Moving On Up
APRIL 6 ISSUE

Hi Everyone,

What an extraordinary time it has been these past couple of months. The rain!! When will it stop? I can’t tell you how impressed the team and I are with those of you who keep coming to class no matter what the weather. You are amazing. Simply the best! I just love your dedication to reaching your swimming goal.

It’s that time the year again. The end of summer, when we see a large number of swimmers promoted to the next level class. This year is no different with the roll call of those moving up, extraordinary with forty plus people! Take a look further down in the newsletter. A huge congratulations to everyone! You’re all stars!

I’ve noticed some swimmers are missing out on getting promoted for no other reason than their deep water skills are letting them down. If you’re not too confident in deep water, can I urge you to please register for our Treading Water class on Saturdays. Being able to comfortably tread water for 30 – 60 seconds can make the difference between whether you stay in Beginner 1, or move up to Stroke Foundations. It’s the one area which we find holds people back and slows their progression to realise their swimming goal.

Unfortunately, quite a few of our swimmers have been unlucky and caught the dreaded disease, COVID, in recent weeks. We will continue to teach only at outdoor pools and practice teaching from the pool deck in attempt to try and keep everyone safe. If you have been sick, or are a close contact, please follow the advice from NSW Health, isolate and rest well. When you return to classes, please take it easy and inform your instructor so she can ensure you’re not pushed too hard.

Due to the end of Daylight Savings, the pools now close an hour earlier. Please see our notice about class time changes as we move into our Autumn and Winter timetable. Please note we are also closed over the Easter long weekend, so there will be no classes on Easter Saturday, or Easter Monday.

For those who celebrate Ramadan, I wish you all the best and for everyone all the best for the upcoming holiday period, and a Happy Easter. Stay safe!

As always, yours in swimming,

Kari Baynes
Director

Photos: Some dedicated swimmers working hard in all weathers! PC: Diana Galosi

Congratulations Swimmers!

A huge congratulations goes out to all of our swimmers who have been promoted to the next level in 2022. With hard work and plenty of practice these swimmers are making waves! Some of our stars are listed below.

Joining Beginner 1 with their new water safety skills we have:
Natalie Chuzhmarova • Hayley Grey • Kate Walshe • Vandana Saini • Natalie Mitzikis

Joining the crew in Stroke Foundations are new members of the 25m Club:

Tommy Tran • Rafella Angeline • Angie Wirunpan • Pauline Olayvar • Julia Tanious • Sandra Mascarenhas • Nicole Tam • Elena Longo • Kaan Kocabay • Nimesh Divakaran • Milena Radnovic • Anne Nguyen • Karina Vasserman • Amber Bramble • Prashant Sharma • Shirley You • Carron Protheroe

Heading on up into Stroke Development and joining the 50m Club:
Louise Farrell • Alice Beddoes • Deana Lolas • Souad Tannous Lichaa • Sheralyn Franks • Helen Corbett • Lucy Du • Emily Fox • Kate Hampton • Jackie Laurens • Abigail Thomas • Markus Stauder • Bernard Nestor • Deborah Taylor • Rosie Yalland • Vidura Mudalige • Sooho Park

And finally, jumping into SwimFit with the 100m Club we have:
David McLachlan • Paul Walsh • Kelly Seo • Nabil Alizai • Elysia DeLeon • Baghi Ulambayar • Kate Moncrieff • Hannah Matthews

Amazing work everyone, we couldn’t be more proud of you all and the progress you’re making!

Photos: A compilation of some of our super swimmers looking happy after being promoted. PC: Diana Galosi, Trish Dwight, Kari Baynes

Daylight Savings

As you’re probably aware, we’re rapidly approaching a few public holidays and the end of Daylight Savings, which will mean a few things for some of our classes.

From Sunday April 3rd, the City of Sydney pools closed one hour earlier at 7:00pm each weeknight. This means that our classes that would usually start at 6.45pm will no longer be able to run, so our last class from this month onwards will start at 6.00pm and finish at 6.45pm. If you have a regularly scheduled class at 6.45pm and need a hand finding a new class to join please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

April Public Holidays

During April we’ll see both the Easter long weekend from April 15th – 18th, and the ANZAC Day public holiday on April 25th.

We will not be running classes on any of these dates, which will impact classes on Saturday 16th, Monday 18th and Monday 25th of April. If you would usually have a class on any of these days, or if you think you’re booked into a class at these times, please get in touch ASAP so that we can help you organise a make-up class.

Photo: Diana’s Wednesday class hanging out in the deep end at Prince Alfred Park Pool. PC: Diana Galosi

Inspiration Corner

A Liquid Fear | The New York Times
Produced by Leslye Davis

This is a beautiful short video that tells the familiar story of Attis Clopton, a man who never learned to swim after traumatic experiences in the water as a child. At 33 years old, Attis is faced with a life change that pushes him to overcome his fears and learn to swim. This video walks us along with Attis on his journey to gain confidence, challenge himself, and finally becomes comfortable in the water.

Vaccination Policy & COVID Safety

As per our updated COVID-19 Safety Plan (which can be found on our website here), you are required to send your current vaccination certificate for us to verify before your first class. You may do so by forwarding it to us, or sending us a screenshot via SMS. Your certificate will not be stored by us once it has been verified. We have a fully vaccinated team and do require you to be fully vaccinated before joining any of our classes, for the health and safety of our staff and other swimmers.