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Well-deserved recognition for Pam Hutchings

Pam Hutchings from Seaside Pirates is to be inducted into the International Masters Swimming Hall of Fame in 2014.

Pam swam in the 100m Backstroke in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics under her maiden name, Pam Singleton and has been competing in Masters Swimming since 1987 and regularly competes in BPS meets as well as State and National meets.

She has been in the Top Ten for 24 years. She set 28 FINA Masters World Records in freestyle and backstroke. She has competed in 6 FINA World Championships since 1990 winning 19 gold, 11 silver and 1 bronze medal.

Congratulations Pam!!

Coming up soon…

Hi everyone

Hope you enjoyed the huge edition of the Plank that we sent last week, there was so much information.

We are now looking towards the Relay Meet on July 20th and the Pirate carnival on August 3rd. It may seem a long time away but time is flying  and they will be here before we know it. The Relay meet takes a lot of organising for our club captain Staffan. Once we know who will be swimming (and what strokes they may or may not be able to do) Staffan needs to put together all the teams before the entries close on the Friday 18th July. Once the teams are submitted we cannot make any changes – so if you are unable to swim on the day your team will miss out on a swim. This is why we give everyone so much time (during that week) to ensure they will be right for the Sunday.

It would be great if you could start letting me know if you intend to swim at the Meet (Sunday July 20th at SOPAC), so Staffan can make a start. Obviously there will be changes and additions, but it would be good to have an idea of who is available. If there is a stroke you cannot do for any reason, please let me know and I will pass this on to Staffan

If you have any questions about the Meet , just send me an email or talk with myself, Staffan or any of our coaches at training.

Looking forward to both these Meets.

See you in the pool,

Jane

Ettalong results

Congratulations to our team of 14 swimmers who achieved amazing results yesterday at the Ettalong swim Meet. We came 3rd overall and 3 of our swimmers broke records – Elvera Vickery in 80-84 25m freestyle broke a branch record, Joern Sauer in the 25m fly in the 55-59 year age group broke the branch record and Mitch Patterson broke National records in the 25 freestyle and 25 fly in the 25-29 year age group.

There were also amazing swims by John Bates in the fly, Darren Paton in the freestyle and there was quite a contest in the last heat of the day between Katie Nilan and Graham Hill in the 100m IM with Graham winning by a finger nail. The girls relay team of Emma, Sandra, Rachel and Katie won, as did Batesy, Darren, James and Mitch in a great time, and our other mens relay was a very close second to a gun Blacktown team.

It was lovely to have Pam Hutchings and Elvera swim with us again and Rachel went so close to her goal of breaking 2.30 in the 200m freestyle. This is a great pool and we are looking forward to a great team swimming at the Short Course Meet in October at the same venue.

National Championships 2014 Report

Photo is © 2014 Jon Hawton

This year the championships were held in Rockhampton in their new pool. When the complex is finished it will be state of the art, and a wonderful addition for the Rockhampton community. The competition pool was completed a while ago, but the 25m warm up pool was filled the week before we arrived and the change rooms were handed over on the afternoon of the registration. So there had been much angst that the facilities would not be complete for the Nationals but due to much hard work they were and they were outstanding. Continue reading “National Championships 2014 Report”

Seaside Pirates – Club of the Year 2013

Today at the NSW Masters AGM Pirates were named the Club of the Year for 2013. This is awarded each year to the club who win the most points in various criteria, including percentage of members competing in State Championships, Relay Meet, BPS meets, number of officials on pool deck at each carnival, reports, website, facebook, club uniform, Endurance swims and various others. Continue reading “Seaside Pirates – Club of the Year 2013”

Pirates in the World Top 10

Congratulations to the following Pirates who were named in the World Top 10 in 2013:

  • Georgi Kinsela – 50m breast, 100m breast and 200m breaststroke
  • Greg Phillips – 100m freestyle (short and long course)
  • Darren Paton, Richard Upton, Staffan Wensing, John Bates – 160 4x100m freestyle relay
  • Darren Paton, John Bates, Peter Kerr and Staffan Wensing- 160 4x50m freestyle relay
  • James Watson, Peter Kerr, John Bates and Darren Paton – 160 4x 50m medley relay
  • Cathy Codling – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle
  • Mitchell Patterson – 50m fly, 100m fly
  • John Bates – 50m fly

Congratulations we are very proud of your achievements.