With January shaping up to bring hot, dry weather, the first round of the Shine Shield will take place at the Yass Memorial Pool and our Binalong team will be looking to hold onto the coveted shield after their first win last year.
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The swimming competition between Yass, Harden, Binalong and Jugiong will begin at the Yass Memorial Pool Tuesday January 13 starting from 6pm and will follow with the running of the four carnivals during January.
This is a community run event sponsored by the Yass and Harden councils for the children throughout the Yass and Harden shires. Anyone can swim and no registration with clubs is required.
There are 25 metre races for the youngsters and 50 metre events for eight-year-olds through to the over 30s age group. All strokes are in the program with a 100 metres freestyle for the fit and relays for all age brackets.
Organiser of the event, Leanne Goode, said that it is a great opportunity for people of all ages and abilities who haven’t reached their potential in competitive swimming to participate in a fun and friendly way to raise points for their town.
“It’s a chance to prepare kids for their school carnivals and for parents to participate with their kids,” Goode said.
“The carnivals are designed to give kids who don’t get to go on holidays during their break a chance to be proactive. It gives people both young and old more confidence in the water.”
At the end of the four carnivals the points are tallied and the winning town takes home the prestigious Shine Shield. Some towns will be handicapped to give the smaller towns an equal chance.
“This will be the 49th year of these inter town carnivals. There have been some problems with insurances over the years, but we are fortunate that we have the support of the Yass & Harden Councils to keep it going,” Goode said.
The carnival relies heavily on volunteers, so bring your children along to compete in the fun and maybe lend a hand.
Jugiong will hold the second carnival on Sunday January 18, at 3pm, the third will be at Binalong on Wednesday January 21, starting at 6pm and the fourth and final event will be at Harden on Saturday January 31, starting from 3pm.
For all of those who want to prepare for these events, swim lessons started at the Yass Memorial pool on Monday and are open from 9am until 12 each week day.
