The 2001 Visit
27/07/01 - 04/08/01
Fri 27/Sat 28
What A Start!!
The bus was only 45 minutes late - and in a filthy
condition throughout. Things can only get better we
thought; then it soon became apparent that the
air-conditioning didn't work properly, we missed our
original ferry crossing and then the bus driver was
seen buying a map of Germany from a shop on the
ferry!!Thankfully we arrived safely in Rotenburg on Saturday, roughly on time. With very good weather, in the 30's with plenty more forecast, things DID start getting better. We soon settled in with our host families and some folks even managed some time in the pool. Boy, what a pool !! Olympic sized, 8 lane, outdoor pool with springboard and 4 metre diving board ... suddenly that poor start was forgotten.
Sunday 29th
It was nice to have a free morning to recover from the long journey and to get to know our hosts better. The original idea was to go hiking followed by 'coffee and cakes' but fortunately/unfortunately the weather was so hot that the Germans cancelled the hike and we all ended at the outdoor pool.
All had a wonderful afternoon. C.F.S.C. just about
had the monopoly on the diving boards, a lot of talent
was seen --- followed by numerous bruises. Because of
the nice weather the pool and grass areas were very
crowded but we were allowed to use the far end of the
park so that we could all be together. Why can't we
have a pool like that in Gedling?Monday 30th
Back to the pool early for a training session. Funny, isn't it, but the pool at 10am didn't seem quite as attractive as it did yesterday. For many people this was the first time that they had swum in a 50m pool, a cold pool at that !! It didn't take long for some of the kids to disappear in the direction of the 'diving pool'.Our German hosts certainly put on another good spread for us, with a wonderful B.B.Q. and more splendid cakes. We needed to keep swimming to keep the calories under control.
Tuesday 31st
An early meeting at the indoor pool to get on our wonderful bus, that still hadn't been cleaned, then an hours' journey to the 'EDERSEE'.
Our German friends joined us for the day at this
large man-made reservoir with a dam made famous by the
'The Dam Busters'. We split into 2 groups, one going up
to the castle overlooking the reservoir, the larger
group chose to go on a boat trip along the Edersee.
A few tough and hardened swimmers spent nearly an hour playing in the cold, green water of the reservoir - most pleasant on another hot day! Once again, on the journey back the air-conditioning was as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike. The evening was again spent at house parties or at the PUB in town.
Wednesday 1st
This was a 'free day' when we did whatever our host families had planned for us. We were all looking forward to the 'DISCO' in the evening. It was a lovely evening for having a drink outdoors at Braach with a BBQ available too. The only disappointment on this 'DISCO' evening was the lack of any! The kids had been looking forward to a dance.Thursday 2nd
Early morning training was really popular for about 5 minutes. The kids soon got cold and fed up and disappeared off to the diving pool area again. At least this left plenty of room for the adults who were quite happy practicing, especially their dives.
Aboard the bus
again, still no A/C, for an outing to a 'mining
museum' and castle at Nentershausen. We do
appreciate our hosts making the effort to show
CFSC something different.
A request had earlier been made to have 2 races held
this evening because 2 of Neptunes' best swimmers
couldn't make it to the Gala on Friday morning.
Kirstie Donaldson won her race convincingly over Julia
while Andrew Creasey was disappointed to just miss out
by a finger-tip to Thorsten Lamm.
An early night and alcohol ban was SUGGESTED in preperation for the 8am start to the Gala tomorrow .... Some hope!!
Friday 3rd
Although it had been stressed to us the fact that the Gala must start at 8am in order to finish before the public came in at 10am, it was after 8.30am before we actually began. There was some confusion when the 'one-start' rule became a 'two-start' rule following a false start, and our normal rules regarding style, finishing and take-overs seemed to be totally overlooked.
However, ALL the C.F.S.C. swimmers were a credit
to the club. We DID swim great and were full of
confidence of victory. Our confidence was,
unfortunately, a little premature; the results were not
quite what we were expecting. Congratulations to the
Girls team, they won their Gala. Yet the Boys team
could only manage second place.| Club | GIRLS | BOYS | TOTAL |
| CARLTON FORUM | 738 points | 490 points | 1228 points |
| ROTENBURG a.d.F. | 678 points | 582 points | 1260 points |
A very special thank you to Martin Slight for being
our Chief Coach for this Gala, he could have done
nothing more to improve the results. Presentation night
and the fare-well party was held in the community
centre at Braach. A really big 'THANK YOU' goes out to
our hosts for a marvellous evening. They provided a
free bar, glorious food and a friendship that will be
long remembered.
Fortunately, it was a comparatively uneventful journey
home. Thanks to the committee.
