Cumberland Short Course Championships

The 2006 Cumberland District Open & Age Short Course Championships will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th August, 2006.

The club will be represented by 5 swimmers at the meet, competing in 17 individual events.

Our team will be competing in the following events over the two day meet:

Anthony Ventra
11/12yrs 50m Breaststroke (Day 2 - Session 3 - 11:09am)
11/12yrs 100m Freestyle (Day 2 - Session 4 - 1:23pm)
David Wang
13/14yrs 100m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 10:00am)
13/14yrs 50m Freestyle (Day 1 - Session 1 - 11:07am)
13/14yrs 200m Individual Medley (Day 2 - Session 3 - 9:56am)
13/14yrs 100m Freestyle (Day 2 - Session 3 - 11:34am)
13/14yrs 50m Breaststroke (Day 2 - Session 4 - 2:55pm)
Amber Johnson
13/14yrs 50m Freestyle (Day 1 - Session 1 - 11:12am)
13/14yrs 100m Backstroke (Day 1 - Session 2 - 1:58pm)
Brittany Johnson
15/16yrs 100m Freestyle (Day 1 - Session 1 - 10:23am)
15yrs & Over 50m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 11:23am)
Open 100m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 2 - 2:41pm)
Peter Johnston
15yrs & Over 50m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 11:20am)
Open 100m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 2 - 2:37pm)
Open 200m Breaststroke (Day 2 - Session 3 - 10:45am)
15yrs & Over 50m Freestyle (Day 2 - Session 3 - 11:25am)
15yrs & Over 50m Butterfly (Day 2 - Session 4 - 2:34pm)

Times should be used as a guide only.

Congratulations to the 5 swimmers for qualifying and good luck at the meet.

You can follow the team's progress over the weekend at http://www.cumberlandswim.com.au/.

See Also
  • 2006 Cumberland District Open & Age Short Course Championships - Program of Events & Qualifying Times
  • State, Metropolitan and Country Championship Procedures

  • Competitor Information

  • Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre Parking Arrangements
  • Wentworthville Remains Closed

    Training was due to recommence on Tuesday, 1st August when Wentworthville Swimming Centre re-opened following it's closure for maintenance.

    However, it was discovered today that the centre will now not re-open until Monday, 7th August.

    Therefore, dryland training will continue in the Club Room at Merrylands Swimming Centre on Tuesday & Thursday next week (Monday's session has been moved to Tuesday).

    See Also
  • Training Schedule
  • The swim of a lifetime

    Ten years ago today, Kieren Perkins stole the show in Atlanta. Here, he recalls a day to remember - not only for himself, but a nation.

    TEN years ago I was laying face up on a massage table overcome by a wave of nerves and fear. Despite feeling ready the day before in the heats, I'd swum a complete shocker and scraped into the Olympic men's 1500m final, literally by a fingernail.

    As the physio dug into my sore muscles, I mentally went to work on my bruised confidence. To this day I can't explain the heat swim. It wasn't like some claim - a clever ploy to place myself away from the main competition in the middle of the pool. Believe me, there is no athlete that good. It was simply a "bad swim", not uncommon for me first-up in competition.

    But now I had to face the present - a chance to silence the critics and continue my quest to be the first man to perform a three-peat in Olympic swimming (Perkins ended up coming second to Grant Hackett in Sydney). Four years had passed since I won my first Olympic gold in Barcelona and since standing on the dais in Spain, I'd broken world records and collected a swag of Commonwealth, World Championship and Pan Pacific medals.

    In 1994, I was awarded FINA's Most Outstanding Male Athlete of the Quadrennium and continued to train hard, but charity and business commitments required time away from the pool. My body was older and took longer to recover not just from training but injury, too. I had started weights training and cycling to the pool. In short, life got busy but I kept churning out the laps.

    All champions believe they will win, and I always thought I would win in Atlanta. Even when illness struck and I struggled at the Olympic trials, I still knew I could win. Longevity is the greatest test of any athlete, simply because if you do the work and have the talent, winning the first time around is easy. Maintaining the desire and hunger to keep up the workload makes winning over a long period a greater challenge. Life gets in the way and tempts you away from your main focus - the pool.

    Now on the massage table, only hours away from my second Olympic 1500m final, my mind was playing tricks on me, and the pressure, both personal and from the media, was pushing me into the panic zone - a place I couldn't afford to be.

