Club news in 2012

Acting Chairman’s Annual Report

By Fiona Seymour

Despite Marlins being homeless for most of 2012 members continued to meet regularly at Medina to keep the club atmosphere going. We’re delighted to be back at The Heights and enjoying the newly refurbished facilities. The committee has continued to meet throughout the year and with Nancy Goodwin stepping down as Chair in May I was asked to stand in as Acting Chair. Nancy had been club chairman for 3 years and membership secretary for 4 and on behalf of the committee I would like to thank her for all her hard work.  Nancy continues to support the club and, along with Gordon Osborne, she organised the incredibly popular pier to pier swim in August. This year saw the 60th anniversary of the Sandown to Shanklin Sea swim and as usual it was well oversubscribed. This diamond year was marked with a commemorative hat which was given to each swimmer. With a disappointing summer in terms of weather it was a relief that the sun shone on the day of the swim and it was hailed a huge success .

Earlier this year, Jenny Ball also stepped down from the committee as a long serving member. Jenny has made an enormous contribution to the club in organising the masters open swim meet for the past 13 years including the meet this year which was held at Medina for the first time and was the most financially successful to date. Again, on behalf the committee, I would like to thank Jenny for all her efforts and hard work in supporting the club.

Fund-raising through event organising such as the pier to pier and open swim meet enables the club to subsidise the swim sessions and pay for extra coaching support. Without these funds the club would struggle to survive. Next year the committee is attempting to organise the February open meet without Jenny at the helm although she is very kindly supporting Kim in organising the officials and has been a great help in providing information and guidance when it’s been needed. None of these events can be run without a team of volunteers and if anyone feels they can help at the swim meet in February or the Pier to Pier next August then please do let us know – your support is very much appreciated.

Despite being homeless for almost a year club members have been incredibly busy taking part in events such as:

• the T30 swim in January with club members achieving medal places and 5th place overall as a team
• the Marlins masters open meet at Medina
• the training camp in Lanzarote and surviving it
• the cross Solent swim from Hurst Castle to Colwell Bay
• the Calshot sea swim
• the World Masters Championships in Italy
• the ASA National Masters at Sheffield
• the Sandown to Shanklin sea swim
• the Mencap Mile at Dorney Lake
• the West Wight and Brighstone triathlons
• and the inaugural Isle of Wight Long Distance Championships.

There have also been notable achievements out of the water including: Jenny being nominated as President of the Hampshire ASA, the first time this post has been given to an Islander and an enormous honour – many congratulations; also Peter Harding and Chandra Shaw who survived the rigorous selection process to become Olympic Games Makers; and Fiona Newnham who was appointed to score at England’s one day international versus South Africa cricket match at Lord’s in September.

On a personal level, congratulations must go to Kate Wood on the birth of her beautiful baby daughter Emily and to Ruth and Ian Butler who were married this summer.

As well as the Tuesday and Thursday morning club sessions, Marlins have introduced a Monday night session with a set training programme and coaching provided once a month. Jack Grundy’s training sessions have proved very popular and we’re also delighted that world masters record holder, Jane Asher, is returning to Marlins to run a Master Class next Monday.

As Acting Chair I would like on behalf of its members to thank the committee for their continued support. To Joan Kidd, our president, Gill Griffiths, Peter Thompson, Duncan Heenan, Lindsey Shenton, Kim Holmes, Ruth Butler, Chandra Shaw, as well as Jan Smith (my mum) for agreeing to be membership secretary and bravely grappling with the multitude of forms and excel spreadsheets. Also Gordon Osborne who, despite being unable to do any pool swimming, continues to support the club through organising the pier to pier swim as well as keeping a firm grasp on all that is financial in his role as treasurer. Thanks also go to Fiona Newnham for keeping us well organised, in order and on course as club secretary.