South Head, May 11

Tamarama, Apr 13

High horse

First up I do apologise if I do come off as a flag waver. But I was disappointed to read some of the comments about the Tamarama swim. Don’t get me wrong I think feedback is a very good thing be it negative or positive. There have been some great comments about many swims and the wonderful work done by the clubs to organise them which I’m sure spurs us all on to put that swim on our to do list for next season.

There has also been some negative feed back in regards to starting waves, awards and what seems to be the major bugbear the lack of water and fruit at the finish. To the credit of most organisers there has been a big change even from last season to now. Most events now do provide fruit and water and the occasional show bag. You can’t say they aren’t paying attention, obviously they read the feedback. It’s great we can give that constructive type of feedback and be heard and see results.

I too payed online for the Tamarama swim and was disappointed that it was cancelled, am I worried about losing $30 dollars? Not on your life.Come on its not like the organises at Tamarama planed this. Does anyone really think they were sitting up in the club house laughing away and counting the money muttering “Got the Bastards” I believe they would be as disappointed as us. The booeys were out and they were set to go. I don’t think anyone who was there would argue that they made the right decision on the day.

Yes I would turn up to a rescheduled race day if it was offered but I have no expectations of Tamarama SLSC. These events are from what I understand set up as a fund raiser for the clubs. Some do a great job in running and others are still learning the ropes.

There is no doubt that what can now only be called the “sport of ocean swimming” is becoming more and more popular with every year. You just have to look at the increase in numbers attending theevents and also the amount of new swims that come up on the calendar each year. It’s now in the Olympics and I’m sure that most of the same faces I see at the swims take them as a serious challenge, but spare a thought for the person directing traffic in the middle of the ocean sitting on a rescue board for around an hour and the rest of the people that put in all the behind the scenes work. Not to mention the hours in organising these events. These people are in the main made up of volunteers.

So Tamarama SLSC you can have my $30 dollars donation for what its worth I’ll be back again next time thanks for your efforts! Food for thought….. as my farther always said be careful what you wish for. Before we start demanding the red carpet be rolled out at the finish of the swim with a banquet of fruit waiting and chilled water bottles on hand with show bags galore filled with our hearts desire. The contents coming in all shapes and sizes to accommodate everyone.

(Side note seems everyone bemoans the show bag but I never see to many swimmers knocking them back!) Stop and think how long will these little fund raisers still cost the average punter $30 dollars? Not long. With that I now demount my high horse

Thanks

Jordan Stockdale

Saleable goods

First, by way of introduction, I had better give my qualifications. I am a 'new regular' to ocean swimming having tried a couple of local swims over the years and this year actually enjoying competing at most big swims in the sydney area. I have also been a lifeguard for the past 10 years at various beaches in Illawarra and Kiama. And I am declaring myself the unofficial winner of the inaugural Tama swim, having completed the swim around both cans on Sunday before Spot's crew hit the water. I swam with a member of Tama SLSC, but he had flippers on, negating his entry.

The Tamarama surf club made the right decision in calling off the swim. Conditions close to shore were difficult and deteriorated as the morning progressed. Yes, experienced swimmers could negotiate the break, but the organisers have to make their call based on what is best for all swimmers and water safety. And it is best to make that call early.

(By the way,) Ebay have created a new category of saleable items.

Put in your bid now for one pair of size 12 Havaianas in pink. These were owned by a little old lady who only used them on Sundays to walk home disappointed from the beach.

See you at Mollymook

Bruce Stevenson

Presumptious

I was deeply disappointed to find the race was off when I turned up all pumped and ready to go on my pushbike about a quarter past 9. Although the clean faced waves weren’t sucking up too bad and looked wonderfully inviting (I wished I had brought me plank with me), the abundance of boardriders taking full advantage of them led me to leave it to them, rather than risk a finchop to the head. Fair play to them too, as the surf isn’t always that good with the beach closed to swimmers, and me and my contemporaries would just be taking up valuable wave face.

Fair enough for the clubbies too. I wouldn’t wanna unnecessarily deal with the prospect of pulling a heap oxygen or even blood depleted swimmers outa the surf; especially in such glorious weather, it would really spoil the day.

