A QUICK TWENTY YEARS

Goodness, time has gone quickly!  It doesn’t seem 20 years ago that a small group of us sat around Reg and Sandra’s dinner table one Sunday morning and formed Gladstone Gropers.  The idea had been germinating for about two years.  I distinctly remember watching Reg then aged 32 getting up on the blocks with all the young swimmers at a Gladstone ‘amateur’ meet and giving them a good run for their money.  He and Sandra did mention, at the time, that there was an organisation for ‘older’ swimmers and it would be great to be involved.  It went from there.

 
The main reason we formed the Club was to compete against swimmers of our own age group.  The first swim meet we had at the Gladstone South pool involved every member in competition.  We relied on the ‘amateur’ swimming community to provide the key officials.  There was no Referee but just a Starter named Sonny Samuels to control activities in the pool.  He was the Starter for the Gladstone South Swimming Club.  In those days there weren’t any specific Master’s officials.  As I recall nobody did anything technically incorrect.  Well, according to Sonny anyway.

 
The Club has now progressed so far as to become one of the best clubs in Australia especially concerning its organisational ability.  It is so good in fact as to be able to host an Australian Masters’ Swimming Championship in 2000.

 
The sad thing about AUSSIs is that our competitive nature has waned over the last few years.  I attended the State Titles in Brisbane earlier this year and was slightly disappointed at the numbers competing.  This is not solely exclusive to Queensland.  On speaking to Master’s swimmers in other States, we are not alone.  No doubt our head organisation is addressing this issue.  The reasons are many including costs in travelling, the time involved and possibly not considering ourselves to be good enough, both physically and technically, to be able to swim in competitions.  Competition is not necessarily about competing against your peers but also about competing against yourself.  If you set a PB time in competition, you have achieved a personal goal without necessarily beating your peers.  AUSSI is not just about improving your physical health but also about improving your mental health as well.

 
I hope those of you who don’t go to competitions will consider doing so as it is great fun, you will improve your physical and mental health and meet a lot of new potential friends.

 
I wish Gladstone Gropers a very Happy 20^th Birthday and that it will still be a driving force in Australian and Queensland Masters’ swimming in another 20 years time.

Good wishes