Hobart – Brunswick Belugas

Short Course Nationals 2015

April 8, 2015 Vito Mure

The day finally arrived to face up to all the chest beating and speculation of a special swimming performance by Anthony Ferguson and myself – we flew to Hobart to represent the Brunswick Belugas at the 2015 MSA National Championships.

The morning in Melbourne was damp and cool, good preparation for the Tasmanian climate; the flight across Bass Straight was quick to say the least; we must have had a tail wind.

After a 20 minute bus trip we found ourselves doing some warm up laps at the Hobart Aquatic Centre to get accustomed to the 25 metre pool set up. The atmosphere was great with everyone happy to be doing the sport they loved. Shortly after arriving we met a couple of familiar Melbourne swimmers and also chatted with some friendly Sydney competitors throughout the day.

hobart-pool — The Belugas’ pride on pool deck at the Hobart Aquatic Centre

I was in an earlier heat to Anthony who unknowingly did everything to transfer his anxieties to me. Needless to say all the focus and contemplation allowed me hit the mark with a time of 13 min 15 secs. Anthony was three heats after me and as anxious as ever. After watching so many previous heats it was obvious that a steady approach was required to help maintain technique to get the best result – Anthony did exactly this and achieved a respectable time of 11 min 38 secs.

After our swim the time arrived to find a local pub and celebrate our triumph. We happened on The Hope and Anchor, the oldest pub in Australia. It was certainly enjoyable to be able to look back on our performance over a couple of pints. The next important thing was to get some food because we unfortunately missed lunch. We found a nice seafood restaurant by the water’s edge called “Mures” (no connection to me).

hobart-pub — Enjoying a well-deserved Guinness at the Hobart Hope and Anchor

After some sightseeing of quaint little Hobart, which finally involved dodging peak hour traffic and a trip to another pub (the Brunswick Hotel), we caught a cab back to the airport.

All in all, it was an extremely tiring but eventful day. We sat in the departure lounge in Hobart with full bellies and heavy eyelids, and returned to Melbourne spent.