:
No SSA cards will be issued by SSA any longer.
If you wish to do a bank transfer:
Account Name: Cape Dolphins
Bank: Nedbank
Branch: Claremont
Code: 104609
Account Number:1046 408 151
Although it seems ages since we welcomed our fearsome foursome back from Italy, it would be remiss of me not to give them a big fat Greek mention in the Dolphins newsletter. Cheryl, Britt, Therese and Gary had a fantastic time in Riccione and then did some travelling through Tuscany afterwards. Their results bore testimony to all the training that they put in for Worlds. Britt was placed 3rd place in the 200m breaststroke, Cheryl came 3rd in her 200m IM and in the Open Water swim and between the 4 of them they won 16 medals. So well done to all of you.
Britt writes…………
10th Masters World Champs, Riccione, Italy
After many hard weeks of training and early morning rising, Gary, Therese, Cheryl and I arrived in Riccione, Italy, proudly representing the Dolphins team. We stayed in an “interesting” hotel situated in the heart of an extremely popular and fashionable area of Riccione where the nightlife started at 4 in the afternoon (after a siesta) and ended at 1 in the morning when the last designer shops closed their doors. Riccione is a very popular resort area for Italians and we were situated just 500m from the beach where many “Beryl Cook” (fat lady paintings) look-alikes basked in the sun.
We allowed ourselves a few days to “acclimatise” before the 800 Free races set off the first day of Champs. These were the biggest Masters champs ever held with a record 8100 entries from 68 different countries. The venue was great with 2 x 50m pools and 2 x 25m warm up pools. The diving and synchro took place at the same venue and poor Therese nearly had a heart attack every time the 80+ category took to the 10m diving board – she was convinced they were committing suicide!
Pre-race line ups were nerve wracking as we were summonsed at least 30 minutes prior to our races – just enough time to be totally rattled and to give your opposition the “hairy eye ball”. Support amongst the South African team was great and many a moment was spent rushing from one pool to the next to catch each other’s races.
As you would have seen from the results, the South Africans did very well breaking 4 World Records! Medals were awarded to Top 3 & Top 10 places and between the four of us we managed to bring home 16 medals! Cape Town Masters were very well represented as usual, but us Dolphins still managed to prove that we do have the most fun on tour – so much so that the 4 of us spent 6 days travelling together after the champs! Gary’s Girls, as we became known, had an absolute ball camping in Florence; travelling through the Tuscan countryside; overnighting in an old monastery and traipsing through the supermarkets & shops. Imagine a 30 something, 40 something, 50 something & a 60 something with 8 pieces of HEAVY luggage trying to catch buses and trains in all directions – a recipe for a lot of fun!
The next world champs are scheduled for 2006 in San Francisco and will take place at the Stanford University. Now that you all have fair warning to save up and do the training, I would strongly urge all Dolphins to consider it! The experience is fantastic and remember that it’s not just about winning!
Hope to see many of you there!!!
(thanks Britt)
WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS:
BEVERLEY MALLOWS, MANDI FUCHS, HERDA SILVERMAN &ANTHONY HEALEY
With a new season upon us, there is a fresh chance for all of you to qualify for WP Colours. Last season Liz, Britt and Gary achieved colours while Tiffany and Theresa B swam qualifying times, but need to have attended 3 WP Champs before they could be awarded their colours. Theresa will definitely be out there for us this year, but sadly Tiff will not. She and her family have upped and offed to New Zealand with not a care for her devoted fans back here. We acknowledge that we have to go where the opportunities are, but it was a sad little farewell we had in Melissa’s one Thursday morning after training, to say goodbye and good luck to Tiff.
We have had 2 short course galas this winter, both held at Zwaanswyk School in Retreat. At the first gala we had Therese, Britt, Deon and Liz in the water, and Therese and Liz both established WP Records for themselves – well done girls.
The second gala thankfully saw a few more Dolphins on the starting blocks. Denise crashed through her fears, swam both the 50m and 100m in the breaststroke events, and claimed gold in both! So “go get a life” you can say to all those negative voices in your head hey Denise. Only listen to the voices with positive messages – the others are there to sabotage your fun.
Gary and Therese both smashed WP and SA Records in their age groups at this gala - WELL DONE GUYS! They are still flexing those Italian muscles and finding them quite responsive.
We also welcomed two new swimmers – BEV MALLOWS AND MANDI FUCHS at that gala. It was really nice to see some new faces and of course old ones too, in the form of Kenny Kingma who made a guest appearance.
GRATEFUL THANKS TO ALL THOSE WHO DID TIME KEEPING DUTIES – WE REALLY APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO GIVE UP A COUPLE OF HOURS ON A SUNDAY MORNING TO HELP OUT.
