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SNAPPETS Stadium Snappers Masters Swimming Club Inc www.stadiumsnappers.net.au March 2014

PRESIDENT’S JOTTINGS

Well here we are once again and Easter just around the corner.

At our last Committee meeting it was decided that our next Annual General Meeting will be held in Crab

Palace at Challenge Stadium on a Saturday afternoon in January. Now that we do not have Bernie or

Jeannine in our club it was somewhat difficult to organise at St Cecilia’s.

The Committee is happy that all the members taking on Support positions have agreed to carry on their

duties for 2014.

We now have 60 members who have joined for 2014.

Thank you to the 17 members

and 3 supporters who helped

out at the Tadpoles Triathlon

on Sunday March 9th. This was

a great joint effort from

members. There were 520

children between the ages of

7 and 12 years who took part

in the event. The money the

club received will keep our

bank balance healthy.

One of our Club Challenges this year is at Melville on Sunday April 6th.

As a Committee we lobbied hard to get a chance to swim at Melville, as

many clubs apply for this event. I am therefore asking that all those

members who swim at Club Challenges make a real effort to attend this

one so that we can send a large team.

Geraldine Klug

NON-COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS FOR 2014

Snappers were appointed to these ancillary positions at the Committee meeting on 17 February:

Membership Registrar Gail Parsons Assistant Treasurer Helen Green Recorder Kim Klug Safety Officer Geraldine Klug Assistant Recorder Anne Edmondson Webmaster Beng Hooi Chua Information Manager Eleanor Parsons Clothing Officer Margaret Watson Asst Information Manager Sue Shilling

SNAPPERS MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES

At 17 March 2014, Snappers membership was: Ordinary members 41 Second Claim (in WA) 5 80 years and over 11 Second Claim (interstate) 1 Life members 2

Volunteers Jean and Cas at the

Tadpoles Triathlon

In this issue Regular features President’s report 1 Diary entries 2 Goggle 2 Birthdays 2 Welcome new members 3 Recorder 3 From MSWA 4 Pool Swims 5 OWS results 7 Deadline for next issue 7

Special features Attendance 2013 3 Good sleep 5 Profile: Mary and Stuart 6 Rottnest stories 8


DIARY ENTRIES FOR MARCH AND BEYOND

Date Event Time Venue Saturday 22 March 2014 HBF State OWS 7:30 am check in Coogee Beach

Sunday 6 April Melville LiveLighter Club Challenge TBA Melville Aquatic Centre

Saturday 19 April Albany Port Authority Harbour Swim 8 am start Princess Royal Harbour

Sunday 20 April Southern Ocean Classic Mile 10 am start Ocean Beach, Denmark

Monday 21 April Committee meeting 7 pm Regent Park

Saturday 3 May Thornlie 400/800 SC TBA Leisureworld Thornlie

Saturday 10 May State Champs Preparation Super Clinic 1-4 pm Challenge Stadium (outdoors)

Saturday 17 May Narrogin 400/800/1500 SC TBA Narrogin Leisure Centre

Monday 19 May Committee meeting 7 pm Regent Park

Tuesday 20 May Council of Clubs 7 pm Sports Lotteries House

Sat/Sun 24/25 May WA Masters State Championships LC 10 am / 9 am Challenge Stadium (indoors)

Saturday 7 June Snappers 1500 LC pm Challenge Stadium (outdoors)

BIRTHDAYS

April 8th Eleanor Parsons 22nd Margaret Somes 12th Stuart Gray 27th Lynda Joachim 14th Jackie Egan 30th Carmen Harrison 18th Geraldine Klug

Happy Birthday all and 80 cheers for 80 years to Marg Somes!

GOGGLE SAW Jackie getting away with wearing two pairs of

bathers at Newman Churchlands Club Challenge

One over-80 melt in the heat while playing games at the Snappers Beach Picnic

A bunch of Snappers at afternoon tea devouring Audrey’s sensational fruit cake – the one she was so absorbed in baking that she forgot to come to the Beach Picnic!

AND HEARD Mark Etherton-Beer fearing the

exposure of his fleshy torso in a photo on the notice board may deter potential members rather than attracting them! (No chance, Mark.)

