Don't forget that the long course season starts in October and that the first of the currently scheduled external race carnivals is also on in October.

Emma Radford broke 2 club records (in the 50 metre short course butterfly and the 25 metre freestyle - handicap) and eight year old Sammy Annear swam an amazing PB by 9 seconds to break the record in the 25 metre breaststroke event.

Congratulations to the following swimmers who set personal bests: Sarah Gardiner, Emma Radford (3), Caitlin Miller, Hannah Birchall (2 - one by 9 seconds), Sammy Annear, James Blackburn, Phoebe Davies, Santiago Gonzalez, Claudia Manzo (2, one by 8 seconds), Caitlin Miller (2), Mathew Miller, Ivor Metcalf (2), Claire Raper (2), Maya Gasiorek (by 9 seconds), Doris Kong (by an extraordinary 14 seconds), Hugh Raper, Lachlan Raper and Oliver Schaeffer. The strength of the competition, and how fast our swimmers are improving, is shown in the 50 metre girls SC breaststroke. Samantha Marshall won, just outside her PB, and everyone of the other 6 girls set PB's chasing her home !

Swimmer of the Meet for boys was Oliver Schaeffer while Emma Radford and Claudia Manzo shared the award for the girls. Both Hannah Birchall and Ivor Metcalf missed out by only one point. Remember that this award is determined by how many points each swimmer earns during the meet, and they all count for the clubs “Swimmer of the Year”. For a PB - 4 points are awarded, 3 points for being very close to a PB, 2 points for being within 1 second of a PB and 1 point is awarded for every event entered (up to a maximum of 4). We now also have a computerised race results system which gives us the results straight after the meet concludes. The results are published on our website and can be viewed at Results.

Club Championships

The Club Short Course Championships will be held on the Sunday the 4th of September and a program will be issued shortly. This meet will determine, for example, who the Club’s 50 meter freestyle champion is etc. as distinct from the "Swimmer of the Year" which goes to the swimmer who has earned the most points during the whole year.

Club Championships

The barbeque will again be operating tomorrow night from 6.45pm, with the complimentary champagne, beer and wine again available to all parents and support crew. Remember that brothers and sisters of the swimmers have free entry so they can enjoy all the facilities of the centre, and have a delicious dinner, while the Race Squad set yet more club records!

Swimmer of the Year

The race for Swimmer of the Year is heating up even more with some big movers on the scoreboard following our last race meeting on July 22nd. There are two race meetings left before the Club Championships on the 4th of September (which counts for double points for the Swimmer of the Year), and the race meet on Friday September 16 is the last for the 2004 /2005 season. There are only 4 race meets to go !

For both the girls and the boys the progressive points score for the top 12 swimmers is :

Samantha Marshall – 70 points; Clare Raper – 65 points; Hannah Birchall – 56 points; Claudia Manzo - 52 points; Doris Kong – 49 points, Phoebe Davies – 46 points; Eleanor Raper - 45* points; Caitlin Miller - 45* points; Phoebe Birchall - 41 points; Emma Radford – 38 points; Maya Gasiorek - 33 points ;Caroline Oyada – 30 points.

Tom Mahony – 74 points; Sammy Annear – 71 points; Ivor Metcalf – 66 points; Oliver Schaeffer – 64 points; Lachlan Raper – 63 points; Hugh Raper – 57* points; Matthew Miller – 57* points; Aidan Brown – 49 points; William Vineburg - 46 points; James Vineberg – 38 points; Santiago Gonzalez - 29 points; Jim Lundie – 24* points; Patrick Carr – 24* points.

Gym Membership

Great news for the parents who want to be as fit (or fitter !) than their children. The centre has a very modern, fully equipped gym, and they have just agreed that exclusively for our club there is now a 25% discount on ANY gym membership for Swim Club members' immediate family.

Raffle

The raffle, with a huge range of fantastic prizes, will now be drawn this weekend. There are still tickets available, so make sure you either get them tomorrow night, or ring David (on 0416.178.547) to get details and tickets.

This weeks Coaching Tips

Head coach Steve Garner (currently supervising an attempt to swim the Straights of Gibraltar !) has the following tips for all those who want to set yet more PB's tomorrow night :

Freestyle/Backstroke Turns.

* Chin to chest
* Head to knees
* Heels to butt.
* Kick out to wall (heels follow line of the water).
* Knees facing up on wall.
* Drive through knees and hips onto side then onto front.
* Depth of push off approx. 30-40cm below the surface.

Butterfly/Breastroke Turn

* Touch and push off with hands
* Fast feet
* Elbow your enemy
* Answer the telephone/ slick your hair back
* Drop down and drive off on side