“‎8:29 – 11th at IM Arizona. It was a super fast race as I predicted in the biggest Ironman pro field ever – 106 pros!

I had a tough old day overcoming yesterday’s challenges & setbacks. My swim & run legs weren’t playing ball as normal but biked well that It still possible to do something in the run. It was evident that my legs weren’t playing game & by 9 miles of the run I wasn’t sure If I’d make the finish. I found a second wind somehow & hung tough to finish just outside the top 10.

Thanks to all my great supporters, my mum & Lisa that came on a surprise visit, Tabitha & Carl my awesome homestays, my Friends and Sponsors. Without you I don’t think I could of made the finish.”

Read up Scott’s in-depth Ironman Arizona Race Blog online.  Includes some Pictures, Videos & Nutrition plan etc.

See Scott’s Finish Line video

Kelowna, BC, November 21, 2011 – Okanagan Masters Swim Club recognized seven of its members for their inspirational achievements and demonstration of the spirit of Masters swimming at its 2011 AGM in Kelowna on Sunday. The philosophy of Masters swimming is to promote fun, fitness, health, fellowship and participation amongst adult swimmers.

Conny Stamhuis (79) walked away with the “Swimmer of the Year” floating trophy while her friend and swim colleague Gladys Hambrook (80) was voted “Most Inspirational Swimmer”. Both turned in stellar performances at the Canadian Masters Swimming Championships in Montreal in May 2011. Conny Stamhuis achieved podium positions in the 75-79 age group: 200 Back (1st place), 50 Breast (1st), 50 Free (3rd), 50 Back (3rd), 100 Back (2nd) and three 2nd places in relays. Gladys Hambrook (not in photo), logging some of her personal best times at age 80, make her mark in Montreal by achieving podium positions in the 80-84 age group: 100 Free (3rd place), 200 Free (2nd), 400 Free (3rd), 800 Free (2nd), 1500 Free (2nd), 100 Back (2nd), 200 Back (2nd) and two second places in relays.

In a younger age group and against tough competition, the “Fintastic Four” training buddies Leora Dahl and Paul Duffield earned “Most Improved Female Swimmer” and “Most Improved Male Swimmer” respectively. Both swimmers improved their times dramatically this year while badgering each other to do better. Leora swam her first competitive 100m Fly at OMSC’s sanctioned Fright-Fest meet in October. Making a life changing decision in 2006, when Paul weighed 140 kilograms, he has lost an astounding 35 kilograms.

The “Elena Dimitrov Award for Courage and Determination” went to Jennifer Leach-Trask and Rhonda Renning-Talbot for a relay swim in challenging conditions across the Georgia Strait in August. Leach-Trask and Renning-Talbot, covered the 34-kilometre Salish Sea Swim from Davis Inlet in Sechelt to Piper‘s Lagoon in Nanaimo together with Susan Simmons and Karen Tannas of Victoria, in nine hours 33 minutes. They improved the time of the previous top relay team by two minutes. Eli Dimitrov, after whom the award is named, remains an inspiration to all of her swimmers while battling cancer for the third time.

Last but by no means least, top ranked FINA Swim official, Mike Stamhuis earned the “Volunteer of the Year” award for his outstanding contribution to the sport and to OMSC in particular. Part of the Stamhuis dynasty, Mike has trained most of the age group swimming and masters officials in the Okanagan. An inspirational Canadian record holder and outstanding supporter of swimming in the Okanagan, he has been forced to take a year off competitive swimming to nurse a shoulder injury. Notwithstanding, Mike can be found officiating at most weekend swim meets in the valley.

Picture 1: L-R: Okanagan Masters Swimmers Jennifer Leach-Trask (co-recipient of the Elena Dimitrov Award for Courage and Determination), Paul Duffield (Most Improved Male Swimmer), Leora Dahl (Most Improved Female Swimmer), Conny Stamhuis (Swimmer of the Year) and Mike Stamhuis (Volunteer of the Year) at the Awards Ceremony. Gladys Hambrook (Most Inspirational Swimmer) and Rhonda Rhenning-Talbot (co-recipient of the Elena Dimitrov Award for Courage and Determination) were unfortunately out of country when the awards were handed over.

View or Download the 2012 Maui Camp Information (PDF)

Whether you are a competitive or recreational swimmer, this camp will provide you the opportunity to swim with like minded individuals (ie. those who absolutely love the sport of swimming!) and to take part in quality coached and technically focused workouts designed to work all energy systems, all while being outside in one the most beautiful places on earth.  For the competitive swimmer, this will also be a perfect opportunity to give your training a boost and perfect your swimming skills in preparation for the BC Provincial Championships being held in Victoria, BC, this year (March 30-April 1, 2012), or for the Canadian Masters Swimming Championships, being held in Kelowna, BC, this year (May 18-21, 2012).