At 8:07 pm, a poolie telling three patrons in the outdoor pool change room that it closed at 8:00 pm and that they should use the indoor change room and then saw that the indoor change room was “Closed for cleaning”!

Pat it and prick it and mark it

with L for Lillian

Guests of honour: Lillian

Hadley and Pat Byrne


SNAPPERS IN THE POOL AT CHALLENGE STADIUM 2013

Data are collated from the club attendance diary and relate to swims at Challenge Stadium only. Figures do not include our club’s LiveLighter Club Challenge or the State Swim. This year’s figures show that the total attendance of 3300 is down from 2012 (568 swims or 15% less). Those who are swimming are doing so with slightly higher frequency (+4%).

Several Snappers swim regularly outside the times when the club reserves lanes, e.g. as second claim members of Claremont. These figures are included. The new Wednesday morning session accounts for 268 swims. There were fewer club swims (due to lack of interest) which accounts for lower Saturday numbers. Key data

Year 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 cf 2012

Membership 99 84 72 79 83 82 85 86 81 71 59 - 17%

Attendance

Annual total 3883 4112 3796 4238 4404 4151 4950 4940 3790 3868 3300 - 15%

Av monthly (12) 324 343 316 353 367 346 413 412 316 322 275 - 15%

Av weekly (52) 75 79 73 81 85 80 95 95 73 74 63 - 15%

Av daily (365) 11 11 10 12 12 11 14 14 10 11 9 - 18%

Av per member 39 49 53 54 53 51 58 57 47 54 56 + 4%

Highest at one session

37 Wed

37 Wed

40 Fri

38 W/F

40 Fri

38 Wed

35 Wed

31 Wed

24 Wed

Monthly Averages

Tuesday 56 48 37 44 39 40 34 26 26 34 29

Wednesday 113 104 103 111 126 107 130 122 107 91 65

Thursday 24 28 16 29 25 32 25 28 20 26 20

Friday 102 107 97 108 119 109 127 118 99 89 65

Saturday 32 30 25 26 21 39 32 39 39 44 35

Sunday 22 26 25 28 29 39 38 41 32 34 30

'Tricia Summerfield Vice President and Coach, February 2014

FROM THE RECORDER'S DESK

The year is well and truly under way and I know that a lot of you have already been doing your E 1000 swims in earnest which is great. On Friday 28th March I would like to collect all your files for the first round of entering your times onto the Masters Swimming Australia portal. Can you please make sure that all of your recording sheets to date are in your own individual files and that you have entered all of your swims onto the cover sheet? If you haven't already got a cover sheet, you can print one from our Snappers website.

Thanks Kim Klug

WELCOME

Margaret Smithson, currently swimming in ‘Tricia’s Wednesday morning group, is our newest member. Welcome to Snappers, Margaret! You are a reminder of the early days of the Club, when every second member was named either Margaret or John. We wish you years of fitness, friendship and fun with us.


FROM MASTERS SWIMMING WA

LiveLighter State Championships Preparation Super Clinic

After the success of the inaugural LiveLighter Super Clinic in November we're pleased to be running another Super Clinic on Saturday 10th May. The State Championships Preparation Super Clinic will aim to get participants ready to tackle pool events by focusing on:

effective race day warm ups and stretching

how to pace your races

sprint technique

starts, turns and finishes

Four experienced coaches, Kareena Preston, Jon Haines, Sally Bell and Elena Nesci, will be coordinating the sessions with ALL standards of swimmers encouraged to attend. Swimmers will be graded into appropriate lanes. There will also be limited places for coaches to attend to observe from pool deck but we are encouraging interested coaches to participate by taking part in the actual swimming to gain a better understanding of the processes being presented.

The flyer/registration form for any interested Club members who wish to achieve their best possible results at the State Champs was included with the Autumn E-News.

2013 LiveLighter Spring into Swimming project

At the February Council of Clubs meeting, Healthway’s Rebecca Storch presented gift vouchers and Vorgee packs to Bunbury and Belmont for gaining top membership increases of 20.4% and 15.0%. A special award went to Stadium Snappers for achieving a good increase from a new Wednesday morning training session.

