Tagged: swimming
Sporting ANZACs
This year on ANZAC Day we remembered some sporting ANZACs during our regular Saturday morning swim session. Here are my notes.
Three Olympic Games: 1908 – Silver in the 400m freestyle & Bronze in the 1,500m freestyle | 1920 – Silver in the 4*200 freestyle relay & Bronze in the 400m freestyle | 1924 – Bronze in the 1,500m freestyle & Silver in the 4*200m freestyle relay. He was banned from the 1912 Olympics as he was employed as a PT Instructor! His three silver and three bronze was the leading medal performance record for an Australian until it was broken by Murray Rose.
He enlisted in the First World War as an infantryman, but was rejected due to appendicitis. In 1916 he became a YMCA Commissioner and coordinated and managed their welfare and recreation centres in England and France. He had to return to Australia after getting trench fever and possibly some gassing in 1918. His service was commended by General Monash.
His only Olympics were in 1912 in Stockholm where he won a Silver in the 100m freestyle and a Gold in the 4*200m freestyle relay for Australasia (a combined team with NZ – thus truly ANZAC!). He also competed in the 1906 Intercalated Games (aka the unofficial 1906 Olympics) in Athen where he won a Bronze in the 100 freestyle. He did not have the funds to go to the 1908 Games. He was a great exponent of the relatively new “Australian Crawl” stroke and did exhibitions all over Europe and the UK. He protested to have the US swimmer Duke Kahanamoku allowed to race in the final of the 100m freestyle after he had earlier been DQed on some administrative technicality and his sportsmanship was widely applauded. Duke won the Gold.
He enlisted in the AIF in 1915 and served mostly as a Quarter Master Sergeant in Egypt and France until he undertook officer training in England, so he could get closer to the actual fighting. He was then posted to the 19th (Sportsman’s) Battalion and killed in his first action leading his infantry platoon in the first battle for Mont St Quentin on 29 August 1918 (aged 36).
He also competed in the 1912 Olympics for Australasia as a 400m hurdler. He did not make it to the finals.
He enlisted in the AIF’s 6th Battery, 2nd Brigade and landed at Gallipoli on what is now ANZAC Day. he was twice evacuated with illness. Later he was discharged from the AIF and commissioned into the (British) Royal Flying Corps, 45 Squadron (Special Reserve), but was killed in action in the skies over France in August 1917. He is not listed on the Australian War Memorial’s Roll of Honour, which I find very odd.
A very well known name in equestrian events, Bill won Gold in 1960, Bronze in 1968 and in 1976, all in equestrian teams events. His Bronze in 1976 alongside his son Wayne was the first father-son to win a medal together. He also competed in the 1964 and 1972 Olympics, one of only five Australians to compete in five games. He was 45 years old in his first Olympics.
Earlier Bill had served in the Second World War from 1940-45 as a Sergeant in New Guinea and New Britain with the Field Ambulance and the 2/14th Field Regiment. After the war he settled onto a 200ha soldiers block near Boorcan in western Victoria.
In the 1936 Olympics he finished 8th in the 800m on the track and also competed in the heats of the 1,500m. He won Silver in the 1938 Empire Games in the Mile and finished 7th in the 880 yards
He served as a Sergeant in the RAAF in the Second World War, allocated to 1 Coastal Operational Training, RAF. He died in an aircraft accident during a practice bombing flight on 28 December 1941 in Cumberland, England.
In 1948 Les was the Australian team flag bearer at the London Olympics and a member of the water polo team. He had been a champion surf swimmer and also won a Gold with the water polo team in the 1950 Empire Games.
He had been a laundry manager before the Second World War and on enlistment he saw service as a Major, initially with mobile bath units, in the Middle East and South West Pacific Area.
A 1924 Olympian, Richard competed in the long jump, but in his own words he did his “worst jump for the last seven years” as they had nowhere to train in Paris. Later he broke the British long jump record in 1926 with a leap of 7.43m.
He was mobilised as a Major in the Australian Army Medical Corps in early 1942 and served in military hospitals principally in Goulburn and Alice Springs.
Season’s Greetings!
Glædelig jul! I had lots of travel this year with visits to the US, Japan, Thailand and Denmark, and many concerts, both at home and overseas. So let’s get into it …
The year started at home in Sydney with my regular swim mob, Wednesday night trivia at the Carlisle Castle in Newtown and a lot of travel planning. I also played barefoot bowls for the first time at nephew Ben’s 21st. Our subscription to the Australian Chamber Orchestra’s 2025 season started in February with some Brahms and Beethoven’s 7th symphony.
