Pool the place to be, but cooler weather from tomorrow

  By ERWIN CHLANDA
 
After a hot start to the Masters Games, the 3800 competitors and 560 volunteers can look forward to a few cooler days.
 
Equestrian competitor Jo Doyle (pictured at left and during a dressage test, on Bruce) is philosophical about the heat: Yes, it would be nice to have the biennial event close to the middle of winter, but then there are other sporting events competing for those time slots.
 
And Darwin competitor John Pollock (above) isn’t fussed about the heat at all: His sport is swimming, which has 129 entrants.
 
Ms Doyle says there’s a world of difference between competing in tennis, for example, and horse riding: You need a strong car and a float, or a truck, saddles and other gear, feed, and – of course – a horse.
 
For tennis all you need to pack is a racket.
 
Nevertheless, this year has the highest ever number of entrants in Masters ring events at Blatherskite Park – 65 – including entrants from Darwin, Katherine and Adelaide.
 
Mr Pollock, 75, a retired NT public servant, must be one of the most experienced Masters Games competitors: He’s competed in all of them since 1996, as well as several national and world Masters, including those in Perth and Christchurch.
 
BELOW: Some of the horse competitors’ rolling stock.