Queenscliff Blue Water Challenge 2016

What a glorious mild Saturday to head off to the Bellarine Peninsula to do another open water swim. At Queenscliff the anticipation is always there with all the crowd hype and the cannon blast start sending shock waves to fire up your competitive surge.

The fun all starts at the registration tent to meet the fellow Belugas and scan for your adversaries. The shirt fits fine so off we go to the coffee shop for the social spark to ignite the morning.

Tactical strategies for the swim are discussed and all the excuses under the sun made by others as to why it will be a challenge to pull out their best (perhaps these are tactics too).  However it is also a way to secure the plans for the rest of the day. The obligatory nervous relief visits are part of the ritual for some more than others and the scene is set.

Near the water all the buzz is about the chop and the currents neither of which were deemed unfamiliar. Now for a select few there was a pact made to lose the suits and get the full feel of the water.

I must say the experience could be called liberating but the swim times might not. Perhaps in the future some of the other Belugas might join the purists and take the non wetsuit plunge too.

As usual the intra-club rivalry meant that the precious seconds gave bragging rites and also meant there were more close calls to come in the future. Enjoyment is the ultimate goal and there seems to have been plenty.

I will not name names but the performances by those concerned who earned place gets makes me proud to belong to a pod of Belugas and rightfully our competitive presence noted.

Once the swimming was completed the best of all was yet to come with a delicious lunch planned at Jaye’s family beach house. Just as it was last year, the table was invitingly  set for our arrival with places for all and flowers too. The food contribution by everyone was great and it was respectfully devoured with the accompaniment of some nice wine and coffee. Thank you to Jaye and her generous grandparents.

I would like to wrap up the report with thanks for a great day to everyone. What a wonderful sport. Results below, with a big thank you to Anthony for compiling.

The Boroughcouttas annual Blue Water Challenge was this year billed as an MSV inter-club challenge, so it seemed like a great opportunity to test ourselves against the opposition in an open water contest instead of in the pool.  Jaye’s invitation to throw a club shindig at her family home afterwards sealed the deal for most of us, and about half of the Belugas membership headed for Queenscliff.

Jaye’s cousin Shane is unfortunately still a few years away from being eligible for Masters, so we adopted him as club mascot for the day.  A scorching swim saw him finish 2nd in the Male 13-17 category, while Sue Cox also finished on the podium with 2nd place in the Female 40-49 age group.

Raoul Mulder, Duncan Howard and Paul Turner inspecting an impromptu ‘selfie’ at the finish line.

Beluga Sue Cox (right) with the other placegetters in the female 40-49 age category.

Now, we do fancy ourselves as open water ‘specialists’ a little bit, so it was very encouraging to see the Belugas finish in equal 5th place of the 27 clubs represented on the day!  Everyone did sensationally well given the tough (choppy) conditions – results below.