PHOENIX NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY / MARCH 2005
GOOD LUCK ALL
MIDMAR AND NATIONALS
PARTICIPANTS
FROM THE COMMITTEE
It is scary to think that our two largest events of the season are already upon us and hence the February and March Newsletter is combined to wish all those competing in the events, all the best, may you have loads of fun and success and achieve your goals for the season. We will sum up all the results in the April Easter Newsletter.
MIDMAR 2006
To all those travelling down to Natal for this years Midmar Mile, please travel safely and take loads of pictures for the next newsletter. Look out for the Phoenix Masters Banner, which I am sure our Dam Captains, Phil and Chris, will have prominently displayed.
Best of Luck !!!
MALMESBURY NATIONALS 2007
The 22nd South African Nationals in Malmesbury are almost here. We are proud to say that 39 Phoenix swimmers will be present, including some first times which awesome.
One has to wonder how much swimming is going to be taking place!!
Preparations are full steam ahead for the outfit for the final dinner, thanks to Pete. The theme is Cape Country Carnival (think broad and association). Please make sure you bring along a T-shirt, plain, no printing in any of the Phoenix colours, Yellow, Red, Dark BlueorLight Blue (no black or white). Please also wear black long pants of any sort, the remainder of the outfit will be given to you at the party.
An e-mail has been send out with regards a special Phoenix Lunch and Wine tasting in a Winery Cellar on Wednesday in Stellenbosch at about 1pm. As soon as final information is available, we will forward to all those who have confirmed attendance.
A Phoenix Dinner is being arranged for those staying in Wellington and those wishing to join us, at The Boere Barok Restaurant forThursday 2nd March 2006.
Friday night is Happy Hour and we don’t know yet what the event is, and of course, Saturday night the Final Dinner.
PHOENIX AGM
The Phoenix AGM has been set for Sunday morning the 9th April 2006 at 10am held at Don and Di’s house (14th 11th Ave Parktown North). Directions will be sent for those committee members who continually get lost. It has been dubbed the Hot Chocolate Marshmallow Easter AGM. Following last years successful AGM, we hope to see you all there.
Please start thinking about your nominations and your own availability for the roles of President, Vice-Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Committee Members. There are some committee members stepping down from their committee positions and we really do need more members to get involved.
The Spirit Trophy and The Swimmer of the Year Trophy will again be awarded. The Former is awarded on points/ achievements while the latter is based on nominations. Please start thinking about your nominations!!!
GMS AGM
The date and venue has not been finalised yet, but a provisional date has been suggested as the Saturday afternoon 6th May 2006. The Phoenix Committee will hand over the Presidency of GMS to Killer Wales at this meeting, should the concept of the rotating Presidency be accepted again. In my opinion the rotation has been a success, but it is still in its infancy and only time will tell.
REGISTRATION/ NEW MEMBERS
We would like to welcome our two newest members Scott and Langa. Hope that your swim and stay with us, will be a very happy and enjoyable one.
BIRTHDAYS FOR FEB AND MARCH
We wish the following members “Happy Birthday” for the month of February:
03rd Bonny Boschoff
04th Anne Margaret Williams
07th Chris MacKinnon
08th Claudia von Tutshcek
12th Thys Pienaar
13th Felix Hodgson
15th Nicky Beck
26th Jane Samson
27th Shane Erlank
The following members are celebrating through the month of March, although very early, all the best wishes to you too:
01st Japie Subke
06th Natasha Panzera
10th Terry Bantock
13th Cathrine Behrens
14th Johann Coetzee
19th Scott Soanes
21st Joe Hartman
24th Andy Rivers
27th Alison Curtis (Madam Vice)
29th Marli Venter
31st Pat Wilcox
6 HOUR ENDURANCE
Some people just never learn !!! A Phoenix Team entered the Eastern Stingrays 6 Hour Endurance event on Saturday 21st January, in support of Anne Jones’s training for the 8 Miler. The Team of Heather Morris-Eyton, Anne Jones, Peter Ponsonby, Gary Coetzee and Alison Curtis (replaced Heather) pulled off a third place overall with 21 500 KM’s. Congrats.
8 MILE CHALLENGE
For those of you who might have missed the e-mails, Anne Jones has been selected to take part in the Midmar Mile 8 Miler, which means she will be completing all the mile swims over a 2 day period (11th and 12th February) in order to raise funds for CHOC Childhood Cancer Foundation of South Africa. This was followed by a very moving tribute e-mail (see below) from Clare, encouraging our members to pledge their financial support to Anne’s quest. Please find attached the forms if you or any of your friends have not yet pledged.
Anne, we applaud you and wish you all the best.
To All Phoenix MastersAnne Jones deserves our support. Last time I saw this 60 year old she was going up and down Ellis Park all on her own in preparation for her 8 mile swim at Midmar.The 8 mile at Midmar consists of swimming each race i.e. 4 on Saturday and 4 on Sunday. Eight miles across the damin two days is a considerable accomplishment considering that she must take a boat across to the start each time and risk bad weather and choppy water and get coldbefore each start. But is not why she deserves our support.
