The Dubbo Ducks hosted and raced against a crack swim team from Sydney’s Harbord Diggers on Sunday, October 26, in the Dubbo RSL heated indoor pool.

The competitors were presented with a three-event card.

A 50m Freestyle against the handicapper was first up. Norm Bahr held out to win the final to beat Katharine O’Rourke by a fingernail on a 26-second start, while Brian Schloeffel took third, visitor Noel Erickson came in fourth and Warren Williams rounded out the top five.

Next up was the ‘Acka Gee Relay’ 2x25m freestyle relay, one team member from the Harbord Diggers, the other from the Dubbo Ducks. The Ducks outnumbered the Diggers 3:1 and there were 16 teams so the Diggers swam virtually non-stop.

Deb Thackeray and Mal Cavanagh were awarded the shields with a time (.15) off their handicap. A quinella for Deb, also attaining second with Ron Everett (-.38) and Ian Sharpe with Tom Gray (.53) taking a close third.

The legendary multi-person relay was next: Harbord versus Dubbo. Six legs each. Harbord were this year’s winners, with only a sixth of a second in it. Well done to all!

Lunch was then provided, giving the teams a chance for more banter and to begin planning for our reciprocal visit to the Harbord Diggers in October 2026.

Many thanks to the pool deck ducks who assisted with timekeeping and judging: Judy Walsh, Greg Salmon, Margaret Ross and Jack Allen. Lucky numbers: Mel Giddings (40) and Alan Quin (46).

October pointscore results: Katharine O’Rourke, 57, Nicole Johnstone, 56 and Ron Everett, 52.

The Clive Roots Memorial Relay and Legacy Cup are on Thursday, November 13, 6pm, raising funds for Legacy. This year there are also junior and senior scratch races along with the relays, so grab three friends, workmates, teammates and enter a team. A barbecue will follow. For details, contact Henry Wilcockson (see our Sunday entry in ‘The Diary’ section of this paper).

That’s this week’s tidings from the fresh and friendly waters of the Duckpond.