Cheers and excitement echoed from Yass pool on Saturday 7th of January as 67 swimmers from local towns joined the fun of the Shine Shield swimming event.
Swimmers ranged from 5 years of age to some keen participants in the ‘over 40 years’ category. It doesn’t get much better than a series of fun, community, ‘town vs town’ swimming events that welcome all swimmers of all ages, without any need for club memberships.
For more than 55 years the towns of Binalong, Boorowa, Harden, Jugiong and Yass have embraced community spirit to host Shine Shield swim events, have fun and tussle it out in a friendly way for the highest point score of the season.
The Shine Shield made a return in 2023 after three years disrupted by the impacts of Covid and the poor air quality after the 2019/2020 bushfires.
The 2023 Shine Shield is slightly modified, consisting of three events, with the final one to be hosted by Harden on Sunday 22 January.
The Shine Shield is a family-focused event with everyone encouraged to have a go. There are individual and relay events and age groups from under 8s to over 40s. Swimmers choose events to swim on the day and earn points for their town. Fast or slow, young or old, everyone is welcome.
Points accumulate across each Shine Shield event. The town with the highest total points is crowned the Shine Shield winner at the end of the season’s events.
This year Yass hosted the second Shine Shield event with swimmers attending from Binalong, Jugiong, Harden and Yass.
Following the Yass Shine Shield town points totals are:
Binalong – 948
Jugiong – 580
Yass – 517
Harden – 469
Boorowa – 400
And the relay points are:
Binalong – 88
Jugiong – 70
Boorowa – 59
Harden – 50
Yass – 34
Yass families are welcome to join this event and enjoy a family outing to Harden on January 22nd to be part of the Shine Shield fun and collect some more points for Yass. Gates open at 10 am for events to start at 11 am.