In March I had another couple of relaxed weeks in Hawaii, just on Oahu, swimming in the ocean and using a new camera. There I stayed in a great airbnb apartment with ocean views and again caught up with my US friend Jamie and some of her friends in Honolulu including the fun Pam and her hilarious partner Grover. A few of us went to a Hawaiian themed Cirque du Soleil performance that I really enjoyed and I attended three great Beethoven performances by the Hawaiian Symphony Orchestra: his 5th, 8th and 9th symphonies as they were playing a festival when I was there. By booking well ahead of my time in Hawaii I was for the first time able to visit Doris Duke’s Shangri-la (now the Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design) on the other side of Diamond Head.
I was at home again in April and Easter was with sister Mez, her husband Phil, Jan, Brian and Gregor came down from Newcastle. I think my highlight for the year was the ACO’s simply amazing concert with the wonderfully energetic cellist Abel Selaocoe. This was almost a life-changing experience. He is so talented. May was more of the same for me with my regular routine and another ACO concert
I spent about three weeks visiting Japan again in June because I found it so fascinating last year. This year I took the Shinkansen fast train to Kanazawa on the west coast and spent a week there. My time coincided with the Kanazawa festival, so I saw the Kaga Yuzen Lantern Floating on the river beside my airbnb and the spectacular Hyakumangoku Parade which is the festival highlight. Kanazawa has some great restaurants, a very cute old tea district, a big old castle as well as their historic old Samurai district and one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan: Kenrokuen Garden. They also have a great MCA and the famous DT Suzuki Museum that is a brilliantly designed contemplative space. After a week there I took the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and had a spacious airbnb apartment just behind Ginza which is pretty convenient. I visited heaps of art and photography museums and saw a huge and brilliant Miro exhibition. I went to my first big baseball game at the Tokyo Dome and that was a pretty exciting experience. It is all so wonderful that I am heading back to Japan in 2026 to see more of Kyoto and Tokyo (this time in hotels with lap swimming pools!).
My longest trip this year was via a round-the-world ticket, taking in Bangkok, Copenhagen and New York. Bangkok was just a relaxing few days in a well situated hotel that has a beautiful 25m outdoor lap pool. Then it was on to Copenhagen via Helsinki (the Finnair stop). It was my second time in Copenhagen and I jagged a well situated, beautifully appointed airbnb in a traditional old apartment building. Once again I visited many museums, galleries and the Black Diamond Library but the highlight was a Banksy exhibition at MACA. I even spent some time over coffee with the exhibition curator! I took the train up to Louisiana MoMA to see it again and to see their huge Robert Longo exhibition, which was great. It was, however, really crowded. Before leaving for NYC, I walked down to the Copenhagen Ironman bike course (passing through the city) and photographed the race leaders. The canal water seemed too cold for swimming in Denmark, so I enjoyed staying in the luxurious Equinox hotel in Hudson Yards (NYC) that had an indoor lap pool that I used every day. Disappointingly, quite a few favourite museums were either closed, doing exhibition changeovers or had exhibitions of no interest to me, but I did enjoy my time in the Whitney, MoMA, the Metropolitan Museum and wandering around the 9/11 memorial area. Manhattan now has many new high rise buildings that I’d not see before, but I balanced the new with return visits to St Patrick’s cathedral, the Chrysler building and the Main Concourse in Grand Central Terminal.
Back home in Sydney I resumed my normal routine again, started planning a big trip to Sweden and Iceland in 2026 with Gregor of Newcastle and hosted a visit by Paulie of Canberra who was running the Sydney marathon. As well as our regular weekly trivia, the swim mob all went to drag trivia in Sydenham with Jackie Daniels. This year is my third year of regular Monday night rehearsals that started in October, with the 400-strong Radio Community Chest choir in St Stephen’s church in the city for our performance of Handel’s Messiah in the Sydney Town Hall on 13 and 14 December. We’ve had the last ACO concert that I enjoyed not a lot, but I am looking forward to another performance of Beethoven’s 9th in the Sydney Opera House and then a more intimate performance of Handel’s Messiah with the Pinchgut Opera in the City Recital Hall, Angel Place.
You can view a pictorial record of most of this in albums covering each trip/country here https://www.flickr.com/photos/malbooth/albums/ and I hope to provide separate updates about my Kindle reading and podcast listening on this blog as usual. Goodwill to you all!
Happy Holidays!