    On this day of reckoning, the moment of panic, albeit brief, was intense, and my whole life flashed through my head in a series of disjointed images and newspaper headlines: "Perkins flounders in Lane Eight"; my coach John Carew; and his last words of advice, "you've done the work and know what you have to do, forget about everything else".

    Good thoughts and bad thoughts hijacked my thinking. I can't let everyone down - myself, my coach, my wife, Sam, my family, the country. If I bomb out again, customs won't let me back into the country for losing. The ludicrous irrationality of the last idea jolted me back to reality.

    Forsaking worry, I now felt anger. Angry with myself for letting my mind wander, however briefly, from the task at hand, to do my best and win. Champions cannot afford doubt. I told myself to refocus, thanked my physio and leapt off the table with purpose. At that very moment I knew I would win my second Olympic gold.

    In the marshalling area I listened to music to pump myself up and stifle my surroundings. I thought about the race and how I had to swim to win - go out hard and go out fast. Illness had disrupted my preparation for the '96 Olympics and meant Dan Kowalski, my fellow Australian competitor, had a physical edge over me, so I had to dominate early or risk his swimming on my shoulder and overcoming me in the final laps. I needed to be clear of the field after the first 100m, that I was sure of.

    When I watch replays of the race I can see the determination on my face and my unbridled joy. My emotional response to that victory still surprises me 10 years on. But the unrelenting media scrutiny myself and my wife copped in the race lead-up made that win so much sweeter. More surprising is the response of the public. I am still stunned when people tell me where they were and what they were doing when I won in Atlanta.

    The grandstand kiss has become a romance benchmark in my marriage I've seldom been able to replicate except with the births of our three children. Otherwise, in 2006, I find myself happy and life fulfilled, retired from competition but not from sport. I always intended to give back to swimming - a sport that rendered me valuable life lessons and many priceless opportunities.

    As a board member of the Australian Sports Commission and Swimming Australia, I hope to lend my experience to the future generations of Australian athletes. Sport is important for all of us, especially our children. The spiralling child obesity statistics alarm me greatly, and as a father and Olympian I can inspire Aussie kids to enjoy physical activity.

    Medals and records are fantastic but sharing your knowledge to improve the lives of others is definitely the greater reward.

    Metropolitan Short Course Results

    The NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships were held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, on the 1st and 2nd of July 2006. Merrylands' team of 3 swimmers swam 4 personal best times at the meet with a finalist in one event.

    The first competitor from Merrylands was Anthony Ventra, who swam in the 12 years 100m Breaststroke. Anthony's mum, Rose, decided she would give him the loudest encouragement possible, her voice!!! With Rose loudly cheering him on from the grandstand, he managed to do two PB's in ONE race!! He took a huge 4.25 seconds off his time to swim a 1:27.14 and also did a PB in the first 50m of the 100, to now do an impressive 39.19. He finished 14th out of 34 competitors in the event having been ranked 27th.

    Brittany Johnson was the second competitor from Merrylands, who also swam the 100m Breaststroke. Even though she was extremely nervous she managed to do a massive 4.76 second PB and she is proud to now say that her time is a 1:23.91. Brittany went into the event as the 10th fastest swimmer and came out with a finalist ribbon for finishing 7th - our club's first finalist at the Metropolitan Short Course Championships since 2003*. Along with everyone else in the club we were all surprised and very proud of her.

    Brittany also swam the 100m Freestyle after a tiresome wait of 4 hours. With adrenaline pumping through her body she did an amazing swim. She shaved 0.29 off her entry time of 1:04.61 to now do a 1:04.32 - 0.27 of the improvement coming in the all important second 50m. Even though this doesn't seem much, it's a lot to a swimmer. Brittany finished 19th overall, maintaining her position going into the event.

    Our third competitor at the meet was David Wang. Also swimming in the 100m Breaststroke, this time in the 13yrs event on Sunday morning, David was looking to improve on his 4 second PB swum earlier this month. Unfortunately after feeling unwell late last week, David struggled in the second 50m and was unable to match his entry time.

    Overall, the club finished in equal 56th position on 14 points.

    At the end of the weekend we were all very proud of every swimmer from Merrylands. They did a fantastic job just to qualify but it was even better to see their faces after they did a PB. A huge thanks to Peter, who was there over the weekend to see and support all of the swimmer's from Merrylands.

