August 2013

Hi reader,
In July we were all excited to see our swimmers succeed overseas. You guys showed great team spirit
when one of our swimmers was fighting a battle far away with your support and interest in their goal.
Now for a summary of what happened in July and what new things August will bring:
Up Coming Events
Our Saturday swims – www.swimadventures.com.au
Website registration and fees changes
July and August –Vladswim swimmers in Europe
New Arrivals
Coaches’ corner
Swimmers of the month: John Jameson, Peter Dolnik,
Swim Adventures – Greece registrations are closing Wed 30th July
UPCOMING EVENTS
The main season of open water swimming is still running in Pacific, USA and Europe. If you are
looking for new open water locations these countries guarantee great swim.
31st August Maui swims in USA put the distances in?
2nd September Waikiki Rough Swim
7th -14th September – Kalymnos, Greece with Vladswim
SATURDAY SWIM
August will be the last month for our Saturday swims, after which we will take break for a few
weeks.
The first ocean swim in the 2013/2014 season will be on 12th Oct 2013.
Please check our Swim Adventures website for updates http://swimadventures.com.au/one-dayswims
The water temperature is currently around 16-17degrees on beaches and around 2 degrees less in
harbour (Balmoral, La Perouse, and Brighton). For this reason swimmer who are not used to cold water
please wear a wetsuit.
27th July Brighton Le Sand
3rd August North Bondi or Manly
10th August La Perouse
17th August Shelly to Manly
24th August Balmoral Beach last ocean swims 2012/2013
We often don’t confirm the exact location of the swim until close to the weekend so we can take into
account weather and surf conditions the above is just what we have planned. Please sign up to our
mailing list in order to receive confirmation of the swim time and location each week.
WEBSITE REGISTRATIONS ARE
COMPULSORY FOR ALL
VLADSWIM SWIMMERS
We would like to ask everyone who has not yet registered via our website in the past to do so. Please
can you check this - even if you have attended squads for a long time e.g. 2 years, there is a chance that
we do not have your registration details, which we need for insurance purposes.
FEE CHANGES
From 1st September 2013 our monthly bronze pass fees will increase to $140
All current bronze pass holders will be notified via email from our attendance recording system –
PassFee.
Note: All other squad fees including casual, multi-pass, silver and gold pass are unchanged.
VLADSWIM SWIMMERS IN EUROPE –
JULY 2013
1, Channel swimmers
The First Vladswim Channel swimmer of 2013 was John Jameson. He successfully completed his
swim in a time of 18 hours and 16 minutes. A Big thanks goes to our coach Charm and John’s family
(especially wife Sorina) for their ongoing support. John made his dream come true through his
dedication to training and putting the hours in in the pool and on the long open water swims and nighttime swim sessions at Redleaf pool (perhaps to explain to people what work he did to achieve his
goal?). Congratulations!
Congratulations also go to Jason Connor. Jason swam with us during the summer at ABC pool and for
the last 5 months he continued with squad sessions with Red Top Swim in London. Jason completed
his English Channel swim in 11hours and 30min. Great job!
The third Channel swimmer of 2013 was Peter Dolnik. Peter was born in Slovakia so his achievement
makes him the 5th Slovakian swimmer to have completed the Channel. His time of 11 hours and
43min shows a fantastic effort – well done Peter on such a great result.
2, Triathlon and Ironman in Europe
Clyde Rosanowski raced Ironman Challenge Roth, Germany. His swim leg took 1hour 3min with an
overall finish time of 9hours and 31min which placed him41st in his age category! Great job Clyde!
Nienke competed in the European XTERRA Classic Triathlon in Switzerland. She came 20th overall in
3hours and 5min, which also placed her as the 9th pro female in France and 6th pro female in Italy. She
will now be staying in Europe for Xterra Czech and Xterra Germany. Good luck Nienke!
3, Open water swim
Karl Bourke finished his 13km swim in Galway Bay, Ireland time 3hour and 56min. great swim.
VLADSWIM SWIMMERS – AUGUST 2013
Justin Hanby does not leave for England until September however
his fundraising event is on the 23rd August called The Black Dog
Channel Swim Charity Night in Tattersalls Club on Elizabeth Street.