Wassail! Wassail Wassail! I began 2024 in Lorne, staying near Gary and swimming in the surf every day. I bought a fantastic big new painting at QDOS Fine Art and was able to photograph the famous Pier-to-Pub swim.
After driving back to Sydney via a night in Albury I got back into my regular grind of swimming with my gang at Victoria Park, regular ACO concerts with Gregor and Trivia nights at Carlisle Castle pub on Wednesday nights with the Olivia Newtown Johns team. There were also a few lunches with Gregor in Alexandria when he was down from Belmont volunteering at the ARHS. And some of the swim gang continued our semi-regular Friday night drinks, mostly when Roger was back in town.
In March I had a couple of relaxed weeks in Hawaii, just on Oahu, swimming in the ocean and learning more about a new camera and lens. My long-time US friend Jamie was back there for most of it and once again she was really generous with her hosting. I have learnt a heap about Hawaiian culture thanks to her knowledge and guidance. I also was lucky enough to be there for the absolutely beautiful Nagaoka Fireworks which I photographed from Magic Island. I think these are the best I’ve seen.
Once again, Easter was with sister Mez, her husband Phil, Jan, Brian and Gregor came down from Newcastle.
I visited Japan for the first time in June and spent a couple of weeks there just in Tokyo and Kyoto, travelling between the cities on the Shinkansen fast train. I took a train to Nara for a day from Kyoto. I was amazed by just about everything that I saw and experienced and have already booked flights to go back in 2025. I didn’t manage to do any swimming but I did take a lot of photos and kept myself very busy seeing far too many temples and shrines and some fantastic exhibitions at various galleries and museums.
In July I made a quick trip to Bangkok, just for a week and this was my first visit for almost 40 years, the last time being for work. I was surprised by all the new high-rise and the modern transit systems, but the horrendous traffic has survived. I wandered around during the day with my camera and also did a fair bit of swimming as my hotel had a great and empty (of people) lap pool. I also had a swim and a couple of pool-side lunches at the British Club (courtesy of my Tattersalls membership).
This year my major overseas trip was in September to Helsinki and Berlin (yes, again, I know). I had a full week by myself in Helsinki, where there are many museums and galleries and I also toured the historic and still well-used 1952 Olympic stadium. Once again I swam most days in the outdoor heated pool that floats in the Helsinki harbour. I then had two weeks racing around Berlin with Karen and Bruce. We went to a big concert and saw some great art and photography exhibitions. Bruce and I did some great photography excursions and it was great to catch up with their daughter Georgie and her boyfriend. I did manage to swim just about every day in the freezing Sommerbad Kreuzberg pool too. We also did a very enjoyable day trip by train to Potsdam. On my last full day I saw and photographed the Berlin Marathon, which basically shuts the city down, and I was amazed by the fast times.
Back in Sydney I tried to get back into my regular swimming routine and one of the highlights was a Coldplay concert out at Homebush with Mez and Phil that was very enjoyable. I also had regular Monday night rehearsals from October, with the 400-strong Radio Community Chest choir in St Stephen’s church in the city for our performance of Handel’s Messiah in the Sydney Town Hall on 21 and 22 December. This will be my second year of this.
My last trip away was in late November for just four days in Melbourne. I flew down for a performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony by the MSO & Chorus. This was brilliant in the 200th anniversary year and the soloists were superb. I found a great airbnb apartment on the 66th floor of the Australia 108 building in Southbank and stayed there with Gary who came up from Lorne. The views were great and we took advantage of Melbourne’s art galleries, markets and restaurants.
You can view a pictorial record of most of this here www.flickr.com/photos/malbooth/ (highlights are in a previous post on this blog) and I hope to provide separate updates about my Kindle reading and podcast listening on this blog as usual. Goodwill to you all!
My Podcast Reviews for 2022
Firstly, I think I should let you know that I’m now using the Overcast app on my iPhone. It is the best client for podcasts that I’ve used and it leaves the default iPhone app for dead. It takes a little getting used to, but once you become familiar it is great.
I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts so below I am only listing and briefly reviewing those that made an impression this year. I’ll try to let you know how often I listened to them, what they cover and how I’d rate them for content and sound. Yes, sound quality is a biggie for me as some podcasters still don’t seem to have figured out why it is so important in this medium.