So I hopped back on me pushie, climbed outa there over to Coogee, via home to drop of the sponsor’s showbag containing my new pink Havianas training flippers, for coupla crossings of the bay in a mini biathalon sesh of my own. The surf was much smaller at Coog but it was a bit bumpy in the middle of the bay where the slightly refracted swell coming around one side of island converged with that coming around the other, along with a bit of a southerly chop that came with the swing of the breeze around 10ish. There was however a little fun to be had with a small but eminently bodysurfable wave breaking on the microbombie in front of the surfclub. When the odd set was on you could spring off the rock in waist deep water, and with a bit of technique about yourself, ride it all the way to the shorebreak that wasn’t too nasty down that end.

After a well earned Allpress espresso (I don’t mind giving good gear a plug when it’s really good) from the café at The Palace (not a misbehaving sportsperson in sight) I promptly got back on me bike and climbed back up outa there and home a bit earlier than expected in time for lunch with my family, a surprise that made the cheese n kisses a happy lady indeed.

Regarding warmups and early onset oxygen debt; if at all possible, ride a bike to the race. It’s a great cardiovascular warmup without necessarily fatiguing the muscles that one uses to swim; and a great fat burner to get home, especially when there’s a bit of a hill involved.

If you live too far to ride the whole way, you can take your bike on the train for free on weekends and there’s plenty of room on a Sunday morning.

What a great day to be alive!
I certainly hope that they can reschedule the race at Tama, as I was so lookin forward to it.

David Love

Refund

As the race was cancelled, I expect there would be a refund for entries? Is this correct?

Nick Waddle

Point of view

I am writing on behalf of a number of swimmers whom I have spoken to who had pre registered for last Sundays inaugural swim at Tamarama.
We are all very disappointed at the shabby way we feel we have been treated by the organisers.

Specifically:

- Despite the chance of a cancellation at Tamarama being quite high, there were no alternative dates planned in the event of a cancellation. Most ocean races pencil in the following weekend as a back-up. In this case no contingency date was in place, and the rumour was that an event (a couple of hundred kms away) at Terrigal may have been the reason it was not rescheduled.

- Despite turning up and finding the event cancelled there was nothing provided to paid up competitors as a ‘thankyou’. Even distribution of the swim caps, fruit, drinks bottles etc, that must have been ready would have gone some way to making amends.
None of us disputes that it was the right decision not to go ahead on the day, but we all feel that the we have been gouged for $30, and that sadly, treatment like this will bring Sydney ocean swim events into disrepute.

I would appreciate receiving your response.

Mark Rosen

We don't agree with you, Mark. First, there is only one swim that we can think of offhand that publicises a rain date, and that is Byron Bay. Their date is a month after the original date, which is little use to many swimmers who travel long distances to get to Byron in the first place. The Cole Classic used to, and some other swims waffled about it. But it's not standard procedure now, as much as ocean swimming has standard procedure, because the calendar is so full, and organising clubs face such difficulty pulling their workforces together for the original date, let alone getting them back again later.

The bottom line: NO swims that we know of "pencil in" the following weekend as a back-up.

And we certainly heard no talk of Terrigal, which is barely 100km north of Sydney, certainly not "a couple of hundred kms away", as a reason for not running again next weekend. Indeed, not only is there Terrigal on Saturday, but also Shellharbour, with Mollymook and Cooks Hill on Sunday. Sure, these swims are outside Sydney, but some organisers are considerate enough not to crowd out country swims when they really can avoid it.

Tamarama indeed did turn out the goodies bags, the fruit and the FREE barbie for disappointed swimmers. They didn't hand out caps, but there would have been little point in that anyway. How many spare caps does a regular ocean swimmer have to hand these days? They're coming out of our ears, not to mention covering them.

We found Tama and its organisers displaying a wonderfully generous and apologetic spirit. Indeed, their main concern since the cancellation has been how to return maximum value to swimmers. We're yet to hear about rain dates, or new dates for next season, or policies on full or partial refunds. We would suggest, if asked, to offer all pre-race day swimmers this year a discount on next year, if they can't run the event before next season. We can understand why they couldn't give a full refund. They have, after all, faced considerable costs just to get to race day.

What is the policy of most swims explicitly, if not implicitly, is that refunds are not given for cancellations. This is a fund raising event for a charity. Would you seek a refund from the Spastic Centre? We would think ocean swimmers generally would be generous enough to acknowledge that. os.c

Practice

Congrats Tama Surf Club on making a fair call on Sunday & good on them for putting this race on the calendar in the first place.

The spirit at the race was incredible, considering the race was cancelled.

We had an impromptu training session, which was amazing.
There was probably 30% of participants out of their depth, yet relaxed & had a go – good work!

One of the reasons why people can’t swim in bigger surf is because they don’t practice.
This was a great opportunity to do so in a reasonably safe environment.

