The 81st Stan & Basil McDonald Relay was held yesterday.
What a great day, for a great race. This year we came out on top with a hard-fought victory. North Bondi fought hard and gave it everything they had, but so did we. The stan mac is more than just a race it’s a battle, a tradition, a long-fought battle between two great clubs.
Congrats to all the swimmers, you make both clubs very proud, thank you to Dori & Nick who put their heart and soul into our team each and every year.
Also, a big shout out to Matt Hamilton & Simon Storry who between them have raced in the stan mac for North Bondi for over 50 years combined, and both said this was their last race… what an achievement!!!.
It’s days like these that should make us all proud, whether you are on the winning or losing team, Bondi or North Bondi.
After the race I went into the changing rooms and saw Cyril Baldock sitting in the corner quietly reflecting on the win, I think I may have even seen a tear rolling down his cheek…… tears of joy or tears of pride??? either way, it doesn’t matter.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither knows victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt
Photos by: John Slaytor
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