Oh, I am not providing links as everyone uses different hosts and they are all very easy to search for and find if you’re that interested. Here we go then, mind the step …
…These Are Their Stories: The Law & Order Podcast. I’m a regular listener, even though I have rarely watched this show on TV. I like the hosts, the regular features and the guests and there are always some laughs. Sound quality is always great. The content is always entertaining. ****
Bad Women: The Ripper Retold & The Blackout Ripper. I’m a regular listener, but it is starting to get a little annoying. I can’t put my finger on it, but it may have something to do with the host and/or her delivery. I’ve tried a few Pushkin podcasts and they all seem to have a similar “flavour”. Sound quality is good and I think the content sometimes strays a little too far from the main theme. I hate their ads. ***
Bone Valley. Spoilers ahead! This podcast really is outstanding, but so sad. I’d put it in the same class as about a handful of US true crime podcasts that deal with wrongful convictions (e.g. Serial, Undisclosed, Accused and In The Dark). Host Gilbert King and his colleagues do a fantastic job investigating the tragic murder of 18-year-old Michelle Schofield in 1987. Sound quality is great and the content is excellent. *****
The Chaser. I like this podcast. They seem to provide a few short episodes each week and they provide a very amusing, but frankly rare and honest take on politics and the news in general. They are very good at calling out the lazy arseholes, liars, grifters and clowns who pollute politics and make it the sewer it is. They record using professional equipment and sound is great. ****
The Coodabeen Champions. Unfortunately the Coodabeens were dropped by ABC Radio and now we have to put up with the lamest ads from their commercial radio host. I’m a regular listener and have been for years. Sometimes the quality of the songs leaves a bit to be desired and I find the show is ALWAYS better when Simon is on, but there are always a few laughs and some good guests. I do love Sam the Sub and the “Talk-Back” callers. Sound quality is great unless they’re on OB in country Victoria! ****
Crime in Sports. Presented by comedians James Pietragallo and Jimmie Whisman, this podcast has been going for a very long time and still presents episodes that are generally around three hours in length. I am very selective with my listening and most of the time I have no idea who they are talking about, but the stories are always amazing. Sound quality is fine and Jimmie’s reading out of the supporters names each episode is always good for a laugh. A good show to have up your sleeve for long drives? ***+
Crimes of the Centuries. Each crime is covered in one episode and they’re all well chosen bu host Amber Hunt, so I am a regular listener. Sound quality is great and the content is always interesting. ****
Crime Writers On … True Crime Review. I’ve listened to them since they started (… On Serial). Sound quality is always great and the content is still interesting. They can sometimes be a little US-centric and dismissive of others on this planet. ***+
The Effortless Swimming Podcast. I’m an occasional and very picky listener as I think that if you listened to everything Brenton Ford has to say about swimming, you’d just end up a confused mess. I listen when a friend I swim with lets me know there’s been a good episode and when the notification I get from Overcast looks interesting. Sound quality is usually good. ***+
The Generation Why Podcast. I guess I am addicted to true crime stories and Aaron & Justin hhave been covering them since 2012. They break down the crimes, the investigations and convictions and the episodes are generally around 60 mins in length. Maybe they are an acquired taste, but I am a regular listener and the sound quality is always good. ***+
Hawks Insiders. This is aimed at Hawthorn FC supporters in the AFL competition here in Australia, so they have a smallish target audience. They mostly have something of value to add, but as “supporters” I thought they became too publicly critical of our players this year, especially our younger players, when they gave some rather stinging post-match ratings early on in the 2022 season. This seemed to have been moderated, possibly after my complaints to them and others via Twitter, and I was grateful for that. What they did not address, however was having consistently awful sound quality for some or all of their panellists, but especially Ash Browne, who sounds like he has 10 seconds to tell you everything he knows with a mouthful of marbles from inside a tin garbage can. Their off-season interviews with HFC Board candidates cleared nothing up for me as none of those they interviewed actually said what they really think. I skipped a few because boring. And if I hear “The Family Club” again without someone actually defining what this means in football these days I will just scream. Some of their best content this year came from the young son of one of the panellists! I hope to hear some improvement in 2023. **+
Hawk Talk Podcast. Another pod aimed at HFC supporters, but I think Nick and Tizz do a much better job with less resources. Their criticisms of our team are much more objective and never insulting or demeaning for the players (with one or two exceptions!). They also know how to entertain and they capitalise on their personalities. I never miss their episodes and thanks to Nick their sound quality is always excellent. ****