    The full results are now available here.

    * First Championship event finalist since 2003. The club had Multi-Disability finalists in 2004. Multi-Disability events are Non-Championship events.

    See Also
  • 2006 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships - Results
  • 2006 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships Team

  • 2003 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships Report
  • NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships

    The 2006 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Saturday 1st & Sunday 2nd July, 2006.

    The club will be represented by 3 swimmers at the meet, competing in 4 individual events.

    This year has seen a change to the program with the removal of the Age 50m formstroke events. As a result, our club will have two less swimmers competing than we would have if the program had remained unchanged. However, despite the program change, two members of the team were not members of last year's team. Anthony Ventra will swim at his first Metropolitan Short Course Championships while David Wang missed last year's meet through injury. Brittany Johnson is competing at the meet for the third time but in two new events at these Championships, having mainly swum 50m events in previous years.

    Our team will be competing in the following events over the two day meet:

    Anthony Ventra
    12yrs 100m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 10:00am)
    David Wang
    13yrs 100m Breaststroke (Day 2 - Session 3 - 11:06am)
    Brittany Johnson
    16yrs 100m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 11:30am)
    16yrs 100m Freestyle (Day 1 - Session 2 - 2:35pm)

    Times should be used as a guide only.

    Congratulations to the 3 swimmers for qualifying and good luck at the meet.

    You can follow the team's progress over the weekend at http://www.nswswimming.com.au/.

    See Also
  • 2006 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships - Program of Events
  • 2006 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships - Qualifying Times
  • State, Metropolitan and Country Championship Procedures

  • Competitor Information

  • Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre Parking Arrangements
  • Winter Recess

    There will be no pool sessions during July while Wentworthville Swimming Centre is closed for maintenance.

    During the first two weeks of July (the July School Holidays) there will be no training sessions at all as we take a break. During the second two weeks of July, the Junior Squad will have land training sessions at Merrylands Swimming Centre on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There will be no sessions at all for the Sharks and Dolphins.

    It is expected that we will resume pool sessions at Wentworthville on either Monday, 31st July or Tuesday, 1st August (the date is yet to be confirmed).

    We will then continue to train at Wentworthville until Merrylands Swimming Centre re-opens on Monday, 11th September.

    Please note that these dates may change. Check the website regularly for updates.

    July Training Sessions
    July 3 to 14 No Training
    July 18, 20, 25, 27 Land Training at Merrylands (5pm to 6pm)

    See Also
  • Training Schedule
  • Cumberland Development Squads Announced

    Congratulations to the following 5 swimmers from our club who have been selected in the 2006 Cumberland Development Squads:

    Novice Squad
    Kristi Stephens
     
    Achiever Squad
    Amber Johnson
    Mitchell Burt
    Anthony Ventra
    David Wang

    Congratulations to the 5 swimmers selected, in particular Kristi, Mitchell and Anthony who have been selected for the first time. Swimmers in the squads will be receiving letters over the next couple of weeks detailing the Squads activities.

    Update
    Two of our club's coaches have also been selected to participate as coaches in the District's Development Squad activities:

    Novice Squad
    Peter Johnston (Head Coach)
    Brittany Johnson
     
    Achiever Squad
    Peter Johnston (Head Coach)

    See Also
  • Swimming Cumberland

  • 2005 Squad Members

  • 2004 Squad Members

  • 2003 Squad Members

  • 2002 Squad Members

  • 2001 Squad Members
  • Metropolitan Short Course Entries

    Entries for the 2006 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships close on Tuesday, 13th June, 2006.

    The entries are to be on Multi-Entry Cards.

    To compete at these championships you must have achieved the required qualifying time at an approved meet as detailed on the Qualifying Time Information page.

    The Multi-Entry cards must be completely filled out including date and place that times were achieved. Entries must also include your registration number.

    For more information on NSW meets read the Championship Procedures information in the Swim Meets Section.

    No late entries will be accepted.