President Geraldine Klug receiving the award

Retirements

Sandra Mutch of Swan Hills has retired as Director

of Recording from the Board of Masters Swimming WA

after 12 years in the role. She will continue in

several operational roles as State Recorder, OWS

Series Coordinator and general IMG and member

registration support. Sandra expressed good

wishes to the incoming Director of Recording, Richard Johnson of Claremont. Lillian Hadley has also

recently retired. She served as State Records Officer for

nearly 12 years. Kerry Hodson of Carine is the incoming

State Records Officer.

Sandra and Lillian with Gary Bradley,

President of Masters Swimming WA


POOL SWIMS

NEWMAN CHURCHLANDS LIVELIGHTER CLUB CHALLENGE Sunday 16 February 2014

At his first interclub, Mike Curtis made a phenomenal improvement in his 100 m Breaststroke time. In his

age group, 25-29, he gained a first and a third place. Snappers finished fifth overall, not surprisingly as we

had only 12 in the team. An unfortunate clash of dates with Mandurah’s Ocean Swim meant that Snappers

had to choose between the two events and some chose to go

south. The day was mild and the water temperature

comfortable, even for William! Snappers took home at least

four raffle prizes. Pamela, Pat and Merilyn each scored 10

points, Geraldine 9 points, Mark Etherton-Beer, Jackie, William

and Marg Somes 8 points. Sadly the long-awaited 320+

women’s relay couldn’t muster due to an over-enthusiastic

dog scratching Hazel’s leg but our 280+ and 240+ women both

came second. Thanks to June Maher and Kim Klug for

timekeeping and Pamela and Pat for officiating.

INAUGURAL BEATTY PARK TWILIGHT MEET Friday 14 March

Beatty Park’s innovative 50 Metre Meet attracted a full house of 150 swimmers, eight of them Snappers.

Individual events ran very quickly and Snappers swam well: Pamela (11 points), Eleanor (9), Bill and Barry

(7). Ann-Maree Lynch scored an admirable two 2nds in her first interclub. She enjoyed the experience

although she was nervous because she hadn’t swum competitively since she was 18 and that was 41 years

ago! Unfortunately for the organisers, problems with the computer not accepting changes to relay teams

caused such a delay that time ran out and half the relays had to be cancelled. Keeping warm was a

challenge with a stiffish southerly breeze blowing but this made the ample supper all the more welcome.

Non-swimming officials, Pat and Elizabeth, and our valued timekeeper, Helen, were also champions.

Thanks guys!

GOOD SLEEP

Good sleep is essential for optimal performance, with less than 6 hours a night disturbing our ability to

think and concentrate, upsetting glucose metabolism, compromising our immune system, and even being

linked to heart disease in older people. In athletes of any age, sleep has consistently been shown to be

essential for recovery and preparation for quality training sessions. The results of this study indicate that

early-morning training sessions severely restrict the amount of sleep obtained by elite athletes. Given that

chronic sleep restriction of less than 6 hours a night per night can impair psychological and physiological

functioning, it is possible that early-morning schedules actually limit the effectiveness of training,

suggesting that later morning swim sessions may be the best way to go if you can manage it with work

and family.

Source: Sargent, C. and others (2014). Sleep or swim? Early-morning training severely restricts the amount

of sleep obtained by elite swimmers. European Journal of Sports Science 14(Suppl. 1): S310-S315.

MARGARET PAPADOULIS

Snappers lost one of its founding members when Margaret Papadoulis died earlier this month. She

took part in the Swim to a Healthy Lifestyle Program that was the incentive to establishing Snappers

and was the first Club Secretary. Although Margaret’s membership lasted only two or three years,

Audrey Wren and Hazel Christie remember her as being an outstandingly generous person.


PROFILE: Mary and Stuart Gray

MARY

I was born in London Colney, Hertfordshire, which is a village 20 miles north of London. Pools were few and far between, with only outdoor unheated pools which were only open in the summer. Our school had use of the pool at the one and only hotel in the village. The water was cold and I hated it so I never did get my certificate to say I could swim 25 yards. After four and a half years nursing the intellectually challenged (three years training and one and a half as a staff nurse) I joined the Queen Alexandra Nursing Corp to do my general training. I also wanted to travel and after Aldershot, then Catterick, I was posted to Cyprus. Swimming in the warm Mediterranean changed my attitude to swimming. I met Stuart in Cyprus and after 15 months returned to England, got married, was posted to Aldershot for 3 months, then left the Army to join Stuart in Libya. Again I could splash around in the warm Mediterranean but after 11 months it was back to England, then Guernsey and the cold ocean again. Swims were then few and far between again….. how I hated that cold water. We have been in WA for 45 years now and with five children who took to the water like fish, it was a case of ‘if you can’t beat them you join them’ including the ankle biters!

