Milnerton Nippers

Sunday morning dawned bright, sunny and warm! B and I thought it was a great day for Aaron and Lucci to do their exam!
We picked up Diane as she was determined to come along and support her team mates even if it meant hobbling with crutches on the beach!! :-D
and then we set off to Sunrise Beach.

OOPS!!!
Not great weather on the False Bay side!! we arrived and it was windy and quite cool! (D and I both put jerseys on!!!)
The exam was due to start at 9. and true to lifesaving tradition we were kept waiting until 9:45!! Carmen used this opportunity to take the boys through their signals and theory a few more times... unfortunately at the time she was going through it, the seemed to have forgotten some of their stuff! but we knew that it was probably just jitters and that they would come through with flying colours!

once we got started, the nippers were split into their age groups and did their theory, signals, sit-ups and push-ups. We discovered that Lucci can actually do a mean sit-up and push-up, so no more slacking at training for you Lucc!!
The swim was called off as the water conditions were very choppy and the river mouth was open! this meant that the shark spotters could not do their job of spotting sharks should there have been any out there! The examiners decided that it wasnt worth risking so the swim will now be next Saturday at Blouberg.
The conditions were so bad, that from the beach you couldnt see the cans that the kids would have to swim around!
My theory, if you cant see a big orange can from the shore, you definitely wont be able to spot a shark!!

Aaron and Lucci did great! the only time it looked to us as though they were struggling, was during their signals. with the wind blowing a gale and the examiner talking with his back to them, they couldnt hear what he was saying... so a few times they were left standing there, arms at their sides and clueless to what was going on!
The other examiner was very nice and then stood close by to them and repeated the signals so that they could hear them!

So with all that out the way we headed back to the club for Seniors training!
Part 2... The swim will be posted next week!!

Posted by laurenallott at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

After 4 weeks of holiday, nippers has started again!!! B and I missed the kids and were excited to start again! In our excitement, we decided that we want to spend more time with them on the beach, so nippers will now be from 2-5 every Saturday.

By 1:50 we had 4 nippers and were getting a tad worried about where everybody was. Then suddenly came the crew and we had 9 nippers!! (Great turnout considering that schools dont go back until Wednesday and some have snuck in a late holiday!!!) We had 2 new nippers, Christopher and Craig. A big welcome to you 2, we hope to see you on the beach more often!!

B had been out before the nippers arrived and put 2 buoys into the water. So when the nippers arrived on the beach and saw the buoys, they knew that they would be swimming... or something.
We started off with a small run and lots of stretching! Seems that some had gotten a bit stiff over the holiday and needed lots of loosening up! We split the nippers into 2 groups, Special Needs and everybody else, for a run-swim-run. They started off the first run really well, then some walked the swim, some swam and some went in up to their knees and then came out. On the final run, most walked or even toddled.

We made them do it again, after explaining to them what it means to run and swim. They did great the second time!

Then we did some theory with them. They know their theory really well! (they even had to remind me of some of it...)

Then it was onto flags.
Diane was doing great! she has learned to run at an angle and to run across the other nippers, thereby cutting them off! Very cunning! She even had most of the boys scared and they didnt want to be next to her!! (Keep it up D!)
Aaron is still very quick! he beat Diane in the final!! Craig and Nathan did really well! they are proving to be tough competitors!

Once the nippers were dry, it was back into the water with their knee boards and body boards. Caitlin, Aaron and Diane used knee boards while the other nippers all used body boards. The 3 on kneeboards did well on their tummys...interesting considering its a knee board!
They then all got up onto their knees and did really well! Until Diane fell off...then Caitlin got hit by a big wave and got tumbled... her board washed up on the beach and caitlin swam in behind it!! Very amusing for those of watching her board getting launched into the air by the wave!! Not so amusing if you were Caitin getting tumbled!

Some of the nippers still need to learn the lesson over and over that you dont paddle to the buoy in a straight line when you are going through a rip. B had to haul them in and give thema talking to about this. We couldnt believe that we were re-explaining this when they have been nippers for 4 months! I guess the holidays turned their brains into porridge and they couldnt remember that! ;-)
Aaron did really well! He obviously spent quite a bit of time on the ocean during the holiday and his confidence is amazing! Keep it up Aaron!! youre doing great!!

We then did a mini iron-nipper type event. They had to first go around the 2 buoys on their board, then run, then swim, then run. It was going fantastically... until Diane fell in a hole! She must have fallen really hard as she was in lots of pain and sat out for a bit. I got worried and when i went to check on her, she was very sore and sad!
B piggy-backed her off the beach and to the shower where i checked out her foot. She was so sore that the tears were rolling down her face while we looked at it. B finished off training while i looked after Diane.

after a shower she was still in lots of pain and her foot was swollen, so we decided that a trip to Medi-Clinic was in order. Her mom was in Strand watching the Senior's competition and her dad was in Pearly Beach, so we told her mom that we would take her and get their Medical Aid details when were at the hospital.

We put Diane in the car and went to Medi-Clinic. we got there and it was quite full. Called Sharon to get their medical aid details and then began the long wait. After an hour of sitting and talking Diane was called. We had been joking about her being put crutches and she was not at all happy with us for mentioning that!

The nurse chatted to us and then the doc came in. He asked her what hole she had fallen into as thats what i had written on the injury report! we all had a good giggle at that! the doc said that she had not broken her foot but had torn the ligaments.. he prescribed an air-cast and.....
CRUTCHES!!!!!
Diane was not impressed as she is not allowed to put weight on that foot for a week and wont be able to do her nipper exam. But she took it well! The nurse strapped her up and put her cast on. Her mom arrived as we were walking/hobbling out from seeing the doc!

By this time casualty was packed and it was just after 7... yikes, saturdays are not good days to be injured!! Too many other people geting injured and going to casualty!
Its was great fun despite the fact the she was so sore! we had some great laughs and she handled it all like a trooper!

Nippers beware, or you too could end up like this: (and B and I could have an early end to the season)


Congrats to the Seniors for an awesome competition! Milnerton is back on the map! Tarquin got 2 firsts and a second in the u/16 age group, Justin S got 2 seconds in the u/19 age group, Brent S got a third in the Open category, and the 3 new guys were 3, 4 and 5 in the ski for the u/19 age group! WELL DONE to all 18 of you!! You've all made us very proud!!

This is going to be a great 2nd half of the season!

Posted by laurenallott at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)