Once a Polar Bear...

Sunday 27th September - 2020

For those of you that are unaware... l used to be a POLAR BEAR in a previous life.

Yes, that was back when I was young, fit & handsome with a full head of hair, l was a proud member of the Cronulla Polar Bears Winter Swimming Club during the long gone halcyon days of the 1980s.

The 2020 line-up of Polar Bears in front of their home pool
the Cronulla Rock Pool which was built in 1941
That young fellow in his Dad's arms is definitely a future Polar Bear.

Cronulla Polar Bears is an ocean swimming group who have been active between May & September every year since May of 1953. The members are a unique group of people that swim every Sunday, rain, hail or shine, no matter what the weather conditions are. 

On Sunday 27th of September, 2020, l turned back the clock 40-years to attend the 'Warbo 200' swimming time trial that my father first introduced to the Club 40-years ago.

As you can see by all the photos the weather was absolutely magnificent, with Cronulla Beach & the famous Cronulla Point in the background. How good is this? It doesn't come any better than this anywhere in the world.

The Cronulla Rock Pool is a salt water ocean pool that is
flushed out twice a day by the natural high tides.
Today's water temp was an icy 10°c

Action shot (above) of the Polar Bears diving into very cold water (10°c) in another heat. 

The Cronulla Polar Bears Winter Swimming Club started way back in 1953 (67-years ago), in that time the Cronulla Polar Bears have won the National Australian Titles on 12 occasions, they have also competed in the South Metropolitan Champions in NSW & have won 24 out of the 26 Titles. 

Something that this Club should be very proud of & a tradition that hopefully will pursue into the future with the younger generation filtering through their membership. 

The guy that l have my right arm over is Andrew Kerr (four-time
Olympian who represented Australia in Water Polo). Andrew by
coincidence was the winner of this year's 40th Anniversary 'Warbo 200'.

(Above) The guy that l have my right arm over is Andrew Kerr (four-time Olympian who represented Australia in Water Polo). Andrew by coincidence was the winner of this year's 40th Anniversary 'Warbo 200'. The gentleman standing in front of Andrew is his brother Peter Kerr, his claim to fame was that he delivered the 'Official's Olympic Oath' on the opening night of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Nathaniel my son & l were in attendance at the Sydney Olympic Stadium on that auspicious occasion.

The photo above is quite unique, reason being that when l was a Polar Bear in the '80s l swam against all these larrikins, the guy holding the shirt ended up being my divorce lawyer when l pulled the pin on my marriage in 1994.

My Dad, second from the left, while competing with the Polar Bears
at a inter-Club Challenge on the NSW mid-North Coast 

You're not going to believe this, the inaugural race winner in 1980 was none other than my Dad, Al Warburton. He swam within .5 seconds of his nominated time.

Dad was a staunch member of the Cronulla Polar Bears through the '70s - '80s - '90s. l can still see him preparing the catering for Sunday's meetings at home with Mum as his offsider. They would spend hours upon hours cutting fresh vegetables making a vegetable soup (in a huge tub) to feed upwards of 40-50 hungry, cold shivering Bears after their swim in the ocean rock pool at Cronulla. The menu also included a diet of potatoes, Chili & beer to wash it all down.

The fridge that my Dad donated is still being used to
this day in the Clubhouse and named in his honour

ln the photograph (above) you can see a Commercial Fridge (Warbo's Bar) that is situated inside the Club house, please notice the Polar Bear on the side end of the fridge, how cool does that look? My father collected thousands upon thousands of aluminum cans & bottles over a couple of years to raise enough cash to purchase this necessary accessory to keep their liquid refreshments cold & is still in use today. 

Before the fridge was donated to the club by my father, Club members had to use ice in large containers to keep the supplies cool, which was completely over the odds & used up unnecessary man power as you can well imagine. 

Andrew Kerr (four-time Olympian that represented Australia
in Water Polo). Andrew by coincidence was the winner of
this year's 40th Anniversary 'Warbo 200'.

l was absolutely delighted to present my friend Andrew Kerr (four-time Olympian) with the 'Warbo 200' Trophy. l believe that he swam within 1-second of his nominated time for the 200 mtrs. 

The Bronze plaque (above) that is situated on the sea wall behind 

the rock pool explains the history of Cronulla's famous rock pool, 

which l didn't know existed until last Sunday.

The current Club President, Scott Simmons, or Simmo as he is affectionately know, contacted me during the week & asked me if l could present the trophy to the winner of this year's 'Warbo 200'. This event was started by my Dad 40-years ago, is four laps x 50 mtr. = 200 mtrs. Hence the name: 'Warbo 200'. What you have to do is nominate a time that you think it will take you to swim the 200mtrs. The person who swims closest to his nominated time wins the trophy. 

I was delighted to catch up with the
Club's Patron, 90-year old John Suann

(Above) Enjoying a chat with the Cronulla Polar Bear's (90-year old) Patron, John Suann, who was a dear friend of my Dad, it was great to catch up with him & reminisce about the times we cherished all those years ago.

The banner is out for another Sunday, proudly 
signaling another day of swimming competition in Cronulla

On Sunday, l asked Paul Cavanagh if the Bears had any old photographs of my Dad when he was a Polar Bear all those years ago because l did not have any. Sure enough on Monday morning l received various photographs that Paul had found in the Bear's archives. 

The 80-year old Cronulla Rock Pool where all the
Polar Bear swimming action has happened for 67-years

One of my favourite photographs of Dad is (below) a sprightly, tanned looking 61-year old with two of his mates at one of the Winter swimming meets. Without a doubt l just love the close up photograph of Dad's face, he looks so healthy & happy, it is priceless & pure gold. 

When l received this photograph from Paul l immediately started crying because his memory is still very raw in my memory after all these years.

From the good old Polar Bear days, my late Dad on the far left
looking fit, tanned, happy and healthy

You know something, nobody is dead until the memories fade away, & rest assured the memories have not faded away. He was one hell of a human-being, if the world was full of Al Warbos it would be a beautiful place.

With those final few words l will finish off my story about the 'Warbo 200'. l certainly hope that you have enjoyed reading my trip down memory lane because l have enjoyed writing it.

This is a very emotional photograph for me looking North towards
the Cronulla rock pool were the Bears have swum for 67-years,
unfortunately my Dad passed away 13-years ago in 2007,
one of Dad's final wishes was for his ashes to be scattered in the sea
in front of his favourite swimming hole for over 85-years,
a request that l did fulfil.

As l mentioned to the Club membership before l awarded the Trophy to Andrew, let's hope that the 'Warbo 200' will continue for another 40-years.

Please stay safe & good luck to everybody into the future. Yours sincerely,

Warbo Jnr.

NB: For those of you that are wondering, l did not swim on Sunday.

Related: Check the Cronulla Polar Bears Winter Swimming Club Facebook Page