My fitness program includes an hour of calisthenics in the morning before I wake the old man with a cup of tea. We have also walked the Bibbulmun Track a few times and maintain 9 km of the track between Conspicuous Cliff Beach and just before Peaceful Bay. I am not competitive but I am really enjoying swimming with the Snappers and the social intercourse afterwards.

STUART

I was born in Rugby, Warwickshire but the family moved to Guernsey in the Channel Islands after the war.

They tell me that I was a horrible kid but joining the Guernsey Swimming Club (GSC) at the age of 10

helped to keep me off the streets. Later I became a physiotherapist in the Royal Army Medical Corp for

six years, three of which were in Libya. During the latter I used to go to Cyprus every quarter for

(apparently) refreshers. There I met a young Army Nurse by the name of Mary Jackson who, against the

advice of friends and to the horror of her mother, agreed to become Mrs Gray. After the Army we went

back to Guernsey where I combined private practice with coaching the GSC. Six years later we were feeling

a little claustrophobic with island life and decided that Australia would be good for the kids, work and

sport. Two weeks after arriving in Perth I was running the Sports Injury Clinic at Royal Perth (Rehab)

Hospital and since then have lectured at two universities and have been team physiotherapist at two

Olympics. During the time I was swanning around the world Mary was bringing up the kids and keeping

an eye on the practice (she should have listened to her mother).

While doing a club coaches course last year I took on coaching the Snappers day group to increase pool

deck hours. I found them to be such a nice friendly group and I have been privileged to be able to continue

with Snappers. After singing the praises of the Club I was able to tempt Mary into joining, something that

I had not been able to do in the last 52 years! Mary has done a couple of timed swims, is keeping a log

and is enjoying the company of the day group.


OPEN WATER SWIM RESULTS

BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series Swim the Swan Sunday 2 February 2014

Swimmer Event Age Group Time Age Group Posn

Suzanne Shilling 2.5 km 41-55 48:36 3rd

Eleanor Parsons 5 km 56-99 1:27:13 1st

Leon Musca 10 km 41-55 2:27:27 4th

Swim Thru Leighton Saturday 8 February 2014


Suzanne Shilling 1600 m 50-59 31:57 2nd

David Fairclough 3200 m 40-49 52:02 7th

Eleanor Parsons 3200 m 50-59 54:55 1st

Busselton Jetty Swim 3.6 km Sunday 9 February 2014


Leon Musca Solo 40-44 51:20 1st

Mandurah Masters Ocean Swim Sunday 16 February 2014


Suzanne Shilling 1500 m 50-54 28:18 2nd

Eleanor Parsons 3000 m 55-59 49:14 2nd

Rottnest Channel Swim 19.7 km Saturday 22 February 2014


Leon Musca Solo N/A 5:13:41 23rd in solo

Andrea Morton + friend Duo 75+ Women 5:31:04 2nd

Gail Parsons and friend Duo 100+ Women 6:02:11 1st

Robyn, Kylie, Anne and

friend Team 200+ Women 6:17:10

2nd

City of Cockburn Jetty to Jetty Sunday 9 March 2014


Leon Musca 1500 m 35-44 19:32 1st

Jackie Egan 1500 m 45-54 26:08 11th (of 54!)

Pat Sugars 750 m 75+ 27:23 3rd

Good swimming to the six Snappers who have entered the 2014 HBF Masters State OWS at Coogee on 22

March.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND DEADLINE

Thanks to Geraldine Klug, ‘Tricia Summerfield, Kim Klug, Mary and Stuart Gray, Marg Watson, Gail Parsons, Anne Edmondson and Leon Musca for their contributions to this issue of Snappets. Your input is most welcome, too, so please send items for the next issue to me at [email protected] by Friday 25 April.

