SWIMMING
The Moe Swimming Club held the inaugural Don Coupe Memorial meet on Saturday, January 13 in recognition of the stalwart’s extensive contribution to the sport.
With the assistance of the Gippsland Masters Flippers, the event was launched in wet conditions with 190 swimmers from across Gippsland flocking to Moe for the meet.
Don Coupe was a well-renowned advocate and supporter of swimming across all facets of the sport both in Australia and overseas.
He was a swimmer across a number of levels including the World Masters and served as a coach and official and was a loved member of the swimming community.
In the pool, the highlight of the day was the masters exhibition two-person relay, which saw 12 members of the Gippsland Flippers and two of the Moe Swimming Club battle it out in Coupe’s honour.
In other action, Lajuventi Pannu achieved a junior excellence time in freestyle while Nicholas Cassar swam two personal best times of seven and 15 seconds.
Despite being out of action before the meet, Abi Davey swam a personal best and both Lani and Bella Taylor achieved personal best times in all of their swims.
Coupe’s family, including wife Margaret, attended and shared plenty of stories and laughs.
Moe Swimming Club publicity officer Sally Taylor said the meet was a huge success.
“[We] would like to congratulate all of the swimmers and thank the officials, the Flippers and each of our team member and parents who assisted with running the event,” Taylor said.
“Without each and every one of them, such a great day could not have gone ahead.”