For more information regarding this camp, please make sure to download the camp information package file.  If you have any further questions, or would like to register, please don’t hesitate to contact Dale Robinson at infinity.swimming@gmail.com.
–
Dale Robinson

Owner and Head Coach
Infinity Swimming

OMSC has anywhere from 15 to 40 swimmers swimming at workouts. With 2 to 8 lanes this means up to 5 swimmers per SC (25m lane) and up to 8 swimmers per LC (50 m lane). There must be some order to how people swim together. Usually the developmental or slower swimmers are in the lanes with the lower numbers (1,2,3 or 4) and gradually progress to the faster lanes with improved technique. If you are not sure where you should swim or have not swum for a while, talk with the coach, who will assist you to select a lane compatible with your speed and fitness level.

Remember: we were all beginners at some point. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about if you start in a slower lane or have to ask questions.  Our coaches are there to help get you to your prime again, and your fellow swimmers will be happy to help a new member of the family.

Many of the rules of swimming etiquette are unwritten, which can be really awkward, especially if you’re unknowingly breaking any of the important ones.  You’ve heard of ‘road rage’, well there’s also something called ‘lane rage’, and you can avoid it by following some important guidelines and rules.

1.     When you enter the water, never dive, jump, or push off into oncoming swimmers.

• Wait until they have made the turn and pushed off the wall;

2.     Introduce yourself to the people in your lane.

• This is the social part of our club. People in your lane become your friends, can help you decipher the workout and encourage you along your fitness track.

3.     Lane directions

• If there are two swimmers in a lane, you can agree whether one keeps to one side of the lane and the other to the opposite side, or whether you want to circle swim.
• If there are three or more swimmers in a lane, they must circle swim, and the custom is to stay to the right, that is to swim counter-clockwise (Australians think differently, but we’re in Canada).
• If one lane is swimming counter-clockwise, the next lane should swim in the opposite direction.  This will help reduce the incidence of “colliding” arms.

4.     Make sure everyone understands the section of the workout before you start out.

• Each lane develops its own leaders, usually determined by the speed of the individual swimmers. Each person has their own stroke strengths and weaknesses. It will take you a few sessions to figure out where everyone belongs. Don’t get discouraged, you will work it out.

5.     If you arrive late at workout it is up to you to determine where your swim mates are in the workout and join in at that point.

• It is disruptive for someone to show up late and break the rhythm of the swim already in progress.  It’s also discourteous to the coach and fellow swimmers to arrive late, or to leave early, so try to avoid doing it if you can.

6.     If you do arrive late, wait until the swimmers are resting at the wall to announce your arrival.

• Do not surprise them by just hopping in and swimming behind them. This often leads to collisions.

7.     If you need to pass a swimmer, pass on the left.

• Preferably tap the foot of the person in front of you before passing. If you are being overtaken at the turn, stop, and wait until the other swimmer has pushed off.  It is best to make the pass at the wall rather than in the middle of the laps, as follows:

• Passer: Gently taps feet of Passee;
• Passee: At the next turn, pulls over to the Right Corner and stops;
• Passer: Makes flip turn at Left Corner of wall;
• Passee: Starts swimming again, behind the Passer.

8.     If you need to stop for a rest / clear your goggles / adjust your fins / gasp for air etc, squeeze into the corner to the right of incoming swimmers, so they will have sufficient room to turn on the left.

9.     Don’t leave early from the wall.

• If the lane is going 5 seconds or 10 seconds apart, do not leave 3 seconds back.  In no time at all, you will be on the feet of the swimmer in front, and that is annoying.

10. Allow others to finish their set by moving to the corner of the lane.

• Usually the way this works is at the end of a set the first person touches in on the far left side of the lane. The second person touches in the centre, and remains there. The third person touches to the far right, and then immediately moves away from the wall to the centre of the lane. Now the fourth person can touch in on the far right. It seems complicated, but it works if everyone plays along. With more than four swimmers, each additional person needs to move to the centre of the lane after they touch in on the right.  NB: it is annoying for a swimmer coming in to finish, if there is no space for him/her to touch the wall. Touching the wall is part of the finish.

11. At all times be aware of what is going on within your lane. Try not to kick or swing your arms into another lane or across your own lane especially when near to another swimmer.

