[More photos can be found here.]
Chandler Pool has seen many great achievements, but these paled into insignificance when compared to the feats performed by Pirates at Nationals in 2009. Matt Frodsham led the way with some stunning new fashion statements combined with setting new standards of elegance when doing the “Toyota” 
entry in all backstroke swims. Fluorescent “Mattskins” were the talk of the meet, although Matt was disheartened when he saw that an elderly swimmer from another club had worn his “Mattskins”outside his full black suit…
Matt was in great form in his freestyle, backstroke and fly and collected multiple medals. Matt capped off the meet by celebrating with a full 1kg slab of meat.
Darren Paton and Mark Patterson geared the whole meet towards a showdown in the 200 free, being the last event of the meet. It was devastating for Darren when scheduled events took longer than planned, requiring Darren to have to miss the showdown in order to catch his plane….Mark has labelled Darren as “pussy” for chosing such a lame excuse to chicken out of the showdown ☺ Having said that, Darren clocked a 26.65 in the 50 free, meaning a scorching time was likely in his 200.
Mark’s 200 was a ripper, especially after failing miserably in the 400 free whilst wearing 2 suits. A number of people went to Mark’s aid, but none had the required medicine, which was simply a double dose of common sense…doh…don’t wear 2 suits in long races without trying it first☺ Lots of laughs all around at Mark’s expense.
Jane Noake was in fine form and opted to go into immediate stress mode when the 800 free was not run in line with the published schedule. Jane combined this limited available time before her race with the stress of putting on a new suit, as well as snapping the rubber on her prescription goggles. When the steam coming from her ears settled, Jane swam all races, and not far off PB’s in all cases. Great recovery Jane.
Barry McLean….WOW!!! what can we say…PB’s all over the pool. The recorder required a full time assistant to keep up with the carnage Barry was performing on his recent form. Barry had a grin from ear to ear, but now is off to have some “bits” fixed before having another onslaught later this year. Well done Bazza.
Craig Smith set the world on fire in an early relay, splitting 36 point for 50 breast….setting him up for a great meet. Craig had other great swims in the 100 free and 100 breast, with almost no preparation and without the aid of a full suit….heaven help us if he ever gets serious…
Speaking of serious, Paul Stater put down some PB’s in the pool and now threatening to become a freestyler, but just as importantly, with Biff, acted as the glue which rustled the team into a social 
frenzy each night. Paul and Biff took huge pride in identifying suitable night spots for us all to wine and dine, with the highlight being a team shindig at the local Alexandra Hills beverage dispensing establishment for elite swimmers…only problem with this venue being that the police had shut the place down because a crime scene had been set up….nothing to do with Matt’s 1kg. Needless to say, we had to move venues at zero notice, and there are some early photos on the Pirates website which shows all having a ball ☺
Rob and Lee Mason brought along their support team to the pool, with Lee’s mum getting most involved, and vocal, and excited, and anxious, each time Matt came close to her… Lee and Rob both gave 100% in individual and relay swims. It’s such a pleasure to have them as part of the team, and thanks should go to the Dufty connection for bringing them on board. Rob leaned a lot from this meet, and found that holding back some energy till the end parts of his race to be a good approach, something the rest of us could well recognise too. Lee swam some PB’s again, and is improving each time she swims.
Dave Sloan was under 30 seconds multiple times over the weekend. It was expected that he would be under 30 in his 50 free, but he had his feet on the wall in his 100 free in 30.4…Dave has so much talent, and much of it is still untapped. Dave likes to get out and about each time he travels, so he set off to find a pub where he could have a drink, and/or where we could head for dinner as a group. But there was a challenge…so who stepped up?…yep, Darren Paton again. So Darren piled a few of us in the car, and was going to drive us to the pub, the same one Dave was walking to. Who can guess who got there first….???? Darren still says he used to live in the area…and in his defence, it was a great “sight seeing” drive, till it got too dark ☺
Helen Wallace swam 16 events in total, and picked up a swag of medals and a bundle of PB’s, with a 
huge 3-4 second PB in the 50 fly. Darren has identified a perfect nickname for Helen, who will now officially be known as Pixie Pirate. When doing a final check for things left behind in the accommodation, Jane found Pixie asleep in a drawer with some knives and forks☺
Darren has some great merchandising ideas for Worlds later this year, and new Pirate towels are the first cab off the rank. These towels are the first part of the team kit we are planning to “don” at worlds….
Pixie was walking past a group of race officials with Mark. One official (Colin) walked over and asked if Pixie was Mark’s daughter. The official was “convinced” that Pixie was Mark’s Grand Daughter. The official shared stories about his grand daughter too. Mark is not keen on his new nickname of “Popa” ☺
Pan Hutching was inspirational as always, and even though her fitness was not 100%, she destroyed her opposition in everything she competed in. Pam shared a few cuddles with Mark and Elvera, with the last cuddle requiring Mark to be on his knees in order that his head made it into the photo…..yeah, 
yeah, I know…leave him standing ☺ Pam had some interesting stories about her son and an elite swimmer who was at the meet. Pam is working on encouraging the swimmer to join us as a second claim swimmer for worlds.
In my talking to people at the meet in the capacity of Pirates Captain, it struck me that quite a few swimmers never get the chance to compete at an elite level in relays. There are a few swimmers who might just join us at Worlds in this capacity.
Alan Dufty picked up 4 golds in a very tough age group, and it was wonderful to have Alan’s son Adam sitting with us to watch Alan, and joining us for jovial beverages when we all got together.
Kevin Vickery is simply a legend. With his Pirates “bandana” in full display, he anchored relays, won medals, shared experiences, and most importantly, snuck down an extra glass of red when Elvera had her head turned ☺. Kevin and Elvera drove the 4WD up and had enough gear packed into it to sink the 
Queen Mary. Only elite packing acrobatics and having Elvera sitting in the surf ski which was packed on the roof racks, allowed them any chance of having enough space. I think the extra medals made the difference. Elvera’s smile has grown wider since the trip because of the heavy wind gusts at “roof rack” level ☺
Louise Stovin Bradford aka Price (I struggled with that in the Program) swam some amazing times, especially in the longer races, with 800 free, 400 IM and 400 free springing to mind. Louise spent lots of time, as did Paul and Biff, in taking splits in relays, and in timing splits of our swimmers in their individual events….there are not enough people like Louise….Coach Jeff sent advice to us all remotely, with great comments on warm ups and red wine consumption being a priority.
Kay Beer joined us to swim relays, and swam crazy fast individual times, especially in the 50 free. On the downside, she lost her keys….but they were found and announced all day over the loudspeakers at the pool. The only person who did not hear the loudspeakers….yep…Kay…☺
Bill Atkinson swam the house down and collected medals in every race he swam, well except one, where the start judges were a little harsh. All part of swimming, and Bill is an inspiration to us all, and was showing off by wearing his goggles around his mouth in his 50 breast. Bill is now off to have some bits fixed too, before coming back later in the year. Well done Bill.
Pirates teams picked up some relay medals too, and had lots of fun competing in them. The team sat together at the pool and feedback was that a great time was had by all.
The Relay Meet is on in 2 months, love to see you all there
Cap’n Mark
Recent Comments