Powerpoints wins 2008 AUSSI Masters National Championships in Melbourne
Congratulations to Powerpoints for a resounding victory at the Nationals. Powerpoints came 4th in Hobart, with the girls leading the way, then we won the Visitor's trophy in Darwin, with an overall 2nd place. So, it was time to win, especially at our home pool. The club's last wins were back in the glory days, 15 years ago - 1988, 1989, 1991 and 1992. And we did it. Yes!1st place - Powerpoints 2,491 points
2nd place - Marlins 2,020 points
3rd place - Doncaster 1,830 points
A stunning achievement by a huge group of swimmers - it was great to see so many club members blasting up and down the pool all in search of immortality! 49 club members competed in 300 individual races - what a stunning turn out.
Individual highlights
It is impossible to summarise all of the highlights, but here are some.
One true show of strength came in the men's 45- 49 800m freestyle. Powerpointers took the top 6 places. Stuart Moffatt 10:11, Peter Williamson 10:12, Shane Gore 10:28, Chris Andrew 10:29, Ian Knight 10:32, Peter Bolton 10:39.
In the women, Rosa Montague picked up 4 state records, Jennie Bucknell swam 1 state & 1 national record, and Aida Tuciute got 3 state records. However, it was the swimming of Helen Whitford that truly was the stand out performance at the Nationals, with 5 state and 4 National records.
For the men, Michael Moloney picked up 3 state records, Peter Rainey 1 state & 1 National record, and Stuart Moffatt 2 state & 1 National record.
Congratulations to those who swam an awesome number of events -
12 events - Stuart Moffatt, Chris Andrew
11 events - Helen Whitford, Brett Davidson
Thank you to Helen Whitford for recording and summarising all 300 swims by Powerpoints members - the heat is on for those club points and titles trophies. From the Nationals:
Name National Titles
Helen Whitford 9
Rosa Montague 6
Aida Tuciute 4
Lisandra De Carvalho 4
Jennie Bucknell 3
Marijke Alderson 2
Liz Gosper 2
Megan Blamires 2
Alison Banay 1
Name National Titles
Stuart Moffatt 8
Michael Moloney 7
Peter Rainey 5
Brett Davidson 2
Colin Moore 2
Tim Boness 1
Looking good & partying on
Well, we certainly looked good. The new fluoro green tops designed by Liz Gosper were a hit. Made for the worlds, people just couldn't resist wearing them. Added to that the hoodies, club bathers - organised by Deb Adams, black tshirts, hats and caps, Powerpoints were decked out to blitz.
At the dinner, Liz Gosper took charge, running dancing games, table raffles, easter egg guestimates, and everything bar the speeches. Thanks to Marijke and Richard for getting there early enough to blow up the balloons. In he end, as you can see later in this edition of the Pointer [thank you Lee], Powerpoints helped the Marlins raise over $1,000 for the Ardoch Foundation. This money will be used to help teach swimming to underprivileged kids. It was a great fun dinner, with trophies adorning all Powerpoints tables by the end of the night. Rosa's sexy red legs were out on the dance floor, Di Holmes lead the way, with table support, in the musical comps, and it was great to see our illustrious club captain on stage - winning the easter eggs!!!!
Thank you
A big thank you must also be said to a very dedicated group. The competition sub-committee. Rosa Montague, Jennie Bucknell, Helen Whitford and Laurie Healy all do an enormous amount of work for each competition. However, this Nationals, with all of our relay teams, and the thousands of possible age combinations, really was a challenge. And this fabulous team did a stupendous job organising everyone. Thank you.
Well done Powerpoints on a great win. And having beaten the Australians, it was time to take on the world.....
Archer Talbot
President 2008