The doors open from 6pm. To support this charity please attend
this fundraising evening.
Marty Filipowski is another solo swimmer heading to Dover in late
August. His greatest support is Sonny who continuously
accompanied him on kayak during his swim preparation. Charm is
in Dover and looking forward to join his boat crew as a coach.
The English Channel season continues for our swimmers. This
week Ross Youngman left Australia, to join his channel team
swimmers. Their tide is from 29th July to 6th August 2013. We will
keep an eye on their swim track and cheer them on from the
comfort of our chairs. If you would like to more information go on
www. www.teammadfish.wordpress.com
Maccabiah Games in Israel – This year we have 2 swimmers attending the Maccabiah Games.
Phillip Behr and Rozanne Green have been working hard towards their goal and I believe they will
be happy with their result. Good luck
Open water swim overseas – Katarina is flying to Europe for her 16km swim in Croatia and Cyril
will compete in the Hawaii Rough Swim of 3.4km. We look forward to hearing more news!
Nicolas, Jennifer and James are flying to USA for Manhattan relay swim. Good luck guys
NEW BABIES IN VLADSWIM TEAM
We would like to send our congratulation to new babies in Vladswim group.
Tamara Lang to girl Odette
Scott D’Amours to boy Hugo
10 months ago Louise and Damien had little Angus and last Friday, Angus was already at the pool
helping to run the Friday session.
COACHES’ CORNER REPORT
FROM ALL COACHES
VLAD - head coach
July was an exciting month with John’s, Jason’s and Peter’s
swims. The guys brought to the team positive spirit and result of
great work in our squad. The swims also give positive
momentum to other swimmers for their upcoming swims. I
believe this success will continue next month.
At the end of the August we will finish our morning sessions in
the fresh water pool at Victoria pool. And from September we
will be back in nice salty ABC swimming pool. I believe
everyone is looking forward to moving to more buoyant pool
water. We are still working on expanding the Vladswim program
for summer with the possibility of using all 3 swimming pools
(ABC, Victoria and Cook Pool). We will inform you very soon of
the new timetable. Those who wish to continue swimming at
Victoria pool, please let us know.
In August, I am planning to change our Tuesday session a little. The session will be more about
playing with intensity called FARTLEK. You will see a set like 800 locky, or 4x200 one 50 strong and 150
in Aerobic pace.
Wed and Fridays are staying at the same in A/T or Vo2 max intensity with the main set max 2.5km
distance.
As you know in September I’m heading off to Greece with some of our swimmers. During these 2.5
weeks coaches Ewan, Martin and Dean will be covering all the sessions. I also asked some
swimmers especially Scott to help our coaches. I trust my coaches will make your squads sessions
enjoyable and they will run smoothly.
I am looking forward to next month’s news and updates. It’s looking interesting with another Channel
swimmer, Cyril in Hawaii race, Katarina in Croatia 16km swim and other swimmers in triathlon races.
Good luck and remember smile and be happy when you are swimming.
Thank you
Vlad
Cook and Phillip pool - Morning Squads with
Ewan MacDonald
Who said 3 into 1 wouldn't work?
After a decade or so of three full lanes of early morning squaddies at
Cook+Phillip Park - under the ever watchful eye of Steve Garner (Be-ASport), Vlad and, occasionally, me - the new venue managers decided a
year or so ago that just one lane would be made available to Vladswim.
Turmoil… how to manage lanes of easy, medium and fast swimmers on
either side of just one 50m long black line? With summer, the answer
came in the form of Andrew Boy Charlton pool: but what about those who
preferred the earlier 5.30am start and the convenience of the year-round,
mid-city pool?
And what about winter??
Well, as the swimmers will tell you, we have coped and adapted to 'what we have been given'. Despite
the charisma-challenged management, and arguments over entry fees and empty lanes before 6am,
the early morning club has worked out a system that can accommodate the differing levels, speeds and
needs … and all within one lane.
