Pictures

Is everyone packed and ready? John is ready … just going on the wrong camp!
See you all at 7.45am

Day 1

Super easy travelling – flight took off and landed on time with a coach waiting for us at the other end. Good start and five gold stars for the trip organiser!!

Then on to the beautiful sea front hotel, unpack and then straight into the pool for a bit of night swimming.
It seemed to suit most of the swimmers:

But left at least one gasping for breath…

Noel was hoping that the swimmers would look up to him on this International camp – nice work Rowan!!

Then on to stretching where Noel led the way and the swimmers did most of the work?

Sam looks like he was expecting a downpour… he probably should have stayed close to Charlotte because she was “Super Dry”!! (ho ho??)

On to food in the evening where it was all sensible choices and jolly hats!

All tucked up and quiet by 9pm!! Very tired but very happy swimmers 🙂
More news and pics tomorrow.

Day 2

Beautiful morning – view from the Hotel is stunning – might go for a run tomorrow…

All looking forward to early morning breakfast…

Beautiful morning to swim with mist rising from the pool – tough set but the team was great!

Clearly looking forward to their next meal?

Or were the swimmers excited by the thought of school work by the pool – there are certainly worse places to study??

On to the afternoon where I am not saying the boys were slow walking to the Gym but… can anyone see them in the background?

The lady’s arrived, stretched, topped up with sun tan cream, had a cup of tea…

And then the boys arrived!

Brilliant gym set with tons of hard work! All overseen from the directors chair?

Poppy is a wonderful swimmer but it seems that her tyre flipping might need some work?

Super tough kick set where the team was fantastic once again – very proud at the de-brief at the end of the day

And finally the swimmer of the day – lots of honourable mentions but congratulations to Imogen – immense performance!

And finally, finally who gets the silly award for the day? Once again lots of honourable mentions but who on earth wears his PJ’s to the evening meal???

Day 3

The swimmers had the luxury of a lie in on day 3! Breakfast at 9am!!
The extra sleep seems to have done the swimmers a world of good – tough set but the swimmers were up to every challenge.

After a late dinner, the team headed toward land training and gym work – once again all the athletes were fantastic and “smashed it” (I think that is the term?)

Mind you, sometimes inspiration comes from some very strange quarters?

And finally into the pool for an early evening swim. So, so proud of all the team who worked so hard, encouraged each other and finished a super hard IM set. Great work!

In case any of you want to know what exhausted kids look like…

And just before bed… huge congratulations to Charlotte, our well deserved swimmer of the day and a big “OOPS!” to the winner of the silly award! Who on earth would have thought it….

Day 4

Back to an early start with breakfast at 7.30am before a tough early morning set. It was so tough that some swimmers needed a push…

…some were very creative in their use of breathing apparatus….

And in general the swimmers were left hanging on the ropes!

After lunch more fantastic gym work!

Mind you – I have no idea how on earth triathlon was invented! All swimmers moan about running!

Ahhh – apart from one – nice work Jamie, the saviour of triathlon!

And onto the swim set which once again wore out the TM’s! Water bottles don’t top up themselves you know!! Awesome job from all the swimmers…

Very, very tired swimmers at the de brief…

And as the sun went down…

Huge congratulations to Poppy our swimmer of the day and a “what on earth were you thinking?” to our winner of the cone!

On to Day 5 – where has the week gone???

Hearty breakfast followed by a 6.5K set!! Every swimmer was fantastic…

Incredibly they had the energy for a thumbs up and a smile! Great job team!

The boys were much vexed when one of the adults put their size 9’s in the middle of a strange caterpillar train. Clearly caterpillar crossing signs needed?

After lunch there was an afternoon of running, squatting, stretching and swimming – and all the swimmers were still smiling!

And into the evening when Noel sat down and had a chat with… Noel?

And the next thing you know, he was chatting with Noel and his friend… Noel and they later bumped into… Noel. By the way has anyone seen Noel?

While Noel was chatting to, well… Noel they collectively settled upon the swimmer of the day – huge congratulations to the outstanding Gracie. The “what on earth!” goes to Josh 🙂

And now we have nearly reached the end of our camp so there are a few thank yous needed.
Firstly to our magnificent head coach. This is very hard work for the new Maxwell Boss. He runs 4 hours swimming a day, plus land training, plus stretching, plus he never missed a single meal with the kids or any of the social activities! Relentless for a week! Yet he was constantly cheerful, witty, inspiring, driven and great, great fun. THANK YOU!

Next a huge thank you to the swimmers. Simply awesome team! Of course they were magnificent in the pool and in the gym.
However, the TM’s were so impressed with there fantastic team work, constant encouragement and support for each other, positive attitude and endless and unwavering sense of fun. This was the “smiles camp”.
Hard work definitely, but always fun! Awesome team, delightful human beings and you should all be very proud of your swimmers! This has been a wonderful week to be a part of Maxwell Swim Club!

And finally to my person of the week. Sharon thought of everything, planned everything, organised everything, comforted everyone, took care of everyone and was so, so, so much fun to be with. Thank you Sharon for making this trip happen and making it such a triumph!
LEGEND!

Steve is great!!