It was all going on at Aurora – Day 1 Swimming and Netball

By Volunteer Zoe Cunningham

Today I left the day job behind to take on my first official #WPFGSocialTeam duties.   

Dressed in my Volunteer finery and sporting my ever so official ID pass I headed to the fabulous Aurora Leisure in Bangor for the first day of the swimming and netball events.

When I arrived there was already a fantastic buzz about the place as smiling volunteers greeted competitors and spectators alike to what we hope will be the friendliest games ever.

The swimming was already underway and I was amazed at all the different teams and cultures packed into the large viewing gallery overlooking the pool.

Now, swimming for me usually involves an exotic location, something inflatable for me to float around on, an ice cold drink (Coca-Cola of course) and a distinct lack of anything resembling front crawl, so today I was nothing but astounded at the talent and endurance of the WPFG athletes.

Race after race they plunged into the water, apparently effortlessly racing to complete their lengths to rapturous applause from their supporters.  I encountered a particularly enthusiastic group of Canadians, who broke into hysterical cheers as Mathieu Poisson won one of the men’s 400m freestyle races.  With this sort of enthusiasm on tap I couldn’t help but feel excited for the day ahead.

To get a real feel for the games I decided to take a walk behind the scenes down to the call rooms in which competitors assembled before their races.  The atmosphere down there was different and a sense of quiet anticipation and drive filled the air.  I then got down to the heart of the action and went poolside to take a few snaps and watched a couple of races. 

On my way back upstairs I met Games Ambassadors Michelle and Kirsty, who were in charge of directing competitors to their allocated call rooms and they kindly introduced me to Mike Burns, who is competing for the New York Fire Department.  When we met Mike he had just been placed second in the men’s 30-34years 400m freestyle event.

Mike described the great atmosphere he and the other competitors felt and said he was really enjoying the games so far.  Mike is also competing at Aurora on Sunday and then in the open water swimming, which he really enjoys, on Tuesday.  We were later to find out that the winner of Mike’s race had been disqualified so he had actually won – Go Mike! 

The swimming continues at Aurora on Saturday and Sunday and is open to the public so get yourselves down to Bangor pronto for a slice of the action.

Although Aurora is predominantly known for swimming, it actually offers fantastic sports hall facilities and is also hosting the netball, which takes place today and Saturday.  As a former netballer myself, I was excited to watch top level competitors battle it out for victory, putting my own netballing abilities to shame.

During the competition, two Northern Irish Teams, PSNI and the NI Fire Service Wildfires, take on two Australian teams from the Victoria Police Netball Club (VPNC).  The event takes the form of a round robin tournament, with all teams playing each other before the playoffs to decide the final placings tomorrow.

 The first teams to take to the court were VPNC Blues and NIFRS Wildfires and to say the game was fast paced is an extreme understatement.  Both teams played very well but the visiting team came into their own with a 45-17 defeat over the Wildfires.  The second match saw the VPNC Reds and PSNI battle it out with the VPNC side once again defeating the local team with a convincing score of 51-30.

Credit where credit’s due, those Aussies know how to handle a netball but our local ladies put up a fantastic fight in these two opening matches and I’m sure as the tournament continues they will go from strength to strength.

As my first day of volunteering comes to a close I have to say I feel very privileged to have this opportunity and I can see by the warm welcome everyone gave our international visitors today and the electric atmosphere at Aurora that we are in for a very exciting Games ahead.

Next week I’ll be back to tell you all about my experience at the highly anticipated Ultimate Firefighter event, which takes place  on Tues 6th – Thurs 8th August at the Titanic Slipways.  

Until next time…