Margaret Fairhall shares her love of master swimming and tells us how it all came about:
Over thirty years ago I was at a friend’s 40th birthday party and overheard a woman saying how she felt “wonderful and full of energy”. I just had to find out what was causing her state of good health and vitality. Perhaps she had taken up yoga or meditation or even mountain climbing? Whatever it was I had to get some of it too. I asked and the answer was that she had taken up swimming at the Freyberg Pool.
Well, I thought, I used to be a swimmer in my school days – not a champion (that was my younger sister) but I wasn’t too bad. So the next morning I got up early and headed to the local pool and swam two lengths. I was exhausted and the chlorine stung my eyes.
I bought goggles and two days later added two more lengths. Two days later, another two lengths. Eventually I got up to forty (1 km) and moved from the slow lane to the medium speed lane; then the fast lane. I was hooked and felt wonderful!
Another swimmer in the fast lane said that I should join a Masters Swim Club. I contacted Harbour Capital Masters based at The Kilbirnie Aquatic Centre and turned up to their Wednesday evening session. Everyone was so friendly and put me in a lane where Jim Drummond (QSM) was giving coaching. Jim is a legend in the swimming scene in Wellington. He is now 95 and still swims regularly. He has taught swimming on Friday evenings at the Freyberg Pool for over 40 years – my daughter used to attend back in the 1980s.
For many years I swam with Harbour Capital on Sunday evenings. But as I am not really an evening-active person, I started to train with another master swimmer early in the morning at the pool in Johnsonville. I then joined up to NZ Masters Swimming and have since competed all around New Zealand and the world.
Margaret is wearing the two bronze medals won at the Pan Pacific Masters Games on The Gold Coast, November 2018, for 1500m and 400m freestyle.
My first overseas event was the World Swimming Masters Championships in Indianapolis in 1992. Since then I’ve competed in World championships in Sheffield, Munich, Perth, San Francisco, Christchurch, Montreal, Auckland and The Gold Coast.
We compete in 5-year age groups from age 25-29 upwards – there have been swimmers aged up to 98. Kath Johnston from Auckland was in Montreal competing, aged 97. She was the oldest there and quite a celebrity! There are qualifying times for both men and women and for each 5-year age group. So far I have always qualified.
Quite a few of the competitors were either Olympic or Commonwealth Games swimmers, way out of my league. The best placing I have achieved in a World 50 metres freestyle event, aged 60, was 35th out of 73 competitors in my age group.
I mostly train on my own at the Freyberg Pool. I also join a Tri & Swim Fit group (triathletes and ocean swimmers) at 5.30am out at Cannon’s Creek Pool in Porirua East. I actually train much harder when I am pushed by Barb, our rather demanding coach. I have to admit she does get the best out of me and I often go on to do PBs (personal bests) at swim meets after her tough programmes.
Even though I live over the road from Oriental Bay Beach I don’t often swim in the sea. If I do, I usually just swim from the beach by the Band Rotunda once around the raft and back. Last summer the sea was full of creatures, including invisible small jelly-like salps – it felt as if you were swimming through porridge! My TriFit group swims every Sunday all year at 8am from Freyberg Beach to the Point Jerningham lighthouse and back. I watch them from my kitchen whilst having breakfast.
— Margaret Fairhall, Bay View newsletter 73, April 2019