Oatley wins the 2016 Harold Belcher trophy

The Harold Belcher trophy winners

Congratulations to our relay team, winners of the Harold Belcher trophy, lead by Emily, with help from Martin, Kim, Mal and Johnny K. 

We were joined on our relay day by Cronulla and water polo swimmers - on land, as seen in pic below... 

and in flight...

Around the baths race: early Sunday morning in November 2016

7.30am and we are ready to take on the river.  (Pic: Nick Mullen)

On this fine summer morning, we gathered around the desk, putting our names down for races of the day, 50m, 100m, the relay and The Kilometre/Around the Baths.  

The pontoon, which went missing for several months (as reported in previous posts on this blog), has now been reinstalled at the 50 metre mark from the starting point.

The repaired pontoon, held in place by strong hands.

To celebrate its return, the pontoon was given a slap-up welcome.  

 

Swimmers doing the Kilometre Race started from the other end of the pool.

The Around the Baths race is just that: around the baths, and concludes by following the line of the pool net back to where we started.  It is about a 750m swim.

Some of us prefer the added challenge of an extra 365m, and these swimmers walk to the other end of the pool for their starting position.

We call this race The Kilometre, tho this is a rough estimate and variables come into play.  You might swim a zigzag route, as there are no lane lines on the bottom of the river. Then there are waves generated by passing jet skis and cabin cruisers.  These waves come in sets of at least 10, and can be high swells over which you must swim, adding to the length of the race.

Or there are the sets of tiny waves, which slap you in the face when you turn to breath.

Which is the reason we swim in the river - to be one with nature.

But, I digress.

Those of us who settle for a mere Around the Baths, start at the southern end of the pool, and at the wave of a flag seen from both ends of the pool - we're off.

GO!

Photos taken on the ground (so to speak) of the Kilometre (pic: Nick Mullen)

And yes, the race is so long, you do feel you've traversed the curve of the earth. (Pic: Nick Mullen)

Around the marker buoy, and onward

Pic: Nick Mullen

Pic: Nick Mullen

At the end of the race, the timers meet us with their stop watches. 

Tick tick tick... (Pic: Nick Mullen)

They tell us how long we took to swim from A to B, and the news is not always good.

The race is not won by the fastest swimmers, but by those who swim closest to their estimated time of arrival.

Before the swim, we had to estimate our times (in writing) and our aim was to do just that.  No more.  No less.  It is the number to which we are held accountable.

We leave the river after the race, a job well done.

And we have a well earned relax beside the baths...

Pic: Fiona Burns

Pic: Fiona Burns

And a bite to eat...

Pic: Fiona Burns

Pic: Fiona Burns

And a cuppa...

There's nothing like a nice warm hot water bottle after a long cold swim. Pic: Fiona Burns

Morning at Sandy Beach

Dawn at Sandy Beach (pic: Kerry Maynell)

Sandy Beach in mist (pic: Nick Mullen)

Pool repairs: St George Leader article on 27 August 2015

Click on article to enlarge

On Monday morning, 24 August - I checked out Oatley baths, and found that the broken pole now has an orange cone to signal danger.  

Orange 'danger' cone on broken mooring pole

Renegade turning boards are a continual problem for the swimming club.  The first one, in the 1930s, was a permanent wooden fixture that lasted for many years - though repaired regularly.  This eventually collapsed.

They then tried a floating pontoon made up of 40 gallon drums, which lasted a couple of years until it too collapsed.  Next was an electric light pole that members had chopped down, but to their surprise, it did not float.  Eventually the Council supplied a couple of steel pontoons until they rusted away.

Photo (date unknown) below records the last moments of one former turning board...

Group shot 2015-2016 (with thanks to Mathew Wylie)

Oatley Park birds - all in a row

Cormorants sitting on the Oatley baths net - all in a row, with strict regard to personal space. 

Oatley Park swimming pool: a serious accident waiting to happen

Sandy beach netted swimming pool, winter 2015: 

The pontoon has broken away from its moorings, leaving behind its two anchor poles.  One pole has snapped and its lower portion, standing upright in the mud, is a serious accident waiting to happen. Its broken edges are razor sharp with splinters. 

The broken pole is visible at low tide, but at high tide, it disappears and is just below the surface of the water. 

If you swam over this pole at high tide it would disembowel you. 

The pool is still open to the public.  

Mathew took this photo of the pontoon lodged in the net.  In the foreground are what is left of the poles that once were its home.  

Sandy Beach pontoon floating loose, and what is left of the poles to which it was moored.

Broken pontoon pole at low tide.  At high tide, it is invisible and just below the surface.

At the same time, the supports holding up the Oatley pool jetty are near collapse, as you can see from Mathew's photo. 

Oatley Bay jetty and what is left of its support poles