Merilyn Burbidge


ROTTNEST STORIES

Gail Parsons 1st in Duo Female 100+

Rottnest this year felt a little like Groundhog Day: same boat, crew, paddler, number, category and duo

partner. Only the conditions were different and they couldn’t get much better. Erin started from the beach

(Groundhog Day again) and I was in the boat. The water temperature had dropped about 4 degrees during

the week and I must admit when I jumped in a small expletive escaped my mouth. The air temperature

was quite mild so we were able to swim shorter times without the fear of getting cold. We both did 30

minutes each to start, then 20 minutes, then multiple 15, 10 and 5 minutes and we were there!

Swimming down the channel with our paddler, both Erin and I just seemed to be all over the place. Not

sure how it happened but I managed to get Erin in a headlock and we did a crocodile roll, greatly amusing

our paddler, Lester. Then we finally got to stand and focus on the finish line. As we started to run, Erin

face planted into the sand. She had the timing band on her leg so I had to drag her up the beach. Not the

most glamorous way to finish but we did it, our way.

Even though the conditions were extremely favourable there

were still casualties, reminding us never to take anything for

granted.

A solo swimmer approx age 45 experienced a heart

attack at about the 12 km mark. He finished not

feeling all that well and took himself off to the medical

tent and then was rushed off to Fremantle Hospital.

He is recovering well and one very lucky person.

There were a couple of hypothermic cases, also

rushed to Fremantle Hospital.

A dozen or so people, mainly solos, suffered from

aspiration pneumonia (inhaling of water) due to the sloppy water conditions.

Robyn Wilson, Kylie Leaman and Anne Edmondson 2nd in Team Female 200+

Team FOD (Four Old Ducks) Anne Edmondson, Robyn Wilson, Kylie Leaman and Robyn Smith very

successfully swam the 2014 Rottnest Swim in perfect conditions. As it was Anne's first crossing, she went

off the beach and after easily finding the paddler,

Anthony, she swam to the boat for the first change

over. We each swam for 15 minutes initially and later

for 10 minutes. Our only problem was our very sick

boat skipper, Robyn's son Andrew, who had a

particularly nasty case of 'gastro'. Despite this, he got

us to Rottnest in a straight line, with help from his

friend Greg, and we arrived in a time of 6 hours and 17

minutes, pretty good for probably the oldest women's

team. Kylie and Anne swam in at the finish, and left

Robyn and Robyn on the boat to help unload.


Leon Musca 23rd overall in Solo

Despite the best conditions in over a decade for the 2014 Rottnest

Channel Swim, my 5th solo crossing still had its challenges. With one

of my closest friends dying tragically in a car accident less than a week

before the event it was an emotional lead up to say the least.

Needless to say, I would be swimming for Steve.

My skipper, Murray, Steve’s brother, flew in from China at 1:30 am

Saturday morning, had one hour sleep, picked up his young son and

then joined the rest of the crew at Fremantle to board my support

vessel. With conditions looking so good I had put high expectations

on myself and I knew a sub 5-hour swim was a possibility, if

everything went to plan that is.

5 km into the swim, and then 10 km, I was on track, averaging about 14 mins per km. Murray’s 6 year-old

son was keeping tabs on my stroke rate, so all looked rosy. One thing I was always concerned about this

year though was hypothermia, especially considering I was going into the event lighter than my previous

swims (undoubtedly due to completing an Ironman in December). Despite putting on a couple of extra

kg’s during my carb load and taper week, it was always going to be a struggle with the water a cool 21 C

on race day. To put this into perspective, my last four swims have seen temperatures of around 23-24 C

and this is a big difference when it comes to a solo swim, especially at the 15 km mark!

I was somewhat lucky however as the poison from countless stingers was travelling through my veins like

a hot knife keeping the hypothermia to a pleasant ‘mild’ rating. These weren’t just your average stingers

which are easy to see on a clear day. These were camouflage commando stingers disguised as seaweed

and other sea objects. They were nice enough to escort me for much of the swim.

Whether it was the poison, mild hypothermia, inadequate hydration or just fatigue, somewhere between

13 km and 16 km I slowed dramatically to the tune of around 4 mins per km and from here the race was

a struggle. Nevertheless, I crossed the line in 5:13, a new PB. Sadly, this wasn’t the sub 5-hour swim I could

retire on so I may have to punish myself again one more time.

SNAPPETS DIARY ENTRIES FOR MARCH AND BEYOND

GOGGLE SAW

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