Dubbo Ducks celebrated one of their best loved members on Sunday, October 23, when teams dived in for the inaugural ‘Donny’.

Don Attenborough was a keen swimmer, a superb storyteller, fisherman and outback legend. He and wife Betty held some unforgettable Duck parties at their home in west Dubbo before the grand old man passed away last year.

Teams of four were drawn from a hat as members and family joined forces to fight for a treasured hand-made trophy.

The spirit of Donny and his Ducks was clear from the enthusiastic splashing in the 25-metre pool. Several teams went head-to-head with grandson Vincent pulling on the togs to honour his “old mate”.

The Blue Billed Ducks took ‘the special piece of metal’. Glenn Smith, John Wherritt, Rob Rich and Mark Prentice stopped the clock just .15 outside their time to win bragging rights from their “jealous” clubmates.

Glenn topped off a successful morning when he won the final of the 25m Freestyle after Brian Schloeffel went out “a little too fast”! He then backed up to claim the Closest to Time (CTT) in the 25m Backstroke, touching the wall a mere .24 off what he had nominated.

Norm Bahr was also .24 off his time to take out the CTT 25m Breaststroke from Marg Ross (.40).

The Donny Duck trophy was put together by Don’s grandson’s Karl and Vincent with bits and pieces collected from Don’s shed. A magnificent piece of work.

“It was lovely to have Betty and most of her family present for the event and even more special to have grandson Vincent “Vinnie” Williamson join in the swim,” Publicity Officer Judy Walsh said.

In an emotional morning at the Vets Swimming, club members comforted long-serving Duck Reg Ferguson. His wife Wilma had been a happy face at most of the Duck’s events, trips and social happenings over the past 60 years and Ducks donned their shirts and caps to say farewell at St Brigid’s on Friday.

The Ducks were back in the pool as usual on the next Sunday morning.