From the October 1987 newsletter....

Melbourne Olympian, Denise Wangel (formerly Norton) and 'oldie' at the time, Joe Savage write about joining Adelaide Masters.

Norma Fowler : a tribute from Di Simons

Norma Fowler in recent times (top); Norma, Di Simons, Mary Phin and friends a few years ago (bottom)



Friends and fellow swimmers in Adelaide Masters were saddened to hear that Norma Fowler had been struck down with cancer in 2009. We all worried about her as she overcame the pain and learnt to walk again after many months in Royal Adelaide Hospital Hampstead Rehabilitation Centre, and finally a nursing home, until eventually she was able to return home only to be struck down by a heart attack after fighting such a courageous battle.



Norma joined Adelaide Masters in 1978 and was part of the backbone of our club. She made our first club banner and served on the Committee for many years notably as our club treasurer.


She was a very feisty lady and considering she only learnt to swim at the age of 58, she became very competitive in local and national competitions and held several state records during her thirty plus years of membership.

In her early years in our club she had a fear of deep water and related the story of how she was terrified at the thought of a false start in the deep end of the North Sydney pool because she feared she would never make it back to the wall. We think and hope that in later years she overcame this phobia.

We remember a few of her famous quotes: ‘My get-up-and-go has gone’; ‘We’ll outlive the competition and win all the gold medals’ (and she tried very hard to do just that!)

She was an adventurous lady who was affronted on a recent African safari when she was questioned about her age and fitness. Of course with her usual verve and enthusiasm she coped very well.

Norma was beloved by all who knew her and will be sadly missed.

Thirty two years ago

Di Simons writes about Mary Phin, AM Life Member

For those of you who don't know Mary Phin she is married to Ashley, she has two sons and one grand daughter and she regularly competes in the 70-74 age group. Mary is my sister and the two of us have consistently marshalled interclubs and state meets for over ten years.

Mary has been a member of Adelaide Masters for 30 years, having joined our club in the early 80s, and she was an enthusiastic competitor at national meets in the 80s and 90s. She doesn't attend club training, preferring to do her own thing at Immanuel Pool close to her home, and these days Mildura is her favourite meet. She enjoys our houseboat holidays there with all the fun and camaraderie associated with these trips.

Mary personifies the dedicated club swimmer. Although no one would class her as a champion she always puts 150% effort into her swims. She is very much a quiet achiever who has earned her fair share of the points which have contributed to our success as a club over the years. One of Mary's favourite quips when she competes in the longer 200 metre events is 'don't all get out and get dressed before I finish the race', so you can imagine her absolute delight when she scored a 25 metre breaststroke record at Mildura recently!

Mary loves to have fun. She was one of the Flim Flam girls in Canberra (with Elly Fleig and Cheryl Lim), and I remember her cavorting around doing water ballet in the Parap Village pool at midnight with Linley Cooper and her daughter Amanda as part of the Frangipanni Girls. Being an ex-member of the Adelaide Water Ballet team and a former teacher of synchronised swimming with the SA Education Department 'performances' like these were her forte. Wherever there were 'goings on' in the club Mary was in the midst of them: our spicy Tinsel Town Tarts floorshow, our risque Cabaret and the Nuns' Chorus floorshow - all a lot of fun!

Members of the social committee know that Mary can always be relied upon to provide food for our barbeques and social events and she is a dab hand at putting numbers on arms at beach swims.

In short I am proud to call Mary Phin my sister!

Di Simons