Blog

Our yearly AGM was held on 2nd June 2018 at the house of our president, Judy Dixon.  Present was Pippy, Monique, Dermot, Deon, Eugene, Arno, Jill, Judy and Allan.

Trophies were awarded to:

Monique for Spirit, Andre for Good Sport, Tanya for Best Female Swimmer and Mike for Best Male Swimmer.

A new committee was elected with Mike as Chair and Tanya as Vice.  Jill as treasurer, Eugene on registrations and Deon, Arno & Lanie as needed.  (Mike later declined the position and Judy is once again President.)

The AGM was followed by a lovely lunch as only Judy can cook up.  Delicious.

On Saturday, 24 March 2018, the Fish Eagles got together at the house of Mike & Lee McDonald for a Boerewors Braai to end our swimming season on a high note.  Some of us more dedicated swimmers – Tanya – still need to train for the International Life Saving Champs in Australia this year.  The rest of us can have a well deserved rest.

Mike treated us to his favorite Van Rensburg’s sausage on the BBQ.  It was also time for some of the swimmers to show off their medals from the Masters Champs in Pretoria.

If you listened to all the talk around the table you could hear that most of us are starting to look forward to the Nationals next year in Port Elizabeth.

Seven fish Eagle Master Swimmers participated in the 34^th South African Masters National Swimming Championship at Hillcrest Pool in Pretoria from 14 – 17 March 2018.  This year 474 swimmers from 27 clubs took part and there were even some international swimmers from Poland and the UK.  The Fish Eagle Masters did exceptionally well for such a small club.  This year they scooped up 18 medals.

Medals for the swimming pool events:  Pippy Bishop (36) won 1 silver and  2 bronze,  Lanie Farrelly (56) won 1 silver and  3 bronze,  Mike McDonald (73) won 1 bronze, Tanya Osborne (45) won 1 gold, 4 silver and 1 bonze and Monique Roos (35) won 1 bronze.

New Fish Eagle member and first time National Championship swimmer Andre Weideman (47) came out pumping in his free style events but sadly missed a medal by milliseconds.   Our veteran swimmer Judy Dixon (77) was once again a big inspiration to the team with her positive and determined attitude.

The open water swim on Sunday, 18^th March was held at Ebotse (C R Swart) dam in Benoni in miserable and windy conditions.  After a long and tiring 4 days of swimming the swimmers braved the cold and choppy water.  Pippy Bishop (gold), Judy Dixon (silver), Lanie Farrelly and Andre Weideman swam the 1km race.  Tanya Osborne (silver) swam the 3km race and was also the second overall lady to finish the race.  This year Tanya was awarded South African Master Colours for open water swimming.  A fantastic achievement and the Fish Eagles are very proud of their team mate.

Not only did the team make an impression in the water but the sponsored gear had other teams looking on with envy.  The colourful costumes especially drew a great deal of complimentary comments especially during the relay races.

Next year the Nationals will be held in Port Elizabeth from 20^th – 24^th March 2019 and we encourage interested swimmers to contact Judy Dixon on 072-3906667 to join in this event that is not just about winning but about fitness, friendship, sportsmanship, team spirit and most of all – fun.

The Kit for the swimmers competing in the National Master Championship in Pretoria from 13 – 18 March 2018 was revealed on Wednesday’s pasta evening.  The Fish Eagles are going to look smashing in their matching outfits.  We got excellent sponsorship this year, and we would like to thank:

EU Brokers / Makelaars (Andre Weideman) for our Peak Caps, Costumes, Bags,d and shorts with logo and leather patches

LAC Corporate Supplies (Neil McLellan) for organizing, printing & embroidering logos and manufacturing bags, shorts & shirts at cost price

Uniforms of George (Judy Dixon) for the Golf shirts with logo

Lopsi Potsy Studio (Lanie Farrelly) for t-shirts with logo

SECA (Ian Osborne) for swim caps and name tags

Dischem George Garden Route Mall (Gail) for juice bottles and energy freebies

Skinfit (Dawsie) for a discount price on costumes