Once upon a time, Masters swimming was run by Transvaal Masters without any clubs. Who did much of the work? Anne Jones. Then clubs were formed, Anne was on the first committee of Wanderers Masters. When Wanderers wanted to charge us all a full membership fee Anne with the help of a few others ranOld Eds Masters - we all just changed costumes. When there was a huge stink at Old Eds and Phoenix rose from the ashes Anne was there to help us change costumes. In fact Anne has probably been a source of inspiration and help to each and everyone of us at some time or another. She has been the one you phone when you do not know when the next gala is, you phone her when you forgot to enter something, you phone her when you need accommodation, you leave her to organise the relays and then give her an earful for doing a bad job...... it goes on. Some time during this period I was lucky enough to be the secretaryof South African Masters when Anne was the Chairlady. It was a pleasure to work under her. Every decision was discussed and at all times was the aim that Masters Swimming would benefit. Anne never had a hidden agenda.
There is a trophy handed out at Nationals each year called The Spirit of Masters swimming.Many times over Anne would have been a deserving winner but otherclubs were voting and she never stood a chance. This is our opportunity to stand behind Anne both as a club and as individuals to show our support for her. She has adequate help from Phoenix members on the weekend with Gloria doing the food, Lyndawith the massaging and Marissa carrying her kit and giving instructions.
A plea to all you Phoenix members. Lets make her charity our charitythis year, both as a club and as individuals.
Clare Davie
PHOENIX GALA
At this stage Sunday morning 26th February, should be marked out in your diary.
Phoenix hosts the last GMS gala before Nationals, awesome preparation for those needing to taper down and get fit, fast and furious. Please remember to bring your partners, spouses, friends etc. as we will need all hands on deck to run our club gala. Please let Gary know before the time, names of volunteers. Please note the venue has had to be changed !!!!
WORLD MASTERS SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS 2006
Are you competing, please let the committee know if you are travelling to Worlds… For those who want to know more , click onto
FORTHCOMING GALA EVENTS
26th FebruaryGMS PHOENIX GALAEllis Park (Note change)
2nd – 4th MarchSA Long Course ChampionshipsMalmesbury
18th MarchGMS Inter-Provincial (second Leg)Ellis Park
The Inter-Provincial is competed over two legs, the first hosted by Tshwane in November at Hillcrest and the second by GMS either at Delville or Ellis Park. The results from both galas are merged to determine which Province is the overall winner, both as Club and Province. Hence it is critical that we compete in large number. GMS is presently the holders of the Memorial Shield.
FORTHCOMING DAM EVENTS
12th FebruaryMIDMAR MILEMidmar
19th FebruaryMakulu 1000mLeisure Lakes
25th FebruarySterkfontien 1500Sterkfontein Dam
25th FebruaryPotch MilePotchefstroom Dam
5th March35th Pretoria Seas Scouts 1000mRoodeplaat
12th MarchSwim Challenge InvitationHomestead dam
19th MarchEbeneezer MileEbeneezer Dam
2nd AprilBosveld MileBala Bala Dam
For more information on Dam Swimming, mail our Dam Captain, Phil Chappell on . Results from the Swim Challenges can be found on
SWIMMING BOOKS Book specials for swimmers
Some of you might have received an e-mail recently with regards to specialised swimming books available for purchase. In case you didn’t please see an extract of the e-mail and see some of the heading available at the and of the newsletter with a breakdown …..
“I sell books (any and all)and specialise in "shopping" for very specialised target groups such as swimming, Running, triathletes, Book Clubs, toddlers, parenting etc... I create the category as the demand comes up. I do not Spam people with unwanted stuff, and most of the people on my lists are busy professionals who are too busy to go shopping and browsing. So I research the latest releases and look for specials and bring it right to your pc.
My website is going to be bookshelf.co.za but is under construction at the moment. In future, you will be able to link to the site and order there using a credit card or EFT. At the moment it is the old fashioned way, where you simply email me, tell me what you want (even if it was not shown here, or it is not related to swimming) and I will order it for you.
I am a bit like Kalahari.net and do not carry stock, I order on demand. One can order by email or by telephone on 011 646-8389. Thanks Angela”
SOME INTERESTING INFORMATION
“No-False Start” – Rule or First Start Rule
This means that a swimmer will be disqualified automatically if he/she starts before the signal. You will only find out once you finish!
Overhead Start
This method of starting is sometimes used at Nationals in events (i.e. the 50 Freestyle) where there are a lot of heats. The moment the one heat finishes, the swimmers stay in the water, move away from the touch pads, holding onto the lane ropes. The next heat then starts over their heads. As soon as the next heat has started, the finishers must get out of the water quickly, existing the side of the pool and not over the touch pads.
ETD
This is the Electronic Timing Device. You will recognise it by the touch pads. Where there is not ETD, you will have person taking your time. If you want to break a Record (like the SA record), you have to ask for 3 timekeepers.
Finish
If you are swimming freestyle, you touch however you please. (With any part of the body)
If you are swimming butterfly or breaststroke, you must touch with both hands simultaneously. In the backstroke, you must remain on your back when you touch (normally with one hand)
After the finish
You must remain in the water until you get a signal (normally a long whistle) from the Starter. This signal will be given as soon as the last person finishes in your heat. Remember to move away from the touch pads so that it can not be activated again.