Health Report. This is a regular short (30 mins) ABC radio podcast presented by Dr Norman Swan and Tegan Taylor. It is well produced and presented, but I am selective on the subject matter that I download for listening. ***+
Huberman Lab. Dr Andrew Huberman deals with a myriad of health and longevity matters that I find sometimes to be very compelling and others not so much. One issue is that each episode is usually 2-3 hours long. And there is quite a bit of scientific detail provided. I only listen to selected episodes on subjects that I find interesting. One complaint I have is his endorsements. They tend to go on and on and they can be very repetitive. Sorry, but Overcast’s 30 sec advance button does come in handy. He needs someone to tell him how to cut his episodes down to 60-90 mins. As a colleague told me once, “If you want to bore [the audience], leave nothing out.” Sound is fine. ***+
Hunting Seasons – A TV Podcast. Brod and Damask do a great job with this podcast as they binge-watch and then deep-dive on full seasons of (mostly) streaming TV series. I listen to selected episodes when they cover a show I might be interested in watching. Mostly, however, our tastes in shows do not coincide, or I do not subscribe to the same streaming service. I do enjoy their Off Topic/Hot Topic episodes, usually with guests, when they all discuss what they’ve been watching. Sound is good. ***+
Inside with Brett Hawke. See my comments on the Effortless Swimming Podcast above. Some episodes are much better and less self-indulgent than others. ***+
Kermode and Mayo’s Take. I can’t figure out whether K&M dropped the BBC or the BBC dropped them. I stayed with them in any case. I think it is a great mix of two very different personalities and friends who put together a weekly show of about 90 mins that is entertaining and sometimes surprising. The guest interviews are usually quite revealing and always interesting. I’m a regular listener/”church member”. Sound quality is usually good. ****
Lanterne Rouge Cycling Podcast. I listen to these guys around the grand tours, monuments and some UCI road championships. They’re always opinionated and informative. I still find them entertaining and they’re a good break from the awful commentators we have on free-to-air cycling programs in Australia. Their daily stage highlights on Youtube are also good. Sound is no problem ****
Le Monstre. From Tenderfoot, this a pretty gruesome tale of the horrible Marc Dutroux and associates who terrorised Belgium in the 80s and 90s. I think it is pretty well made and I was a regular listener. Sound quality is good. ****
Liar, Liar: Melissa Caddick and the Missing Millions. What an awful person she must have been or still is. A complete grifter obsessed with personal greed at the expense of anyone she was related to, friendly with or had just met. I think I wandered around listening to this with my mouth wide open in disbelief most of the time. The there was that time I saw her competing on Ninja Warrior Australia (with both feet), but that’s another story … I liked the presentation from Kate McClymont and her colleague and the sound quality was always good. ****
The MLK Tapes. This podcast presented some really interesting information about the killing of Dr Martin Luther King. I think it is a gripping story that is really well told and I listened to all of it. ****
Over My Dead Body, Season 3: Fox Lake. This one from Wondery tells the story of a small town cop supposedly gunned down in a swamp in 2015. He quickly became a martyr until his dark and bizarre past was brought to light by a determined investigator. Sound is good ***+
The Peter Attia Drive. This is presented by Peter Attia MD and focuses on optimising performance, health and longevity. Again, I am very selective with the episodes as some subjects just do not interest me. Some episodes can run well over three hours, although a lot of that is Peter talking about Peter, so maybe you could skip all of that. Sound is all good. ***+
The Piketon Massacre. We are now on Season 4 and all seasons have been about the same crime. It was the most notorious mass massacre in Ohio’s history in 2016, but boy do they cover it in some detail. In a recent episode, Mountain of Evidence, covering the trial of one of the accused murderers, one of the podcast’s guests has a jab at the prosecutor taking so much time laying out all the evidence of the murders before getting specific about the defendant on trial. I began thinking about pots calling kettles black. Seriously? Another annoying aspect of this podcast are the awfully annoying adverts. They seem to go for 15-20 mins sometimes. I think clocks go slower when they are on. Sound is good and the subject matter, whilst gruesome is usually interesting. In some episodes they seem to be drawing a very long bow in terms of relevance. ***+
Pod Save America. Presented by four very smart former aides to President Obama, this show analyses the week in US political news, so usually I listen only in the run up to significant elections and the wash-up of same. They provide a unique take that is not tarnished by mainstream media its billionaire owners. Like some other successful podcasts they know how to let the personalities of the hosts add to the production without dominating or sidetracking it. I also enjoy the way they present their own ads/endorsements. ****
