Over 400 Bold and Beautiful Swimmers and still counting….including over 50 new people!
Beautiful early morning shot..courtesy of Gaetan
An incredible turn out today for the Anzac swim! This blog will be a slightly bigger one, spread out over a 4 parts…Arrival / Anzac Ceremony / The Return /The Jimbles and other matters!
Part 1 – Arrival
There was a great crowd of excited happy people this morning – and many newbies arrived all at once…See second photo of Ian making sure everyone was signed in!
The walk out went on for so long I am sure people were reaching Shelly as some were still leaving the beach! People were signing in and arriving way after 7 … Chris – 7.04am! 😉
Some of the great people we had along! ….good to see Tim and Linda venturing out into the freezing cold seas of 24 degrees – they don’t usually come under 25! 2 cute paddle boarders who passed by me – just as I got my first hit of a Jimble! (see part 4)
Actually the water was colder than it has been around 19.5 – but conditions were ideal – especially for our new people. The swim over was lovely and fairly clear and just how we like it. A lot of people took their time and enjoyed themselves which was good to see (because then I could at least not be very last!)
Part 2 – Anzac Rememberance Ceremony
Greg McDonagh arrived early looking dapper! The guy who sells the corn on weekends dressed the part complete with Jeep! And the sign in sheets with the Rosemary that John Kelly kindly brought along for everyone to take on the swim.
View of everyone on the beach at Shelly. Bruce Baird reading the Ode and Greg playing the last post on his trumpet. We all stood in a circle around them and the atmosphere was quiet and respectful for the minute silence in rememberance of those who fought for us.
From B & B swimmer Simon Cowell: “Bruce Gave a heartfelt tribute to all those who had fallen and mentioned every war Australia has been involved in since 1915. Following the reading of the Ode Lest We Forget Greg played the last post”
Part 3 – Return
Going, going, gone…..
Catching a lovely wave in, Attracta where have you been! 2 of our more Fast Elite swimmers – Jalna and not sure who the other one is…
Part 4 – Jimbles and other matters
Pretty much everyone seems to have been stung today and no it wasn’t lice it was… jimbles! Those pesky jellyfish that arrive around about now! One of the upsides of swimming in winter though is that you are so numb you don’t usually feel the jimble stings! They are nothing to worry about though – even though 2nd photo shows what a sting looks like – they do go away after a few months…I mean hours. Their stings are a free Bold and Beautiful badge of honour too – so be proud of your markings! Last photo is of a pair of fins found in the surf – normally 1 fin is lost but I have never seen a pair! Hopefully the owner made it back safely??
A message from Anna A...B&B swimmer and Surf Club member…
It was wonderful to see so many people join in for today’s swim and the magnificent remembrance ceremony for the Anzacs at Shelly Beach. On these special occasion days we tend to get a huge crowd which is fantastic. Every morning, and particularly when we are numerous, let’s all try our best to share the front of the lifesaving club in a fair manner.
I had a friendly request this morning from one of the older members of Manly Lifesaving Club. Please let’s try to keep the wooden seats in front of the club free of bags and towels, and tie up dogs away from the seats and the entrance. It’s lovely to chat to the early rising club members as we get changed and ready for our swim, so please let’s leave the seats bag free. It’s only fair.
And last but not least ….
New baby Lilou – with her parents Claire and Michel!!
See you all tonight at Manly Wine!!
Disclaimer: apologies for any mistakes or omissions….
10 comments
fifi
25/04/2012 at 12:31 pm
Amazing morning. I tried my hand and creating a film clip, but the swimming aspect was rather brief due to the swarm of jimbles I encountered. However I will try shere it.
Thank you for the Rosemary, John. Lovely touch, and the Ode and the Music, really great.
Gaetan
25/04/2012 at 1:22 pm
Another great blog Lesley, I particularly like that jimble picture 🙂
Unbelievable crowd (of swimmers a& jimbles) this morning and unbelievably cold in the wind! 🙂
Conditions were perfect and the water was twice warmer than the air and felt so good!
Thank you and well done to Bruce and Greg and the other person who played the trumpet (not sure who that was!?).
Conditions are so good that Iain and I decided to do another Queenscliff or Freshie lap at 3:00pm this afternoon if anyone wants to join us.
11ft expected tomorrow morning but from the South so it should be flat again, and the sun will be shining!
Elaine de Jager
25/04/2012 at 2:11 pm
What an amazing start to Anzac Day!
A fantastic blog Lesley, it must have taken you ages, thank you and to everyone else who helped make it such a great day. I’ve heard that Mr Football’s neighbours aren’t very happy after he raided their rosemary bushes but he has got some strange neighbours 😉
Swimming in ocean twice as warm as the air temperature, how great is that!
I didn’t get ‘jimbled’ so am very lucky. Hope those of you who did are recovering.
Look forward to swimming with you all again soon xx
Little Tiger
25/04/2012 at 2:23 pm
Thanks to all who took part in such a beautiful swim. To Greg, Bruce, John, Lesley, Ian etc. a huge thankyou.
Welcome to all the newbies, especially Jenny M, lovely swim to start with.
Fabulous blog Lesley & photos to match.
Gotta love those jimbles!!!
Lovely photos of baby Lilou, Claire & Michel.
Sam
25/04/2012 at 2:43 pm
Ah. Thanks for the info re jimbles!!! I have big rashes from them but good to know they will go away!!!
Little Sarah Abbott
25/04/2012 at 2:46 pm
A wonderful occasion! Special thanks and appreciation to John K, Lesley & Ian and other assistants for all their hard work, also to Bruce and Greg for the very memorable service.
We were so very fortunate to have the best swimming conditions for a while which meant most people could swim from and to the beach – a beautiful day!
Yes, hope all who encountered jimbles are making a good recovery by now.
Claire & Michel – lovely pics, thx for sharing.
…And the other “fast elite swimmer” in the pic is our beautiful Lesley, the latest Blogger Star:-))
Lesley
25/04/2012 at 2:47 pm
Thank you guys for adding the extras that I missed out on in the blog…so much to remember… and all written before I had had my coffee too!! Thanks to all the extra photos that were sent onto me too – sorry if I didn’t include them all, which I wanted to but ran out of time… Some were fantastic too so I will get Jules to put them up in PHOTO part of blog/website when she gets back! And I didn’t know about the other trumpeter!!! – I arrived so late at Shelly..so I apologise for not mentioning them.
Anna Alvsdotter
25/04/2012 at 4:02 pm
Nice video Gaetan, you can almost see how cold the breeze was. The second trumpeter is our very own Bob Petterson. Gosh we’re lucky to have so many great talents and friendly people in our social swim.
Thank you very much to John, Ian, Lesley, Greg, Bruce and Bob for making this a very memorable rememberance day.
Kielycj@hotmail.com
25/04/2012 at 4:45 pm
What a great start to the day,and Lesley I wasn’t late, it just took so long to get ticked off,!!!!!!! Great bugle playing Greg it really hit the spot .And now that your in charge Lesley please no more jimbles ! And can you turn the wind down a bit.
Pacific Jules
25/04/2012 at 5:49 pm
What a fabulous morning – WOW !! Thanks for all info, photos and video, you certainly captured the morning and with your usual fantastic humour, brilliant, thank you, we feel like we were there.
Thanks heaps everyone, what a marvelous team !! xx
Beautiful photos of Claire, Michel and Lilou too, gorgeous 🙂