March - 2014 Ros McLean

Awarded for her Open Water swimming achievements including :
•3rd in the female 70+ short course category of the Great Victorian Swim series, and
•1st in the 1.2km swim at the Bonbeach Swim Classic

Well done Ros!

Sue Harbottle was awarded a life membership at this years A.G.M

Congratulations to Sue Harbottle who was presented with a Life Membership at the recent Doncaster Dolphins AGM for outstanding service to the club.
The following was read by Jan Sayers on behalf of Mal Williams:
Life Membership is the highest honour that a Club can bestow on a member and is given to someone in recognition of their contribution to the club.
With the Dolphins this contribution may be in the Pool, in Administration, committee work, participation in Club activities or more likely as a combination of all of the above.
I firmly believe that there is no one in the club who has contributed more in all the above areas.

This member has won more titles and broken more records at all levels from Club to State, National and World than I would dare to attempt to list—a fierce competitor but always with grace and humility, never one to brag.
This person has also been a great contributor to the club out of the pool and has been Vice President, Club Captain, Coach and Committee member for a lot of years and always among the first to put their hand up for any extra tasks.
Above all of these achievements / contributions a person with a great personality, smile, and a  general caring nature and willingness to offer advice or assistance to anyone in the club,   perhaps the  greatest contribution to the Dolphins . So many members, new and old, have benefited from the advice and friendship over the 20 + years being involved with the club.
As my dearest and special friend it’s an honor and privilege to present you Sue Harbottle with Life Membership to the Doncaster Dolphins.
Congratulations Sue on being made Life Member of the Doncaster Dolphins, an honor well deserved.

Sue is pictured here with fellow Olympian Brooke Hansen at the Dolphins 30th Birthday Celebrations displaying their Olympic costumes.

By Rod Clarke:

2013 saw a number of changes in the coaching arrangements for the Doncaster Dolphins.  The year started out with Sarah Posner as Head Coach, Rod Clarke as Assistant Coach and Andy Warren assisting on Saturday mornings. In April Sarah expressed her desire to spend more time on her triathlon training and the Club took the view that their Head Coach needed to be coaching at least twice a week and especially on Saturday mornings when most members were there. As a result Sarah decided to step down from coaching altogether.  I would like to thank Sarah for the time and effort she put into coaching the Doncaster Dolphins and wish her all the best with her triathlon career.
Assistant Coach, Rod Clarke took over from Sarah Posner as interim Head Coach. A coaching team was put together to make the best use of the skills and coaching resources the Club had and to allow for a reasonable amount of flexibility. The team included; Rod Clarke, Sue Harbottle, Andy Warren and Margie Moore.  Rod would coach Monday and Saturday and Sue would coach Thursday and Saturday.  Kim and Andy would assist on alternate Saturdays.
Later in the year the coaching arrangements changed with Kim withdrawing from Saturdays and the move to have just two coaches on Saturday mornings ie 2 lanes each. The coaching team was now; Rod Clarke, Sue Harbottle, Andy Warren and Margie Moore as back-up.  At this stage Rod was confirmed by the Committee as the Club’s Head Coach.
The coaching fees went up from $3.50 to $4.00 on the 1st of January 2014, this was necessary to ensure the Club covered the cost of the coaching.  There have been hidden costs to the coaching that have been born by the coaches in the past and they include; professional indemnity insurance, professional development costs to maintain the coaching licences and coaching licence renewal costs.  All these when added up can be quite significant.
I would like to thank the coaching team for their input and support during the year.  It was a team effort.  I would also like to thank Aquarena management for their support of the Club and to Nic Campbell the new head of coaching at Aquarena.
Pool Competitions
The Dolphins have been well represented and numerous pool competitions including;
State Long Course
Nationals in Sydney
World Masters Games in Italy
State Short Course
Mildura Masters
State Relays
Australian Masters Games in Geelong
State Long Distance Short Course
Various Interclub Meets
Open Water Swims
This area of the Club swimming continues to grow in popularity with over 40 members swimming in a least one open water swim.  A number of Dolphins gained places in the Cousins Swim Series.  The 2013-14 season saw the Doncaster Dolphins with the Masters Swimming Victoria top points Club Award.  Training does pay off.
The Open Water Swim Camp was again held around the Dromana Pier Bay Swim and for those who attended it was a great weekend.  We swam the Dromana Pier Bay Swim on the Saturday and on the Sunday, just happen to swim with some real dolphins at Mount Martha.  This was followed by breakfast with the Life Saving Club. Many thanks go to our hosts on the Mornington Peninsular; Ros and John Mclean, Mal and Maureen Williams and Kaye and Bevyn Jarrott.
The Lorne Pier to Pub was another big weekend for the Club with many members choosing to overnight to avoid the crush on the Saturday morning.
Congratulations to all those who participated and especially the placegetters, and to those who swam both the long and short distance swims on the same day.  A big effort.
Training
The numbers at training have been good.  Saturday mornings continue to be the biggest session with 35+ being quite common.  The week nights have also been well attended and many brave ones have toughed it out during the winter.  The coaches hope that swimmers have found the sessions both challenging and varied.
Swimmers should remember that if they have some suggestions or comments to make, then feel free to talk to the coaches to ensure you get what you want out of the training sessions.
Dolphins 1st Training Camp
The Dolphins conducted a Training Camp at Aquarena on April 27-28.  Although the weather was against us, the numbers were good and the speakers were excellent. A survey was conducted after the Training Camp to gain information on how the camp was received.  The coaches have taken notice of the feedback to incorporate ideas into the 2014 Training Camp.
Feedback is important whether you are an advanced swimmer or a plodder, so do not hold back.
Swim For Life Program
The Swim For Life Program was again conducted in 2013.  This year we had to charge a small fee of $20 for the 4 sessions as we could not get sufficient funding from the Council to cover all the costs. There will be no further funding from the Council and so we will be looking to the Bendigo Bank for support and thus the reason the Club has moved its banking from the Commonwealth to the Bendigo Bank.
This is a worthwhile community activity for the Club which often results in a new members.  Many thanks go to David Mason who did all the organising, the coaching staff (worked free of charge), the video crew and club members who came down to help out.
We should also thank Aquarena for making the pool space available without charge and the Manningham Council for their support.
Closing
I would again like to thank the Coaching Team (Sue Harbottle, Margie Moore, Andy Warren, Kim Dewar and of course Sarah Posner) for their support and input during the year.
I would also like to thank the Club’s Committee for their confidence in me as Head Coach.
The Club Captains, Caroline Clarkson and Murray Burns, should also be thanked for the hours they have put in organising relays and accommodation for various competitions. You did a great job.
I would also like to thank the Club’s members for their support during the year and wish you all the best in 2014.