12. Keep your toenails and fingernails trimmed.

13. Do not stand in front of the pace clock when others are still doing the swim set.

OK! That’s enough to keep you busy for a while.  If you want more, read “Pet Peeves“

Our season starts Monday September 12th and runs through to June 30, 2012. After that we also have a two month Summer 2012 season, but that’s so far in the future let’s not worry about it now. Focus on Fall.

September is also the month we need to renew our annual MSABC membership.  The 2011-2012 fee is $38, and current MSABC  membership is a prerequisite for being a member of Okanagan Masters Swim Club

OMSC membership categories and fees are posted on the Registration and Fees page

Any questions, please speak with any of our Executive volunteers, who will be pleased to assist you with registration.

The following two Frontline girls will be more than happy to help:

• Monique Russo, Registrar at registrar@okmasters.com or (250) 860-9419
• Conny Stamhuis, MSABC Registrar at msabc-registrar@okmasters.com or (250) 763-4406

Tony: Relax, I said “Frontline” not “Chorus”.

What a great day!  Many thanks to the hard working ATLS organizing team and many volunteers for putting together such an enjoyable event!  Even the weather was perfect. The day started off sunny, calm and warm … we couldn’t have asked for better!  With rain in the forecast, it was good enough to wait until the last equipment had been stowed before the clouds opened up with a quick deluge only in the early afternoon.

This year saw 452 finishers compared with 428 in 2010.  Several Okanagan Masters Swim Club members braved the cool waters of the lake to go for a personal best.  Many have also notched up several crossings over the years, and this year saw a number of successful first-timers.

Wetsuits were recommended with the lake temperature a little cooler than usual at 18.5C, although several courageous swimmers did the full 2100m naked (in Open Water terms … sans wetsuit).  With a record entry of 500 the start was phased in five  time-seeded heats of one hundred each, set apart two minutes.

Overall winner was 19 year old David Dimitrov, son of local coaches Emil and Elena Dimitrov, in a time of 21:58 (a ripping average pace of 1:03 per 100m!), which he achieved without benefit of a wetsuit.  Watch this young man, he’s going places! Second in, setting the Female record time for the crossing was Jeanne Carlsen (F45-54) in 23:03 and third place to Josh Zakala (M–15) in 23:08.  All round, some smokingly fast times!

Emil Dimitrov impressed family, friends and students by taking to the water in a distinctive speedo bodysuit that Emil alone could carry off with such aplomb (the distinction of 007 combined with the shear bravado of Austin Powers).

Photo journal

Visit Willem Burgher’s site at OKRacer for some great photo’s taken on the day.   Many thanks Willem, for your ongoing support of sports in the Okanagan!

For more information see the ATLS website.

For the race results, see:  Overall results and Age Group results and Spreadsheet

L-R David Dimitrov, Eli Dimitrov, Emil Dimitrov

Coach Elena (Eli) Dimitrov receives the well deserved Jan Morrow award.

The motivation was eloquently described by one of her students, as follows:

” We would like to nominate Eli Dimitrov to be the recipient of the 2011 ATLS-Jan Morrow Award for the following reasons:

Eli Dimitrov’s entire life has revolved around the world of swimming. Eli started swimming at the age of 7 and she went on to be a member of the Bulgarian National Swim team. Eli completed 2 marathon swims by the age of 16 as well as earning many other impressive swim records.    Eli’s childhood sweetheart and husband Emil (coach of Liquid Lightening) and her 2 sons George and David are also nationally and internationally ranked swimmers.  Eli has coached swim club kids and adult Masters for many years in Milton Ontario, Calgary Alberta and most recently the OMSC and Westside Thunder Masters Swim club in Kelowna.   Those of us who have been fortunate enough to be coached by Eli have learned what it really means to be the best that we can be, not only in our swimming pursuits but in many other areas of our lives.   Eli was diagnosed with cancer over 8 years ago but chose to keep her condition private for many years so that she could continue doing what she loves the most., coaching and mentoring swimmers and being there for her family and friends.  Eli sets a daily example of what courage, passion, determination and a positive attitude really look like.  When Coach Eli is on deck there is a feeling of energy and excitement in the air and one only needs to look into her eyes to observe a special illumination and joy that is nearly indescribable.   Eli has taught us that every stroke and every practice must be done with purpose and intention, which means no junk miles and No!!! Breathing From the Flags to the Wall!!! Eli’s utter devotion and dedication to the swimming community has been a remarkable and selfless accomplishment which she continues to this very day.    Eli Dimitrov is an inspiration to all that know and love her and we feel that Eli epitomizes everything that the Jan Morrow award  honours and signifies.”

We all agree, Eli ……… you’re our inspiration!

BC Provincials 2011 (April 15-17)

Across The Lake Swim 2011 (July 16)

Enjoy!