The key is commitment, enthusiasm and respect. Every swimmer has come to know their place in the
scheme of things: who can lead, who will take over when necessary, who has to leave early for work
and who arrives later in the session. Sometimes the lane looks like an never-ending chain of
mechanical arm-stroking; sometimes the lifeguards are intrigued by swimmers working in pairs,
mirroring each other as they elegantly rotate and reach for the other end of the pool … each session
tailored for the swimmers present and the range of specific goals.
If the news of 'one lane only' was meet with dismay, looking at the outcome and individual results,
there's something to be said about the power of a team effort in resolving what, at first, seemed an
impossible situation. While it may be hard to get out of bed on a miserable winter morning and be in the
water at 5.30am, the cosiness of one lane and the enduring camaraderie that has come with it,
suggests to me that each swimmer leaves Cook+Phillip well-primed to take on the day … and well
before many others have thrown back the doona!
Ewen
Cook and Phillip pool - Evening Squads with
Dean and Martin
Tuesday and Thursday has seen an increase number of swimmers
particularly Thursday where we are focusing on technique. We are also
welcoming some new swimmers Sasha and Fernando and welcome
back to Victoria Toy. Great improvements across all swimmers, but
particularly Pia, Kat and Andrew.
Martin has returned from his European holiday so we are both keen to get
Vlad's swimmers ready for the spring/summer swim season. See you at
C&P 6pm-7pm Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Dean
SWIMMERS OF THE MONTH
I believe that everyone will agree with two swimmers of the month selected. John and Peter are
swimmers who were working very hard to succussed in Channel. We are so proud them. Thank you
Guys
Peter Dolnik
Favorite Event/Race: In terms of event, Vladswim Melbourne Cold Water Camp combining
camaraderie, nice surrounding, fun and adventure. Hong Kong Clean Half marathon swim is my
favorite race so far.
Most Memorable Experience: It’s when during my English Channel crossing Reg Brickell stopped the
boat about 2k from the French coast saying I have to sprint to shore because the tide is against me. I
had plenty of strength left and it was only 2k. I knew then that I ‘bagged’ the English Channel swim. I
won’t forget that feeling as long as I live. In general, it’s the end of each long distance race when my
hand touches the ocean’s bottom. It’s always the sweetest feeling ever.
Greatest Achievement: Successfully raising two beautiful girls.
Favourite Quote: ‘Wo steht das geschrieben?’ (‘Where is it written?’) by Martin Luther. To me this
reminds me that the future has not been written as yet. The quote also reminds me to write it myself
rather than let anyone else write it for me.
Favourite Place to Swim: Wylie’s Baths in Coogee and lidos in Zurich.
Who motivates you: Martin Strel, a Slovenian long distance swimmer. He combines my two passions
(often at the same time) – love for red wine and marathon swimming. I want to push my swimming to
the extremes he has.
Toughest Competitor: My ambition. No matter what I do, I cannot beat or satisfy it. After each
achievement, it pushes me further. It’s a blessing and a curse.
One thing nobody would know about you: I am an open book – what you see is what you get. No
secrets about me.
John Jameson
Favourite Event/Race: Just swimming with my friends in Lane 1.
Most Memorable Experience: Approaching the shore of France and yelling out holy f....., France.
Greatest Achievement: Swimming the English Channel on my daughters 4th birthday
Favourite Quote: “Watch me and I will show you how great I am" - Muhammad Ali
Favourite Place to Swim: Bondi Beach with friends
Who motivates you: Muhammad Ali; Charm and Vlad
Toughest Competitor: Muhammad Ali - He is the greatest ever.
One thing nobody would know about you: I watch DVD's and youtube videos of Muhammad Ali every
day. I think he is "King of the World" and the greatest sports man that ever lived.
GREECE – 7th Sep to 14th Sep
Thank you all who booked their swimming holidays with us!
If you were thinking of joining us but haven’t made a move
or did not contact us, this is your last chance – the
registrations are closing on Wed 30th July 2013.
FACEBOOK
For all those on Facebook, please click on the following link and become a member of the Vladswim
group. The group will have information on upcoming events and news about what our swimmers have
been up to.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/87703708630/
Should you require any further information, please don’t hesitate in contacting us.