The Real Science of Sport Podcast. I really like this podcast, but I am selective about the episodes I listen to as some subjects are just of limited interest to me. Having said that I think Professor Ross Tucker and his sports journalist mate Mike Finch are a good mix of presenters and they do a fantastic job on some quite controversial subjects, such as performance enhancing drugs and gender identity in sports. Some of the episodes I’ve listened to have been excellent. ****
Roy & HG – Bludging on the Blindside. I don’t know how they manage to present such hilarious content about football once a week, although there is a lot of material for them to work with, especially from “rugba league” players. I find myself laughing out loud all the time. Professionally recorded sound quality ****+
Small Town Murder. From James and Jimmie who gave us Crime in Sports, this show takes a comedic spin on horrible tragedies. I am very selective with my downloading of episodes but they are usually pretty entertaining (if somewhat longish). Sound is good. ***+
Sports Bizarre. This is a relatively new offering, from Titus O’Reilly and Mick Molloy. Initially I thought they’d just cover the same material as Crime in Sports, but they have managed to carve out a unique subject area. Titus I suspect does all of the research and 90% of the presenting, so Mick is really just in a foil role and has little of any value to offer. Sound is good. I’m not yet totally convinced but it filled a post-AFL season gap in y listening habits. ***
Stolen: Surviving St. Michael’s. Presented by journalist Connie Walker, I thought this podcast was excellent, but very disturbing. Connie is one of a handful of people who could make me listen to any podcast they make. It tells a story familiar to most Australians of stolen generations of indigenous children (in Canada) who were forcibly subjected to abuse and torment by nuns and priests. Just as in Australia, the abusers all seem to have been able to avoid criminal prosecution. Connie’s late father was one of these children, although she does reveal how he did exact a little revenge. ****+
Tony Martin’s SIZZLETOWN. I thank the podcast gods that content like this is still free. This is a wonderful late-night call-in podcast and it is so well produced. I tell everyone I know with a functioning brain about it. I LOVE the Pikelet Man and I am allergic to 99% of cats. Sound quality is excellent of course with Matt Dower on the Pots n Pans. I laugh so much that I find myself stopping and rewinding all the time so that I don’t miss anything. Thank you, thank you, thank you! ****+
True Crime Obsessed. From what is now the Obsessed Network, Patrick Hinds and Gillian Pensavalle have not lost their unique take on true crime stories after over 270 episodes. They’re still funny together and each show is entertaining, even if sometimes I cannot tell you what the subject matter is. Sound is always great. ****
Will Be Wild. This pod is named for something the big orange baby who used to be the President of the US said when he incited a revolt on the US Capitol in that January 6 insurrection in 2021. The hosts maintain that January 6 was just the beginning of ongoing efforts to damage democracy in the US and they manage to tell it from the perspectives of ALL who were involved. I had no issues with the sound quality. ****
I should add that I did listen to some update episodes of Serial and Undisclosed this year to mark the release from prison of Adnan Syed in September. I also caught up with the trial and verdict of Ryan Duke with Up and Vanished in May.
Seasons Greetings
My 2022 highlights:
Remedial work on both balconies and re-cladding on some external panels at home continued and is now mostly completed. Hopefully I’ll regain access to the balconies soon. Then, I’ll replace the carpet that regularly flooded in the spare bedroom and buy a new sofa bed for guests. All up this has only taken twice as long as building the Golden Gate Bridge.
With air fares remaining ridiculous, I stayed here in Oz and spent more money on Leica camera gear. My first trip away (by car) was to Lorne via Albury in March. While down there I also visited Port Campbell with Gary and friends (Judith & Stephen) to see the Twelve Apostles, Loch Ard Gorge, the Bay of Islands and the Californian Redwood plantation in the Great Otway National Park. Judith is another keen photographer, so we had a great time together as there was so much to see and capture. Gary and I also had what was to be our last meal with my former partner Kenneth at Coda Lorne. Sadly, Kenneth was to take his life soon after this in April. As an artist, he really was a victim of the pandemic as so many doors closed for him.
Various visits to my dentist continued when home again for two crowns and an implant. Ugh.
On a happier note, our swim group was socially more active with regular Friday afternoon drinks and several nights out for trivia and bingo at various venues. We also had a great time at Howard’s 70th in October.
I made a brief visit to Canberra mid-year to attend a small wake with some close friends of Kenneth (Mary, Karen & Bruce) and to see Catherine Rogers’ brilliant photographic survey at ANU Drill Hall Gallery. I also caught up with Paulie and Ness a couple of times. Catherine has generously and patiently provided me with a great deal of advice regarding fine art photography printing and I’m finally getting the hang of it, thanks to actually following her advice.
My year as a Hawthorn FC member was full of more losses than wins, but I did enjoy a couple of trips to Wollongong in September to see and photograph the ITT and Men’s Elite Road Race in the UCI Road World Championships. (You can view many photos in previous posts.)
