P.O. Box 1053, Sutherland 1499
Annual Report 2011
Membership
In 2011 we had 73 financial Sandbern members of which 51 were financial Masters members.
This was an increase of 55% on 2010!
Club Sessions/Venue
We regularly swim at the Sutherland Leisure Centre. Sessions are 0800-0930 and 0930-1100 Mon – Fri, with an extra session from 0500 to 0700 on Mon, Wed and Fri. There are two evening sessions, Tue and Thu, 1830-2000. There is also a session on Sat morning 0730- 0900. Our Club Coach is Yola Janic and she plans our sessions around the next major competition we will be entering.
Carnivals
In 2010 we had had a very successful year, finishing 2nd in Division 4. We were determined to build on that success in 2011 and increased our efforts to get more Masters members to participate in more carnivals. This was very successful and we had the best season in the history of our club, finishing 1st in Division 2 and winning promotion to Division 1.
Social
During 2011 we enjoyed many social gatherings after training and carnivals, while the highlight was our annual Christmas lunch and presentation, which was very popular as usual.
Summary
Our membership covers all levels of swimming, but with one thing in common – we like to enjoy ourselves. We are very lucky to have a great venue at the Sutherland Leisure Centre and a great coach.
Yola Janic tailors our training sets to specifically prepare us for our competition program. She knows how to get the best out of everyone and is a great motivator, while always making it fun – to keep us coming back! Our great success during the year was almost entirely due to her efforts.
We are always keen to welcome new members, whether for fun, fitness or competition!
Paul Vallis Secretary
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Incorporated in Australia, ABN 98 130 572 092
Annual Report 2011
The Pirates' year started with an excellent social event (with many thanks to arch-organiser Rachel) just to round off the season of goodwill and gluttony.
Then it was down to business and at the AGM in February we honoured Helen Wallace as our Club Swimmer of the year for her steady but determined improvement and Carolyn Opie as Member of the Year for her long term commitment to the Club and her contribution in and out of the pool.
In early March, an invitation from the Avalon Bilgola Amateur Swimming Club saw a group of Pirates in the very unfamiliar surrounds of an ocean pool.
From a racing point of view Avalon were always going to swab the decks with us, but from a fun point of view it couldn't have been better. With no black lines and T's to guide them, the Pirates were almost literally lost at sea.
On April 3rd we conducted the first of our 3 heats of Club Championships.
This is an excellent way to while away a Sunday afternoon with good swimming, friendly competition and some great grub from the galley afterwards. By the third heat in October there wasn't much doubt that this series is now a fixture in the Pirate year.
Inevitably the serious business of Masters Swimming arrived in April with the State Long Course Championships. A great team of Pirates had to work very hard to beat off a hard charging Warringah Masters for the Title. We were delighted that Pam Hutchings, returning from a long layoff with health problems was Female Swimmer of the Meet and John Bates Male Swimmer of the meet. John was also awarded the Peter Gilmour trophy for the best butterfly swim relative to the current records with his 50m swim. A great result for John who had worked so hard towards this meet and set a provisional World Record. Being John, however, the story carried on to later in the year.
A team of Pirates set off to the Nationals in Perth and once more Pam led the way with heaps of gold medals and National records. Kevin Vickery and Alan Dufty showed the way for the younger jack tars and a great time was had by all. Towards the end of June the Club once again took on the challenge from the Terrey Hills Terriers and we enjoyed a great evening of relay competition.
We'd have to apologise to the other members of the Terriers' division as, at
the State Relay meet less than 3 weeks later, they won that division. We just
didn't realise we were shamelessly being used for match practice! At the
same Relay meet we were overcome once more by Warringah but just
managed to hold off Sandbern who did a great job in fielding such a good
team.
Seaside Pirates