Summer Sun is Here!
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 ISSUE

Hi Everyone,

You can certainly feel summer is on its way. The beautiful sunny days, yet crisp mornings continue to set the scene for the warmer months ahead. This time of the year also signals the start of the ocean swimming season. The Narrabeen swim was last weekend and the Dawny swim is this Sunday, a favourite with many Sydney Swimmers. Let’s hope the ocean swim season runs uninterrupted over the next few months, after the last couple of non-event years! 

The Vlad Challenge 2022 is up in a few weeks. Held at Balmoral Beach, this is one of the few swim races in Sydney which offers not only a 2.5km, but also a 5km and 10km swim. I know of one Sydney Swimmer entering the 10km. If anyone else is thinking of entering the 5km or 10km races, please let know as I’m happy to help with advice around training for such a swim.

While on the subject of long swims, we have some swimmers keen to swim from Coogee to Maroubra in the New Year. If this is something you could be interested in, please contact me as I’m starting to put feelers out for water safety and support crew.

As many of you would know, I have run a few time trials over the past couple of weeks to get a base line of times for everyone. Many of you, like me, shudder when the coach says, “this morning we’re doing a time trial”. but it is such a helpful tool in knowing where you’re swimming’s at. We keep your times against your profile in our system, so we have a running record. This is not only helpful for your coaches in designing programs, but also handy for swimmers who need to submit a time for entry into an event. I will continue to run time trials every now and then to see how far you’ve come.

In this newsletter you will also find information regarding our timetable over the Christmas period, a call out for new lifesavers at Bondi – training included, an opportunity to join a swim club in Ashfield, and much more. 

I wish all our swimmers the best in the Dawny swim this weekend! 

As always, yours in swimming, 

Kari Baynes
Director 

Photo: SwimFit/ Squad at Prince Alfred Park Pool. PC: Kari Baynes

Have you ever wanted to complete your Bronze Medallion certification? Now’s your chance! Bondi Surf Club runs several bronze medallion courses each year, with the next course set to start in January 2023. We’d love to see our swimmers keep progressing and learning new skills, so let us know if you decide to take part in one of these upcoming courses! The following information was sent through for us to share with you all, from the Bondi Surf Club.
 

About the course and the community
The bronze medallion course is an eight week course, consisting of two sessions a week, one theory based evening session (2h) and one practical weekend session (3h). During the course participants learn everything from surf awareness, first aid, team resuscitation, communications and radios, rescue techniques and spinal management, and you’ll be coming away at the end of the course with a nationally recognised qualification enabling them to patrol at any beach in Australia. 

Not only is the course a brilliant way to gain confidence in the surf environment and learn new skills, you will make amazing new friends and become part of an amazing community.

The bronze medallion is just the tip of the iceberg, opening up numerous different pathways to further awards such as the IRB or Advanced Resuscitation, to becoming involved in Education and training others, even on to competing in a host of different events.

Whilst it forms large part of being a member of the Bondi Surf Lifesaving club, patrolling is just part of it, with social events from Christmas Parties and end of Season awards, to weekly social drinks each Sunday, as well as regular weekly club training where you can run/swim/paddle before work and grab a coffee before work, and more.

Looking forward to the summer swim season? Why not kick things off with the harbour classic Balmain Sports Medicine Dawny to Cockatoo Challenge, this year scheduled for Sunday November 20th.

With two distances to choose from, the 1.1km or 2.4km, there’s something for everyone at this swim. Both courses leave from the beautiful Dawn Fraser Pool at Balmain, head out to Cockatoo Island and then back to Dawny again, with slightly different routes for each distance. Both swims start around 9am on the day, so unfortunately you’ll have to pick just one to join this year!

Whether it’s your first harbour swim or you’re a seasoned pro, why not give this challenge a go? Get training now and get ready to kick off a stunning season of swimming – and please let us know if you’re signing up!

Online entries are open until November 19th.