Tama Surf Club provided great water safety & I am sure everyone felt safe – thanks Tama!

Please remember that a lot of surfers cannot swim. I know – scary! They are protected by their legropes… Interestingly, few people judge them badly when the surf is big. That is why I always laugh when people have a whinge when ocean swimmers doing what they do best – challenging themselves!

A big congrats to the 2 ladies who didn’t make it out, but kept trying!

Spot Anderson

Good call, but poor example

Given its reputation, it was against the odds that things would run to plan at Tamarama. However, everyone took it on the chin and remained in good spirits, even though missing such a good swim makes Monday morning loom ever closer.

Congratulations to the organisers for putting safety first, though I get the impression that most people who turned up were seasoned ocean swimmers – the swim’s website made it clear it wasn’t an event for novices.

However, if the life guards and the event organisers say the swim is off and the beach is closed, it would seem appropriate for people to therefore stay out of the water – even if you are familiar with the beach, disregarding the rules sets a poor example.

Here’s looking forward to seeing more pink thongs in the area.
Kind regards,

David Evans

Yarra Bay, Mar 15

Stone age

On Saturday 15 March a few of us swam at Yarra Bay -- a pretty place with a shady bar on white sand with a green park and an enormous view of a purloin holding industry ready for trade.

The conviviality of the occasion was shattered when the prize money was awarded at a different rate for the women. We were affronted and hurt that discrimination can still turn up in places least expected.

I thought that the sport of swimming was truly egalitarian. I hope I never see this treatment again of our great ocean swimmers, where the participation of men is rewarded above that of the women.

Regina Haertsch

South West Rocks, Apr 6

Stanwell Park, Mar 30

Vision

I see

Just want to give you some feedback on the new View prescription goggles.
 
For the past six years I have competed as part of a team in the Newcastle Sparke Helmore Triathlon, and for the past 5 years our team has come a consistent second place overall. This year, wearing my new View prescription goggles, I had the freedom to see at distance and swim my own race rather than have to follow the leaders.

During the first leg of the race, many of the front runners were heading for the second turning booey, but I had the confidence to swim a true course and head for the first. at the end of the swim, I was out of the water 7th!

This year our team won the open division & the fastest team event! (our cyclist rode in 3rd & our runner brought us home!)

I bought two pairs of prescription goggles late last season - 1x pair to train in, and 1x pair to race in ( the pair I train in do get scratched, but since I only need to the end of the pool, its no big deal).

I can't recommend them highly enough.......

cheers,

Steven Gomboso

Pacific Palms, Mar 23

Should'a bin there

Love the PPOOS commentary under the photos - you made me laugh on a rainy day back at my desk in Sydney.

Unfortunately I had a few too many 'easter eggs' at our Blueys Beach abode the night before this race so couldn't make it, even though there were five of us ready to go, am very disappointed in myself.

Tilly Marsh

Balmoral, Mar 16

In response to Friendly feedback

As one of the people on the organising committee for the Balmoral swim and responsible for the registration desks, I am very sorry that someone has had an unhappy experience at the swim.

After the swim, I talked to many of the volunteers to get feedback on how it all went and the overwhelming theme was that they all really enjoyed the day as they had felt they had made a positive difference to people at the swim as well as being part of an excellent fundraising for Children's Cancer Institute Australia (CCIA).

We are always looking to see how we can improve the swim so will take this feedback on board for next year. We hope that both you and your father will venture back to our shores again.

We appreciate feedback (both good and bad), so if swimmers do have feedback please email us (click here).

Regards

Jackie Bourn

Friendly

I know that all the ocean swim officials are volunteers, and it's easy to get hot and bothered, but it's not too much to ask that they be nice. Don't forget, the swimmers are volunteers too.

After the Balmoral ocean swim I asked at one of the tables if anyone had asked for me, as my 85 year old father had planned to come down and I was a bit concerned at the thought of him wandering about in the heat. Of course I didn't expect them to drop everything but a polite response is not too much to expect. I then went to the table where they were giving out certificates and asked (nicely and with a smile) what did I need to do to get one. Response - duh, do the swim. Once again, it doesn't hurt to be pleasant.

Don't worry, Mosman residents, the great unwashed blow-ins will depart your flat shores as soon as they possibly can.
By the way, I also do volunteer work, as a surf lifesaver and if my surf club ever heard me talking that way to a member of the public I'm sure I'd get a pasting!

Anne Henshaw