An invitation to swim

February 24, 2010

The Doug Barrett Memorial Trophy hosted by Warialda this year will be held Friday, March 5.  Ths is a friendly inter town carnival open to all members of the community. Bingara Amateur Swimming Club who co-ordinate the event, invite all members of the community to either swim or come to support us on the night.

Many kids have swum in the Doug Barrett over the years but may not be aware of what they were swimming for, so here is a quick outline.  The trophy is donated by the Bingara RSL Club. Doug Barrett was the president and also worked at the Bingara RSL Club. In a tragic accident in 1979 at the age of 60 he had a heart attack and drowned at our pool. His widow, Daphne, and many of his family still reside in Bin-gara. We may even see great grandchildren competing this year!

The trophy was first contested in 1982, with the following results: Warialda in 1982-1984, 1986-1988, 1991-1997, 1999, 2005, 2007, 2008 Bingara (finally) in 1998, 2000-2001, 2004, 2006 and 2009 (The event was not swum in 1985, 1989, 1990, 2002, 2003) So, as you can see Bingara have only held the trophy for about 35% of the time!

Last year we held the home team advantage, and we will need superior numbers this year if we hope to hold on to it. The carnival program consist of 1 lap of each of the strokes – freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke adn butterfly, with points awarded for places. We need 3 girls and 3 boys for each race from 6 and under to 16 and opens. Everybody is most welcome to come and swim and enjoy the evening and community spirit with us.

For the next few weeks we will be running some race nights at the pool on Wednesday’s at 6pm, to help practice for the Doug Barrett Night, it will also be beneficial to students who will be representing their school at the regional carnivals in Inverell and Armidale.

Swimming club will be sending a bus up, so please make sure to indicate how you are travelling, and if we need to save you a seat.

Please contact Judy Mack at the school 67241606, Leonie Southwell at the Pharmacy or on 67834212 or Fiona McGowan 67832295 so we can get an idea of numbers, or further information.