    See Also
  • 2006 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships - Program of Events
  • 2006 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships - Qualifying Times
  • Qualifying Time Information

  • Winter Meet Entry Procedures

  • State, Metropolitan and Country Championship Procedures

  • Competitor Information

  • Schedule of Constants

  • Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre Parking Arrangements
  • Setting Personal Swimming Goals

    Although most of you don’t consider yourself to be "competitive" swimmers, this is not an excuse for not setting goals in your swimming. Doing anything without some sort of purpose will become dull, boring, and repetitive before too long. Goals are necessary to keep one motivated to continue - especially on very cold days, early morning workouts, etc.

    I’m sure you’ve been told many times, maybe from parents, teachers, bosses, or even a swim coach, to set goals. What’s so important about setting goals? "It seems so silly to spend the time to sit down and write the things you already know you want to do. "I just want to swim" you may say. "I set goals for my career, but I don’t need to set goals for my recreation." This sounds reasonable, but is not true if you take a closer look.

    Deep inside, we all need justification for everything we do. It’s human nature to feel the need for accomplishment. The reward of completing a task worked hard at, is something we all strive for, whether it’s in the working world or in our personal life. What are you trying to accomplish by swimming?

    Make some short and long terms goals for this year. Try to set many goals. If you only set one or two simple or wishy-washy goals it probably won’t help to motivate you. The more goals you set, the more chance for success you have. Remember, you haven’t lost anything if you don’t reach a particular goal, but you have accomplished something when you do achieve one. Be specific whenever possible, including number (distances, times, places, dates, etc.) Many of you don’t realize how much progress you have made. If you record your times or mileage you may be surprise by how much progress you’ve really made.

    Overcome the Fear of Failure: I have noticed that many swimmer’s don’t set goals to improve swimming skills, or enter events to check their progress due to a "fear of failure." When asked to do a timed swim in workout, or to enter some other event, do you say "Oh no, I’m not in shape!”, "I’m too slow." or "I don’t think I can do as well as last year." These are fear of failure answers. So what if you don’t go as far. So what if you’re not the fastest. It’s the process of trying to improve that’s important. A great quote I like to refer to goes like this: "Failure is not the worst thing in the world. The very worst is not to try." However, chances are you’ll be quite please with the results, and occasionally reach your goals.

    2005/2006 Presentation Evening

    Brittany Johnson was awarded the Champion of Champions Award for the third year in a row at our Annual Presentation Evening earlier tonight. The award is presented to the best all round swimmer, taking into account performances both at club and representative meets.
    Brittany is a deserved winner, winning both her Age and Open Championships, placing second in the Female Graded Pointscore, setting 11 club records and representing the club at the Cumberland, Metropolitan and State Age Championships.

    Greg Stanford, was awarded the Michael Rossek Trophy for the highest placed Junior Boy in the Graded Races Pointscore while Amber Johnson received the Ronald Exley Trophy for the highest placed Junior Girl. This year was the fourth time that Amber has won the Female Pointscore in the last 5 years and she now becomes the most successful Female Graded Pointscore Swimmer in the club's history.

    The Jack Smart Encouragement Award was presented to Stephanie Ibrahim, who steadily improved over the season, both at club and at training, progressing from 25m to 50m in different strokes.

    Relay Competition was won by a newly formed team at their first attempt. The "Swimmers" in the end easily saw off late challenges by the Merrylands Mermaids and Reel Big Fish to win their first title.

    Glen Stanford took out the Senior Handicap for the second year running while in our Winter Season Peter Johnston and Glenda Wood won the male and female Graded Pointscore competitions.

    Learn to Swim instructors were recognised again this year for their efforts over the season. Our Austswim qualified instructors were presented with an Instructor's hat to thank them for their work running the program and for training our new instructors.

    Four awards were presented to members of Merrylands Swimming Squad for their efforts at Swimming Training throughout the season. All four swimmers were first time recipients of the Coach's Awards with Nikhil Naidu, Kristi Stephens, Mitchell Burt and Anthony Ventra all taking home a club beanie.

    The night was very enjoyable and those people that stayed after the presentation had a good time joining in the fun.

    Thank you to all the people who helped organise the presentation and who helped throughout the season.

    You can find the season results in the Club Races section and the full list of other awards presented on the night in the Presentation section.

    What did you think of the Presentation? Fill in the 2005/2006 Presentation Evening Survey and let us know.

    See Also
  • Presentation Evening

  • Presentation Evening Survey

  • Graded Pointscore Results

  • Championship Results

  • Senior Handicap Results

  • Relay Competition Results
  • Feature: The History of The Graded Point Score