Q: At which bay beach swim would you expect to be beckoned to the waters edge by the enchanting cry of bagpipes?
A: Pier to Perignon swim starting at Sorrento pier and finishing at Portsea

P2P 2016 …… conditions recorded as FINE.

The planned morning gathering of Belugas occurred at Portsea where the final catering and awards take place. Raoul, Anthony and myself were the first to arrive with Craig shortly after which meant a tall order of coffee and food. Peter Keogh and daughter Ella arrived as keen as ever with anticipation. Alexandra and her family bounded in with smiles. Doris and Janet parked a mile away but arrived to a warm greeting.

Before long we were standing at the start line where Vaughan expressed, like others, how much he enjoyed this scenic swim. Paul G was also there sporting his now very holy wetsuit.

The much anticipated Anthony and Raoul battle would once again play out and the psychological warfare included stripping off the wetsuit for a bare chested and skin to water contest. Others exchanged many pleasantries about the swim course and how crucial navigation was when searching for the all important current.

The siren sounded and hustle and bustle began. As I was not wearing a wetsuit along with Peter and Ella, I knew that my time would be slower than usual which meant that navigation was even more critical. To my surprise 500m into the swim in the shallows I swam over a giant black stingray about 3m wide(the encounter still did nothing for my finishing time).

Before long after battling a little chop and gliding along merrily through the current we were thrashing to the finishing line. Once over the line the relief sets in and everyone tries to measure their swim. Vaughan gets the club line honours. As it transpired Ella out performed her father and Raoul triumphed(bare knuckles) over Anthony, for now. In fact, according to all the buzzing and smiley faces I think we were all winners on the day.

The celebrations were meant to involve a formal presentation to Raoul for 10 P2P swims by Big Ted in the presence of Raoul’s twin sister. Unfortunately there was a stuff up and Raoul had to settle for me grabbing the framed award from the table and duly congratulating him.

There was one Beluga (Richard) that had to sit this one out due to illness so I hope that he is now well and truly on the mend. Thanks buddy, its because of you I got to write this report, see you in the pool soon.