I rounded out the year with another trip down to Lorne, not just to swim in the really cold southern waters, but to help Gary clean out Kenneth’s car. That was pretty hard emotionally. On return to Sydney I was able to safely send Kenneth’s laptop to Tommi in Switzerland, as he wished, and that was a relief.
I subscribed again to the Australian Chamber Orchestra for 2023, having enjoyed the 2022 season. I must be well into my third decade of subscribing now, having started in Canberra many years ago.
Greg and I managed to catch up a couple of times with my cousins Philip & Ros and Helen & Terry at the Patonga Boathouse.
Other than all of that, my mad obsession with listening to podcasts continued and I may do a short post reviewing my annual listening soon. I also continued reading each day (on my Kindle) and that will be the subject another post coming soon. Hopefully I can find some affordable overseas air fares to jazz up 2023!
Best, Mal
Swimming in Sydney during COVID Lockdowns Part 4: Birchgrove
Yes, although it seemed insane at first, when the 5km radius restriction was imposed in mid-August 2021 our best option for a swim proved to be Birchgrove, between the Balmain Sailing Club and Dawn Fraser Baths. The stories about the presence of bull sharks in the harbour had us hunting down research about them online and it seems as though they don’t really enjoy cold water, so with water temperature around 14 degrees Celsius at one stage and rarely getting to 17 C, we felt relatively safe.
It seems to be about 400m from the Sailing Club to Dawn Fraser Baths and we were happy to stay there. The regular distance allowed us to structure the sessions like our pool sets and everyone seemed content with that too. The water temperature proved shocking at first, but you do get used to it and once again, most of us had wetsuits. There was no cafe nearby, but lockdown rules prevented us congregating at cafes, so there was no point in having one anyway.
We usually swam three to four 800m loops, including some medleys, drills, build-ups, drafting practice in pairs (or threes), distance-per-stroke and some changing pace work.
One of our swimmer’s partner (Helen) loves to bake and she brought us BAKED GOODSTM on a couple of occasions, including the best frosted cinnamon scrolls I’ve ever had.
Apart from some razor sharp oyster shells on ladders and pylons the only hazard we encountered were jelly fish that seemed to stay about an arms length under the water. On a couple of days they were all over our course, but they proved pretty harmless. One swimmer did see a big scary stinger, but I didn’t. Maybe I am blessed with an ability to not notice things?
I missed the last two weeks of swimming due to my wetsuit being sent to Caringbah for repair. I could have driven or even walked down to Caringbah pick it up several days ago, but I wasn’t allowed to and it still has not arrived in the post.
By the last week of September we were led to believe that outdoor pools would reopen on the 27th, so hopefully this will be the last time I need to post about swimming during lockdowns. I live alone and my relations are all outside both my 5km and 10km radius during lockdown, so this was basically the only way I could regularly catch up with friends. Swimming is very important to me in a way that is hard to express, but I don’t much like swimming alone, so I am really grateful to a range of people who kept me company over these lockdown periods: Howard, Henry, Rob, Anita, Justine, Kirk, Axel, Carl, Paul Simon and Richard (hope I’ve not forgotten anyone else who swam with us at any of our locations).
Swimming in Sydney during COVID Lockdowns Part 3b: Clovelly & beyond
We swam at Clovelly for a month from mid-July to mid-August and in the last couple of weeks when conditions and time permitted we ventured out of Clovelly, at first into Gordons Bay and finally to Coogee and back.
Once we were comfortable swimming to and within Gordons Bay we did it whenever sea conditions getting out of Clovelly and around the headland were favourable and once when swimming within Clovelly was just about impossible (and dangerous). I was shredded on the rocks when getting out at Gordons, but the swim itself was fantastic.
At Clovelly we really noticed a fair bit of sea life in the clear waters. There are a few different types of fish in Clovelly itself, including quite a few Blue Gropers and in Gordons Bay we saw a few generally harmless Port Jackson Sharks and probably a couple of small Grey Nurse Sharks too. They did not seem that interested in us. Nevertheless, I usually wore a Sharkbanz anklet.
It is pretty open going around the headland and heading south towards Gordons Bay, so there was some risk involved. I think the cold waters probably kept one of our big fears away (the nastier Noahs).
As COVID cases started to rise we started to wonder whether a tighter restriction would be imposed thus limiting our access to Clovelly and other open water swimming areas. So in our fourth week we began squeezing in more swims and we wondered whether we should push a swim to Coogee Beach and back. On what was to be our final Sunday swim at Clovelly conditions looked great and so off we went. It was truly memorable and really enjoyable.
