A Mixed Bag for Troy at the Nationals

24 April 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
Troy Tomkinson had a 5 days of ups and downs at the Tip Top Australian Age Championships last week with 2 disqualifications and a 5th place.

Troy was disqualified in both the 100m Freestyle (false start) on the opening day of the championships and the 100m Butterfly (incorrect finish) on the final day. Both disqualifications occurred in the heats of the events meaning that he missed out on a possible place in the finals.

Troy's third event at the championships, the 50m Freestyle, was a much different story. He qualified for the final in a time of 26.63 to be seeded as the fifth fastest. He then backed up his qualifying position to place fifth in the final in 26.24, only 1/100th of a second behind 4th place.

As a club, Merrylands finished 133rd overall with 20 points.

Troy's National results can be found here:
  • Troy Tomkinson

    • Merrylands at the Nationals

    11 April 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
    Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club will have one of it's first representatives in nearly 20 years at this month's Tip Top Australian Age Championships in the form of Troy Tomkinson.

    Merrylands was last represented at the Australian Championships by Astrid Howton in 1983.

    Troy leaves for Melbourne next week to compete in three events at the Championships, the 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle and the 100m Butterfly.

    The Championships will be help at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre from April 19 to April 23.

    You can keep up to date with Troy's progress at the Nationals at http://www.swimming.org.au/

    Successful Sprint Meet

    31 March 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
    Merrylands had a very successful afternoon at the Cumberland District Sprint Meet on March 31st. The club was represented by 19 members and collected 15 medals.

    Jordan Burden successfully defended his title in the Boys 8yrs & Under 50m Breaststroke and placed second in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly.

    Thomas Wang left his first Sprint Meet with a Silver in the 9yrs & Under 50m Breaststroke and a Bronze in the 50m Freestyle.

    Mitchell Emery and Mitchell McFarlane placed well in the 10yrs events. Mitchell Emery made up for his disappointment at the Cumberland Championships with Silver in the 50m Breaststroke and Mitchell McFarlane took home his first Cumberland medal with Silver in the 50m Freestyle.

    After winning medals in the 100m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly at the District Championships Troy Tomkinson was ineligible to compete in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly. However Troy still took home a Gold in the 50m Backstroke and a Silver in the 50m Breaststroke.

    Peter Johnston and Robert Griffey represented the club in the 15yrs & Over events. Peter made up for a poor start in the 50m Breaststroke to beat Robert to the wall in 1 -2 for Merrylands. Robert improved on his Silver medal in the Breaststroke with dominant wins in both the Backstroke and Butterfly. With Robert ineligible to compete in the 50m Freestyle, Peter added a Silver medal to his Breaststroke Gold.

    Brittany Johnson was our lone female medallist with a Bronze in the 11yrs 50m Butterfly for her first Cumberland medal.

    The team had a very enjoyable afternoon and the meet is great way to end the summer season. A number of swimmers also broke their PBs. We hope to see even more club members there next year.

    Troy Trounces the Thorpedo

    28 March 2001 Peter-Johnston Media Articles
    TROY Tomkinson won't feel like a fish out of water at next month's National Age swim titles.

    Far from it - he recently broke Ian Thorpe's 13 years age group record for the 50m Freestyle event at the Metropolitan South West titles.

    That's a note worthy feat when you consider how highly regarded Thorpe was at that age and what he's achieved since at World Championship and Olympic level.

    Troy, 13, is the first Merrylands Swimming Club member in 20 years to qualify for the championships.

    His coach Kristen Sunner is quietly confident her protege will do well at the titles, to be held in Melbourne between April 19 and 23.

    Troy has qualified for three events at the National Age titles, namely the 50m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle events.

    Kristen has tutored troy for the past two years, watching him develop and mature as an athlete and a person.

    She said Troy was a very good prospect who had worked hard in training.

    "He's only been training three days a week", Kristen said.

    Energy Drinks - Drug Test Warning

    22 March 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
    The recent energy drink fad sweeping the country has Australian Swimming chiefs worried that unsuspecting athletes may test positive to high levels of caffeine at in-competition drug tests.

    As a result of their concerns, the sport's governing bodies are circulating pamphlets warning swimmers of the risks. They are also looking to increase swimmer's awareness of the risks through their drug education programs.

    The drinks, which are very high in caffeine, are claimed to significantly increase energy levels and vitalise mind and body. The drinks are highly promoted for the common market although not specifically for sport.

    Yesterday, NSW Swimming Executive Director, Peter Thomas said the association would be distributing circulars warning of the drug-testing dangers to athletes and would also be "increasing the profile of these types of caffeine consumption as part of the usual drug education program."
    "We do a lot of drug education, and it does address all aspects," Thomas said. "Something that we have considered recently is to include these sort of drinks and supplements as they are becoming more commonplace, and they are so readily available."
    "Because they are bought over the counter like soft drinks, athletes may not necessarily realise the caffeine content in them and it is, in certain doses, a prohibited substance."
    "They have got to be aware of it, and that if you consume enough of them, the level of caffeine could be such that it puts you into the prohibited range, and any athlete, regardless of whether they are high-profile or not, could be subject to testing."

    Individual coaches are also warning their swimmers to steer clear of the energy drinks.
    Caffeine is targeted by drug-testers during competition. As a stimulant drug, if it is taken in sufficient quantity it can produces a positive drug test, resulting in suspension from competition.
    A spokesman for the Australian Sports Drug Association said caffeine "was a game-day enhancer" designed to give athletes a "boost or pep-up". As a result, there was no out-of-competition testing.

