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Hi
my name is Kerryan Hoff and I’m competing at my first away
Australian age competition with the squad.
Tuesday
– 12/04/05
We
started the day nice and early with an 8:30am start at Perth airport.
Everyone bright and early, even Matt was right on time. Just like the
airport, the plane was delayed 45 minutes so we were in for a wait.
After a stretch and a shop we finally boarded the massive plane to
Melbourne. Because of the long delay our second plane was delayed so
as we could catch it. We ran from one plane to the next to a very
welcoming plane full of passengers who just loved us for making them
over an hour late. As we were so late on the plane we were all split
up and had a BORING ride amongst those oh so loving people. We were
nearly killed (as Kered put it) with a bumpy landing which even nearly
made big old Matt was a bit worried about.
After the half an hour near death experience drive (Dion
“Couldn’t see well in the dark”) we got to our hotels and went
for a pre-race warm-up at the massive Chandler pool. Finally after a
long day we had a bite to eat and went to bed (not before making Dion
endure an episode of Rove Live).Today Kered got his first strike. We
were sitting next to each other on the plane in Melbourne and he was
staring out of the window as we were just rolling to the docking bay.
I asked him why he was staring out of the window and he said, “That
plane is moving backwards”.
Wednesday
– 13/04/05
It
was a late start for most today with a restless sleeping beauty (Lenton)
sleeping till Dion regrettably had to wake him up. A quick brekky and
then off to chandler for a quick session (discovering the wonderful
vocal styling of both Dion and Matt, and you thought nails on a
blackboard was bad!). Matt’s early morning mood showed when he
nearly crushed some poor girls head in the hustle and bustle of the
warm-up pool. After the incidence at warm up we were feeling just a
little claustrophobic so we moved on to better things. The slow
Brisbane life had taken us and by the time we got home it was already
1. After deciding to take a trip to timezone, going into the $8 an
hour car park and then driving out in disgust we decided to have a spa
and sauna to relieve our tired muscles. We found out Melissa’s true
character when Matt discovered she had recently killed an innocent
polar bear to make her fluffy new ugh boots. Then it was the
“talk” (the swimming one) from Dion and a well earn ten-tone
lasagna dinner.
Thursday
– 14/04/05
Today
was our first day of competition. Kered and I both had races. He had
his 50m free and I had my 100m breastroke. We were both extremely
nervous because it was our first events and both swims were our main
events. Kered was up
first with the chance to enter the free relay with a good time and
ended up with a fast 25.90, unfortunately not quite good enough to put
him in the team this year. Then came my swim.
I stepped up to the block and had a less-than pleasing swim,
with a 1.22.16, 4 seconds off my PB. After that we were happy that
everything was over and the ride home was loud with a quick stop off
at the shops with Dion desperately trying to find his favourite telly
tubby “Poe’ at Toy World. Because today was mid-competition we had
a quiet afternoon and then the boys went off to watch Matt’s free
relay. Matt led the relay with a 23.2 and the rest just followed
giving the team a bronze.
Friday
– 15/04/04
This
morning was just a relaxed day and I had my 200 breastroke first up.
Although I didn’t swim a PB I was happy with the way I executed my
race plan and I know I can make greater improvements in the future.
Kered was up for the 100m free and was 2 seconds off his PB with a
57.55 but swam the race with a great stroke and had a perfect turn.
Matt was the most successful with a 23.67 ranking him second going
into his 50m free final. It was an afternoon of sleep, shopping and
chicken sandwiches for another day in a row. After the break it was
back down to the pool for an awesome swim by Matt coming first with a
23.25 to win his final. Then the carnivores cooked up three two-inch
thick steaks for dinner with an unforgettable throw from Matt as he
threw a lolly at Dion from 4 m away, landing it in his mouth. Classic.
The hype of finishing our main races was up with random outbursts,
mucking around and fights in the lounge room (MALES!). The building
also had a fire evacuation with every resident having to be evacuated
in the afternoon.
Saturday
– 16/04/04
Another
early day at the pool started with Meph nearly dislocating his back
trying to pick up matt and carry him to the pool, his excuse being
“I haven’t been to the gym in a while”, sure sure Meph. Melissa,
up first for her main event, the 100m backstroke, had a great race
keeping up with the rest of the field but unfortunately missed out on
the finals with an awesome 1.11.77.
Next up was matt’s 100 free and he was looking forward to the
swim and pulled the swim off well with a fast 52.78 ranking him 13th.
For the break it was an easy sleep for the boys, while Dion continued
his search for his beloved Poe resorting to the yellow pages, while we
girls went shopping. The biggest loser was Dion today taking a trip
down to the TAB with a $50 bet on Brisbane with the Hawks getting
lucky and thrashing Brissy at the Hawks home ground. The key phrases
of the week was “don’t believe anything Matt says” said by Dion,
and “don’t believe anything Dion says” as Matt advised. Me and
Kered in the middle had no clue who was telling us the truth. Today
Dion continued his loosing battle trying to convince us (for a ten
buck bet) that koalas lived in the trees surrounding the Chandler
pool. Sure Dion, we can see the koalas too. I think all the loosing at
the TAB is messing with his mind. The finals tonight saw matt claim
his third medal of the meet with silver in the medley relay with a
fantastic 22.57 to come over the top of QLD and VIC to touch them both
out at the wall. The evening concluded with dinner at the SSS
steakhouse were everyone stuffed themselves silly.
Sunday
– 17/04/04
Today
was the final day of competition for Western Sprint which saw Melissa
compete in the 200 metre backstroke. Although competitive during the
start of the race, Melissa battled on valiantly to record a 2.37
completing Melissa’s first Australian championships interstate. The
rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and taking in the great
sights Brisbane had to offer.
This
concluded a fantastic meet for Western Sprint Athletes.
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