Sunday, June 21, may have been the shortest day of the year and the fog was pea soup-ish but nothing stops the mighty Dubbo Ducks flocking to the Dubbo RSL indoor pool for some fun and competition on a Sunday morning.

The first event on the card was a 50m freestyle. The heats produced a hard-fought final with the top three separated by just a few hundredths of a second. Judy Walsh (with a near perfect swim) took first place, followed by Katharine O'Rourke, Jack Allen, Peter Allen and Matilda Barling making up the top five.

An all-breaststroke brace relay was up next with swimmers completing 25m each. A rare sight with an entire heat breaking through the handicapper’s expectations. The pairing of Katharine O'Rourke/Judy Walsh took the gold, Bill Greenwood/Peter Hargreaves second, Amy Barling/Mark Prentice third, Neil Harris/Brian Schloeffel fourth, and Mal Cavanagh/John Wherritt fifth.

The third event on the card was a 25m backstroke. Tim Gratton decided he was a dolphin, coming home way too fast and handing Shaun Graham the win, with Judy Walsh second, Neil Harris third, Henry Wilcockson fourth, and John Wherritt fifth.

The last event of the morning was a 25m breaststroke 'at Go'. The top six swimmers reached the wall within 0.78 seconds of their individual handicap: Katharine O'Rourke (0.04), followed by John Wherritt (0.06), Mark Scullard (0.12), Mal Cavanagh (0.35), Tom Gray and Shaun Graham both (0.78). A tip of the hat to the handicapper and swimmers, well done!

Lucky numbers went to Lydia Barling and Mark Scullard.

Special mention... Dubbo needs to know that the great one, aka Henry Wilcockson, completed his 1200th swim with the Ducks last weekend! Some 1200 swims make him a legend in anybody’s book. Thank you, Henry. You are greatly loved and admired!

This is the glory and wonder of the Ducks, it is not about speed, it is not about technique, it is about consistency. You swim your own race against yourself and the handicapper. Come and join us. Our contact details can be found under Sunday in the Diary section of the Dubbo Photo News Community Diary.

That's this week’s tidings from the Duckpond.