    There are no hard and fast rules about how many energy drinks, cups of coffee or other products can be consumed as this depends on a number of factors, including body weight and metabolism. Athletes using these products may have high levels of caffeine and it's by-products and are likely to exceed the drug testing limits, which amounts to cheating.

    Swimmers are advised to avoid using caffeine during or around competition.

    Club boasts State Champion

    06 September 1977 Peter-Johnston Media Articles
    MERRYLANDS Amateur Swimming Club now boasts its first State Champion.

    Darren Turner competed in the NSW Winter Championships recently and won 2 medals.

    He won first place in the 10 years and under 100m Backstroke with a time of 1m 20.10s and third place in the 10 years and under 100m Freestyle in 1m 11.17s.

    Merrylands Swimming Club was established in 1968 and Darren is their first swimmer to gain the distinction of being a State champion in his age and stroke.

    Swimming Training in Winter

    29 March 1977 Peter-Johnston Media Articles

    MERRYLANDS Amateur Swimming Club will hold its winter training sessions at Guildford heated pool on Monday and Wednesday evenings.

    At last week's council meeting the club asked if it could have two or three lanes set aside for swimmers to train in, as had been the policy in past years.

    The club hopes to have about 30 swimmers in training during the winter.

    Council decided two lanes could be made available on Monday and Wednesday nights between 7.30 pm and 8.30 pm.

    Source: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224511972

    Paraplegic Games for Merrylands

    27 July 1971 Peter-Johnston Media Articles

    Merrylands Oval has been selected as the site for the 1972 Australian Paraplegic Games.

    The Paraplegic Association made its decision last week and final negotiations between Holroyd Council, the association and the sponsoring Wentworthville Lions Club are now under way.

    The Wentworthville Lions Club secretary, Mr. Joe Adams said the location for the games had been in doubt for some time but had now been settled for Merrylands.

    "It is a great thing for the area."

    The move to conduct the games arose from the Wentworthville Lions Club's recent Australian boxing title fight.

    The club raised $1000 for the Paraplegic Association.

    The date for the games is not definite yet but Mr Adams is hoping for an early start.

    "The games can be held from February 13 to 21 or March 22 to April 2.

    "But I am hoping that the February date can be arranged.

    "At that stage of the year, the competitors will not be troubled by cold weather."

    Facilities in the area are first class.

    The swimming centre, oval and RSL Youth Centre are in the one complex and the competitors can be centred at the one point.

    All track and field and archery events will be held on the oval.

    Swimming events will be conducted at the pool while basketball, snooker and table tennis will be played at the RSL Youth Centre.

    Accommodation for the competitors was an early problem but this has now been rectified.

    Source: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/224495005

    Swimming Champions

    13 January 1970 Peter-Johnston Media Articles

    Merrylands Swimming Centre's under 14 4 x 200 metres relay team display the Campbetltown trophy they won at a recent Camden carnival.

    They are (left to right): Kim Warwick, Mike Lewis, Daryl Earl and Geoff Cashel.

    Kim Warwick is the Merrylands breaststroke champion and qualified for the NSW titles at Drummoyne.

    Lewis is the club's under 12 all round champion.

    He contested the State butterfly and medley championships at Drummoyne.

    Daryl Earl is the club champion in the under 14 butterfiy section and is also a proficient backstroke and freestyle exponent.

    Cashel is also an all-rounder who is adept at all swimming styles.

    Club trainers are confident the boys can repeat their winning performances at future carnivals.

    Officials last week said the team had trained extremely hard this season.

    "We are out to give their clubs in the area a real testing with these boys." one official said.

    Source: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/163745724

    Boisterous youths controlled at pool; 250 Members in Swimming Club

    04 February 1969 Peter-Johnston Media Articles

    Aldermen of Holroyd Municipal Council have congratulated the staff at Merrylands Swimming Pool on the way it has been run.

    At the last meeting of council, Aid. H. L. Maley said ratepayers had congratulated the pool staff on the attendances at the pool and the attention given to the 'boisterous' element.

    Pool attendants have cracked down on rowdy behaviour and horseplay.

    Ald. W. Try supported Ald. Maley.

    He added that the Merrylands Swimming Club which has the pool as its base, is going from strength to strength.

    The club has 250 members, and at the present rate of growth could soon become the largest, swimming club in the State.

    Attendance figures at the pool for the two weeks previous to the council meeting had been included in a report to the council.

    The figures showed more than 30,000 people had used the pool in this short time.

    Children comprised the bulk of the figure with the turnstiles recording an amazing 19,614.

    A further 397 were admitted under children's concessions.

    Paying adults totalled 7132 with 389 being admitted under concessions.

    The pool, opened less than three months ago, on November 9, and already more than 115,000 have passed through the turnstiles.

    At the official opening, performed by the Mayor of Holroyd, Ald. R. W. Devlin, it was announced that the $400,000 pool was the second completed by the Holroyd Council in three years.

    The opening days gave a good indication of the demand for the pool.

    Thousands of children and their parents turned up for the ceremony.

    After the opening ceremony Ald. Devlin declared "open house" and within minutes there was hardly room to move in any of the pools in the centre.

    The swimming club took little time to begin full-scale operations.

    Club officers were elected and within five weeks the membership rose to 120.

    Since that time, a further 130 have joined the ranks.

    Source: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/163746057