We have another gala coming up on Sunday 19th September – the last one to be held at Zwaanswyk this season. There is something for everybody at this gala, including the 800m free (yes that’s 32 lengths folks) and long breasts and short flys. So come along and try something out you guys. It’s never too late to meet a new challenge.
WP Masters are selling very nice large towels with WP MASTERS SWIMMING inscribed on them. R80 each.
Contact a committee member if you want one.
And finally…..Did you miss the fun or what???
Saturday night saw 20 Dolphins and “friends of Dolphins” swimming at the Sports Science Institute for the WINTER FITNESS CHALLENGE. What sports they all were, covering as much distance as possible in an hour, relinquishing conversations and chit chat in pursuit of victory for the Club. However if we are to win the coveted SAMS award, we will need far greater participation from all you dormant swimmers. So please go out this week (it has to be swum in August) and swim for an hour, fill in the WFC form and return it to Britt with your R10.
If you need a form, phone Britt or myself and we will get one to you asap.
JUST DO IT FOR THE CLUB!
After the swim we all piled in to Rob and Didi’s house for a full-on Olympic ceremony, slow baked lamb, spanakopita, baklava and metaxa. What a night of revelry it was, and to crown it all we all won gold medals. A dazzling award ceremony had all of us thumping our chests and flexing our biceps at the world (well, to the small gathering anyway). Awards were handed out in a generous spirit that befits the Dolphins ethos – if you turn up, you deserve gold.
The first gold medal went to the 4 x 100m relay. This modest band had a vigorous training schedule that included cross training in distance running, squash, hockey, tennis and beach volleyball. The team consisted of Marilyn the marathon runner, Theresa the squash, hockey beach volleyball, basketball player, Gina the long distance swimmer from abroad (Stellenbosch) and Doffie (imported for the event), the honorary reserve. A late entry into the team was made by Fran who came from nowhere to receive gold in one burst of enthusiasm.
Gold medal for the swimmer returning from Nationals with no medals was won by Denise, a hot favourite for this award, ousting her rival Nadine by the judge’s whim.
“Slowest to the starting blocks” was also a close duel between Mairi and Ashleigh. However Ash took the gold in this event, being on average 32 minutes late for training - her bottled sparkling water gave her the edge over her rival.
Gold for the most interruptions in one session was a 4 way contest, with Lynne, Amaraid, Nadine and Rob in contention. The winner……. Rob, with 600 interruptions in one session – a dead cert for gold!
The Deborah Lane Memorial Gold for the swimmer who has conducted herself with enthusiasm, a smile and a “go gettem” attitude – our new chair- Britt.
Gold for “wanna-be coach” of the year went uncontested to Nadine who in May and June each year when Brian is away, “swaps her usually dulcet tones for a strident boom, pumps up the volume, strips swimmers of their flippers, delusions and fantasies and forces a reality check on their swimming prowess”.
The Stun Gun Award “for the swimmer most effectively keeping order in the Shark Tank”. Michael Jacobson was initially nominated for this award , suited only to the brave and bold, but on closer scrutiny of the underwater cameras, an even more intimidating swimmer was identified – Viv Williams!
Best International Performance for 2004… While outstanding performances by our members in Italy was acknowledged, one member in particular spent the entire summer in training, dedicated to the task, not straying from the waters of the French Riviera. For hours, day in and day out she worked on her turns and her times – the depth of her tan bearing witness to this commitment”. Gillian won an undisputed gold for BIP.
One of our new swimmers received a special mention for having in record time joined the Super-Elite-Squad (known as SES). The SES, now numbering almost 25 with this new addition, is enjoying unprecedented popularity at the SSI. Glenda was warmly welcomed to the SES and joined the band of swimmers who Flatly, and Finally and Once and for All, refuse to share a lane with “the big one”. Gold to Glenda for standing up for her rights.
Finally, gold for synchronised swimming – the pairs event, for a 23 year dance through the vagaries of life, in the water, on the land and up the mountain, went to John and Mairi.
Didi herself was awarded the 1996 Berlin Marathon medal for having foiled the “surgery gang” with an ice cool calm that saw her and her comrades left unharmed. She had to return the medal however, as John Brimble insisted it was really his.
A very special thanks to Didi for convening the Award ceremony and to both her and Rob for hosting the dinner. Gillian as chief cook turned out the most stunning meal, of which the Olympian gods would have been proud.
Thanks must go to those who swam the WFC, but could not make the supper, such as Michael who had “family commitments” (don’t we all??), Judy who thought a 50th birthday party would be more fun, and Deon (yeah yeah yeah). And of course the regulars “who didn’t know anything about it”. We missed you guys.
Any news? Let me know. I am so impressed with the CT Masters new webpage. Check it out.
This is my new challenge – surely anything they can do we can do better? Let me know if you can help me do this thing,
Cheers