The start of the season's 2nd Super Sat'dee-Sundee... eight swims this weekend, that we know of, one postponed before the weekend got under way... two Sat'dee, six Sundee, two Queensland, six NSW...
New start to it, with a new swim, The Swim for Saxon, at Queenscliff, at the northern end of Steyne beach, named for Saxon Bird, the 19-year-old Queenscliff iron man who was killed at the Stra'an Surf Life Saving Champeenships on the Gold Coast a year ago. And for that reason, the biggest turn out of gun swimmers we've seen in years. And they came to swim for Saxon. We know this because the winning swimmer, Tom Fraser-Holmes, donated his $1,000 winner's prize back to Queenscliff surf club for rescue equipment. What a nice young lad! And proof that these kids don't always just swim to pay their squad fees.
It was a miserable morning on the beach, to be sure, with the wind howling in, the rain driving almost horizontally, freezing us to the bones -- and, in our case, that's through a fair bit of flesh -- and leaving us wondering why the hell we were there. The break was a mushy mess, whitewater everywhere, rips galore, gutters and banks, waves crashing and rolling in every which way. But the water! Oh, the water... so warm, so clear... so clear, indeed, that you could count the grains of sand on the bottom. It was, without doubt, the noicest water we've swum in all season. But, by all accounts from those who swim along that beach each morning, it's been like that down there for a few weeks now. How lucky they are.
Shellharbour also ran on Sat'dee, with Warriewood, Terrigal, Mollymook, Dicky Beach and Hervey Bay due on Sundee. Bondi postponed before the weekend to May 22. A courageous decision, by a club whose beach faces sou'-east, directly into the bad weather this weekend.
But tell us what you thought... click the comments link below...
Despite pouring rain and a very miserable looking day when I woke up at 6.30am on Saturday morning, I made the trip down south for Shellharbour and Mollymook and was well rewarded. Two well organised swims and that same community feel that draws me back year on year.
ReplyDeleteWas a bit chilly on the start line at Shellharbour and had to swim out of the harbour with mouths tightly shut to get through that horrible brown stuff, but as soon as we went around the headland we were treated to clear water with lots of sealife to look at on the way around. The new club house was lovely and the presentation session was fun and friendly.
The weather changed for the better on Sunday making the Mollymook swim one of my favourites of the season. There were so many fish along the course, which clearly I spent too much time looking at given I lost out on a category win by less than a second (nice sprint up the beach Rachel)! It was a stunning swim and has dampened the memory of the 2009 Mollymook nightmare!
Thanks to the organisers and water safety on both swims, see you next year :-)
Swim for Saxon - Well done Queenscliff SLSC - that was great effort first-up. The swim on Saturday had a really good feel to it.
ReplyDeleteWind, driving rain, choppy surf - but that only added to the camaraderie on the day.
And an outstanding professional job with water safety, I watched the lifesavers kick up a gear at the end of the swim, to make sure every swimmer entered was safely accounted for.
Definitely room for a 3rd swim at Manly on the calendar, run by the local surf clubs - Manly Daily, North Steyne and now Queenscliff - all were good this year
A great swim was held at Mollymook on Sunday - thanks to everyone for giving us a go and coming down to the support the club. With just on 200 attending and the use of the timing tags this year - we were all dun' dusted by 12:30pm for those with a journey home. As usual, great hospitality - free sango & drink and the lovely Mollymook Beach and local crew.
ReplyDelete2009 is etched in my memory, but not in a 'hey this is fun' sort of way.
ReplyDeleteOn Saturday, the surf at Mollymook reminded me of that year (shiver down spine) and I decided not to do the Sunday swim if it remained as ferocious and full of chop out the back.
But we were blessed. On Sunday morning the sun peeked from behind the clouds, the wind abated and the ocean calmed down.
My nephew did the 500 metre swim at the southern end of the beach and came first in his age group.
Then we jumped in the car and drove to the northern end for the 2km start - there was also a free shuttle bus.
At the start, it took me a while to get beyond the breakers, but it was all worth it. As Thommo wrote, the reef was alive with fish, making this destination swim one of the best of the season.
Thanks to Mollymook SLSC for an excellent day.