Two members of Tuggeranong Masters Swimming ACT were presented with their Million Metre Awards at the recent Masters Swimming NSW Short Course Championships at the Canberra International Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Cecelia Kaye and Caroline Makin both became a members of the Million Metres Club in May 2013. The Vorgee Million Metre Awards acknowledge progress from the “learn to swim” beginner to the distance swimmer. These awards are intended to stimulate members to strive for greater fitness and are open to all registered members of Masters Swimming in Australia.
Cecelia joined Masters Swimming in February 2008. It wasn’t until October that she learned about the Million Metres club, seeing another member presented with her shirt and she decided to do this as well. She began by recording her first months of swimming – which was easy because she usually swam three times a week and just continued on for the next five years.
Cecelia said “My aim was to swim 20 kms per month (about 5 km each week) and figured it would take me approximately four and a half years. Of course there were months when that just didn’t happen due to holidays and the arrival of grandchildren, etc. There was no hurry as there is no pressure or anything and I knew I would get there eventually”.
Finally after five years and three months Cecelia was finished! On 25 May this year she completed her aim, which was a very satisfying feeling for her. “Now I is am on my way to my second million metres just plugging away steadily. Hopefully after another five and a bit years I will be collecting another award!”, she said “I even wore my new shirt to Thursday morning coffee yesterday after training, to encourage others!!”
Caroline Makin also started recording her metres on 3 January 2010, just 2 months after joining Masters swimming and not managing too many metres each training session! She religiously marked down each swim distance on her card, and two full cards and almost 3½ years later on 12 May 2013, she hit her first 1,000,000 metres.
Caroline said that writing down every swim distance achieved in every training, endurance session and meet really helped to motiviate her to keep going with her training and competing at as many events she could manage to travel to Sydney for. As at the end of October 2013, Caroline has already swum another 180,000 metres further towards her Two Million Metres Award and hopes to hit the next milestone in far less time than the first one!
If you are interested in Masters Swimming in the ACT please visit Tuggeranong Masters website at www.tuggmastersswim.org
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