Sadly, this did prove to be our final Clovelly swim and the last swim of the 10km from home period. On the way to Coogee we encountered a couple of surfers and also a couple of other swimmers doing a similar route. As we approached Coogee Beach we almost ran into a small group coming out. We all stopped and as I had a light blue swim cap on I asked them for their identity documents in my best authoritarian voice. They said they were only swimming in pairs, so I said I would let them off this one time and we swam away laughing our heads off.
Next up: where to swim after the 5km from home restrictions kicked in. Any guesses?
Swimming in Sydney during COVID Lockdowns Part 3a: Clovelly 2021
In mid-July 2021, after the horro of the freezing waters at Murray Rose Pool, we moved our swimming to Clovelly. I had been hesitant to go there as I thought it would be too crowded. Usually, however, it was only croded early morning and around lunchtime. Most people seemed to just come down for a quick dip then warmed up on the concrete and left.
Conditions varied but we usually completed 50-60 minutes with most of us wearing wetsuits. When we started the water temperature was usually 17-18 degrees Celsius, but it was very cold in the shallows
Initially we stayed within the confines of the long bay at Clovelly, doing what was basically a triangular circuit of the swimmable area a number of times (see map below). I had been describing Malabar as “Big Clovelly” because they’re pretty similar in form. They’re both ideal locations for swim training and there’s the added benefit of varying conditions. We all found it very enjoyable.
After a while we started to notice a few swimmers coming into the bay from Tom Caddy Point which is to the far right of the image above. They looked to have swum around the car park on the headland, from Gordons Bay or perhaps even from Coogee to the south. Then we saw some people swimming around in front of the car park so that seeded the thought for us …
On some days it looked a bit rough to get out beyond the rock wall at Clovelly so we stayed put for a few more days. We did, however, eventually venture out towards Gordons Bay one day when conditions looked ideal.
To find out what happened when we did venture out, you’ll have to wait until my next post.
Swimming in Sydney during COVID Lockdowns Part 3: Redleaf Pool 2021
When the 10 km radius limit was imposed we could no longer travel down to Malabar as it was beyond our travel limit. Ugh. This new phase of our COVID lockdown had started badly. Redleaf or more correctly Murray Rose Pool is a harbourside pool run by Woollahra Municipal Council on Seven Shillings Beach. It looked ideal for us with change rooms, showers and a decent cafe for a post-swim coffee.
I was unable to find parking anywhere nearby, so I was not going to make our agreed start time. I did find parking eventually, somewhere in South Melbourne from memory, and then began the long trek with my wetsuit and towel to the pool. I may as well have left the car at home and walked from there. In the end I was only a few hours late, but I still raced to get into my wetsuit and then ran down to the beach to feel the water temperature and join my freezing comrades.
It seems to be a little-known fact, but the waters in Murray Rose Pool are piped in directly from the Antarctic. This pool is the coldest pool on our planet. Upon entering the water my brain was immediately frozen and I had no idea what I was doing for the next 45 minutes. My Garmin watch told me the water temperature was 15-16 degrees Celsius, but that is rubbish. It was nowhere near that warm.
Unfortunately there are no photos of this swimming location as my fingers were too frozen to be trusted near a camera or even my phone. It took me approximately three weeks to warm up and feel somewhat human again. My brain may never recover. Needles to say, we did not return.
Swimming in Sydney during COVID Lockdowns Part 2: Malabar 2021
We were plunged into another COVID lockdown in June 2021, so we returned to Malabar and started getting used to colder water once again. It was a bit shocking at first because our regular outdoor pool is pretty well-heated. Weather conditions in June and July were not always great so a couple of swims were cancelled or postponed.
Once again, most of us swam in wetsuits and the shallow waters of the bay had not warmed up at all. According to my Garmin watch the water temperature varied between 18 and 19 degrees Celsius, but it stabilised around 18C as we moved into July. Little did we know at the time, but we would soon be looking back on this as “positively balmy”.
Once again we would structure our swims so they resembled the variety of our regular pool sessions. This meant including some medleys, drills, build-ups, pyramids, distance-per-stroke work and some change-pace work. Because we were not confined by 50m laps, it was usually based around stroke counts, during our laps between the ocean pool and the northern boat ramp.
In 2021, however, we could only swim at Malabar in June and early July because once the 10 km radius restriction was introduced, most of us could no longer make it to Malabar from our homes.
Now we had to farewell Malabar and find somewhere else to swim …
FromMelbin 