By TONY FROST
WITH a team of 24 swimmers, Noosa Masters Swim Club is sending one of the largest contingents from among Australian clubs to the Pan Pacific Masters Games at the Gold Coast, next week.
Swimming events will take place over three days, 6 to 8 November, at the Southport Aquatic Centre, and the open water swim at Currumbin on 9 November.
The Southport Aquatic Centre is the beneficiary of a $42 million makeover by Queensland State Government, in readiness for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
This biennial event, the Pan Pacific Masters Games has attracted athletes from most Pacific Rim countries, including Japan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia.
Club president Ian Tucker said all competitors were heading to the games ready to win.
“Following the success of seven of our members who travelled in August to Montreal, Canada, for the World Masters Swimming Championships, where three achieved Top 10 finishes in eleven events, all 24 swimmers are heading to the Gold Coast with a positive mindset,” he said.
The Noosa team includes Rodney Alfredson, Dyanna Benny, Gillian Benstead, Jan Croft, Julia Dunstall, Joyce Faunce, Lois Hill, Brian Hoepper, Rob Jolly, Stephanie Jones, Mary Lester, Rob Lucas, Helen Malar, Studley Martin, Bob Morse, Jane Powell, Mar Powell, Grindle Rudder, Robyn Selby, Jacky Shields, Clinton Stanley, Adele Tucker, Ian Tucker and Wendy Twidale.
A regular at the Pan Pacs is our own Joyce Faunce, who has swum in all the Games since 2002.
Joyce’s first foray into swimming competition started almost 80 years ago as a teenager in the UK, representing England in the 1938 Empire Games, only to be denied Olympic glory by the outbreak of World War II.
After a layoff of almost 60 years, raising a family and migrating to Australia, Joyce was inspired by the opening of the Noosa Aquatic Centre in 1999, and her effortless style is still being admired by all her fellow swimmers.
Watch out for Joyce in the 50 metres freestyle event for ladies, 90-94 years.