Move to the side of the pool as quickly as possible and get out at the steps.
Medley
The individual medley (IM) is swum in the following order: Butterfly, Backstroke, Breaststroke and Freestyle. In the medley relay, it will be swum in the following order: Backstroke, Breaststroke, Butterfly and Freestyle.
Relay Take over
You may only start your leg of the relay once your team mate touches the wall. It is important that your team mate maintains his/her speed into the wall, seeing that you will anticipate the touch!
WEB PAGES AND RESULTS
Many thanks
Gary
Phoenix Committee
Don Johnston – Chairperson – 082-333-6808 -
Alison Curtis – Vice Chairperson – 082-703-2870 -
Gary Coetzee – Secretary / Treasurer – 082-926-8233 –
Heather Morris-Eyton – Additional Member – 082-820-4816 -
Yvette Coetzee – Sponsorship/ Clothing – 083-255-1578 -
Quirin Kohler – Newsletter – 083-400-9209 -
"Swimming--Training Program"
sets out the 300 swimming schedules and 115 weight schedules making up a single six-month training cycle. While David Wright's and Garth Gilmour's "Swim to the Top" provided the training theory, this book sets the theory into practice. Each week's program, which in most cases involves thirteen swim practices and five weight sessions, also includes a description of how the week's program is compatible with and contributes to Lydiard's training objectives. Chapters include the Aerobic Build-Up period, the Transition period, then the Anaerobic Conditioning period and finally, the most important of all, Trials and Coordination race preparation period. "Swimming--Training Program" is for the competitive swimmer, but also less experienced swimmers not yet able to handle the full Lydiard program will find tips on how To modify the programs to bring them down to a volume that they can manage. R160 excl postage
TRIATHLETES GUIDE TO SWIM TRAINING
Written for all skill levels of multisport athletes, this book helps swimmers create individualized training programs for better stroke technique, maximum enjoyment, and improved performance. Different training programs cover fitness and competition, strength and flexibility, and open water swimming. All of the principles are grounded in easy-to-understand physics. Additionally, the book discusses effective equipment use, the importance of making swimming fun and satisfying, and delves into the psychological factors involved in competing. R150 excl postage
CHAMPIONSHIP SWIM TRAINING
Bill Sweetenham and John Atkinson cover these coaches' proven plans for improving stroke and performance in the backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle, and individual medley.Use the world’s best training system from the world’s top swim coach to become a stronger swimmer in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and individual medley. Bill Sweetenham is the coaching force behind Australia’s rise to international swimming acclaim. Now the national performance director of British Swimming, Sweetenham and coach John Atkinson detail their complete system of proven workouts, sets, and programs to improve stroke technique and race performance. championship Swim Training starts with benchmark test sets to evaluate ability, find specific training zones, and plot future training targets. Drill progressions and checklists for every stroke can be applied to individual swimmers or entire squads for technique enhancement. The next section explains proper program planning for juniors through master swimmers and provides sample training sets for all levels of swimmers. The final chapters provide tapering tips, racing strategies, and dryland conditioning recommendations to take the guesswork out of constructing the perfect year-round program.R180
SWIM FASTEST
Definitive reference on stroke technique and training methods, and not only explains what swimmers should do, but why techniques and training are to be executed in a particular way. Includes more than 500 photographs and illustrations, including world-class swimmers demonstrating picture-perfect form. Every little meticulous detail of the stroke adds up to a faster time. Maglischo knows every trick in the book--he WROTE the book--to improving a swimmer's technique. As swimming philosophy changes, Maglischo adapts and is open to the new scientific discoveries that shape the winning techniques of swimmers like Michael Phelps and Ed Moses.
Were you ever taught to swim with your head up? Coaches used to teach swimmers to crank their necks so that the water breaks right over the goggles, on the forehead, because they saw that the fastest swimmers rode very high in the water. Maglischo points out that this is an illusion. The fastest swimmers are going so fast that their heads raise slightly, like a jet ski with its nose out of the water. Instead, you should keep your head in alignment with your spine for more efficiency and less strain on the neck. This is the kind of ingenius revelation that Maglischo offers in Swimming Fastest. Note: this is NOT for the beginning swimmer. It is dense, mathematical, and technical. It is not a "how-to" book. (744 PAGES) R360
SWIMMING TRAINING
If you have learned to swim and you want to do more, then you start swim training. This book will help you with that. It describes the techniques of the different strokes from start, to turn, to finish, and tells you how to correct mistakes to become an accomplished swimmer. As in the previous book "Learning Swimming" the dolphin girl "Fini" will be at your side, offering support and advice. You will find out how to improve your fitness level specifically for swimming, how training on land can be helpful, and how to prepare for a swim meet. In addition to all of the swimming information you will also find useful tips on nutrition, equipment, and life saving in the water.The easy to read text and descriptive illustrations, as well as the many opportunities to make personal entries, make this book an important training companion. R130