Merrylands successfully reclaimed the Inter-Club Cup for 2022, after last winning it in 2016.  It was exciting to be able to win the meet with some very tight racing between the clubs. It was also so pleasing to see the friendly rivalry and support the clubs gave each other.  There were so many highlights throughout the day and all teams were always going to be winners.

Our team achieved 90 new personal best times and won the point score by 68 points but there were countless achievements throughout the day.  Our swimmers aged from 6 to 70 supported each other throughout the meet with lots of cheering for each race. Thirteen swimmers competed at their first carnival for the club - congratulations Cameron, Aiden, Patrick, Pavla, Coralie, Anna, Emma, Hannah, Jude, Leah, Anastasia, Nikolai and Samantha.  Some of these swimmers had never raced in events longer than 25m before but were willing to give the 50m a crack to earn points for the club.  Some had their first attempt at 50m Butterfly and were even rewarded with a re-swim for their efforts, taking it in their stride and sharing a warm dry towel while waiting for their re-swim.

All age groups contributed to the point score and there was a great feeling of team spirit as everyone worked together. Some of our older swimmers who "don't do breaststroke" or "don't like backstroke" stepped up, (with some light prompting), to ensure we were represented in every event. Some of these swimmers even surprised themselves with their results!

Thank you to our Club Captains Matthew and Darla for organising our swimmers and looking after our younger members. Our captains also gave many their first experience of a carnival "tattoo" of event numbers, worn like a badge of honour.  Some may still have remnants on their arm at training on Monday.

With the arrival of the ice cream van, our swimmers fought the temptation until the end of the meet and celebrated the sweet taste of victory at the end of the meet with a well-deserved choc-top.

Congratulations to all our swimmers on their amazing results, and thank you to everyone who helped organise and run the meet.  Go Whales!

See Also

• 2022 Parramatta Inter-Club Cup - Results

Congratulations to Kylee Murray who set a new record in the 100m Backstroke Championships this morning.

Kylee set a new record in the Veteran Womens 100m Backstroke, finishing in a time of 1:45.49 and taking 0.69 seconds off the record she set in 2018.

Congratulations to Kylee on her swim!

See Also

• Championship Records

Club Captains

Voting closes this morning at 9.30am for the election of Male and Female Club Captains. Every first claim financial member was sent an email this week with a voting link. If you have not yet voted we encourage you to do so before 9.30am.

The nominations for Club Captains are:

We will announce the election result next Saturday after club races.

Club Championship Races

Last week two championships (100m Freestyle & 100m Breaststroke) were swum. Congratulations to everyone who swam in these races. Two club championship records were broken. Matthew Vicic setting a new record time of 1:02.67 in the Mens 15 Year Olds 100m Freestyle (dual record of 1:02.74 held by Troy Tomkinson set in 2003/04 & Anthony Ventra in 2008/09). Leo Zhu set a record time of 1:25.47 in the Boys 13 Year Olds 100m Breaststroke (breaking the record of 1:25.96 set by Todd Jenkin in 2001/02). Congratulations to Matthew & Leo on these achievements

Today we have the 100m Backstroke & 100m Butterfly championships being swum. Good luck to all swimmers competing in these championships.

Club Uniforms

To order club uniform items go to https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/club-uniforms

Parramatta Inter-Club Cup

The Inter-Club Cup is being held this afternoon. Good luck to our team of 44 swimmers competing against Parramatta City (67 swimmers) & McCredie Park (11 swimmers).

Entry to the swimming centre is free. We have also arranged catering with food, coffee & ice cream through a grant we received to fund the meet, so we hope you enjoy the meet.

Warm up commences at 3.00pm so swimmers need to be stretched and ready to enter the water at this time. Races commence at 3.30pm.

We are also expecting to welcome Ms Julia Finn MP, State Member for Granville, Shadow Minister for Sport & Shadow Minister for Youth, during the afternoon, so please make welcome.

We require the help of everyone on the afternoon and we will be at the pool from 1.30pm onwards to set up so if you can help from this time that would be greatly appreciated.

MSW Open Water Championships

Merrylands was represented by Joseph Assi & Daniel Vicic at the Open Water Championships swum at the Sydney International Regatta Centre last Sunday. Congratulations to Joseph & Daniel who both swam the 2.5klm event for the 2^nd time. Both Joseph (over 8 minutes) and Daniel (over 6 minutes) off their previous times

Learn to Swim

The Learn to Swim program started last Saturday. If you can help in any way (you do not need to have any qualifications to assist the instructors in the water) even for only some of the sessions we would appreciate your help. Please speak to Peter Johnston if you are able to assist.

Relay Competition

The Relay Competition is underway. Remember that the relay team needs to complete the weekly form nominating the 4 team members who will swim that week. Complete the form here.

Lions Club Award

Nominations are open for any member to recognise the service of other members.

Each month the Committee considers all nominations received during the previous month and votes on these. Voting is secret and the votes are tallied over the season, with the Lions Club Award made at the Annual Presentation.

We would like to recognise the members who we received nominations for in October:

Alison Johnston

Carlos Vergara

Christine Liepins

Danielle Vicic

Denise Assi

Graham Edwards

Ian Johnston

Leanne Tovkach

Luke Hannan

Margaret Edwards

Peter Johnston

William Johnston

Thank you to everyone above for your dedication and help during the month. Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Nominate a club member for the month online here.

Membership Cards

Remember to download a copy of your membership card from Swim Central to show to the pool staff if requested when entering the swimming centre. Instructions are here.

Technical Officials

To be able to run club races and have the times accepted by Swimming NSW we need to ensure that we have qualified technical officials. This includes various roles around the pool deck, including timekeeping. Training for most roles is conducted online and we encourage you to start by obtaining your timekeeping qualification. See https://nswtraining.swimming.org.au for more information and ask Graham any questions you may have about becoming a technical official.

At this week’s Area Delegates Meeting we were presented with a report in relation to abuse of officials at recent SMSW meets. Incidents of abuse of officials occurred at both the Long Course Championships (SOPAC) and Open Water Championships (SIRC). The Area Technical Convenor reported that the incidents were all dealt with, however any future incidents will not be tolerated and action will be taken to ban anyone involved in abusing officials from the sport of swimming.

It is inappropriate for a parent or swimmer to be abusive to any Official. The Code of Conduct agreed to by everyone when joining a swimming club sets out clear guidelines on appropriate behaviour.

None of the recent incidents involved our club and we thank all of our swimmers, parents & coaches for the example they continue to set at swim meets.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

Check the website for the full list of upcoming meets, closing dates, programs and qualifying times.

Sponsors

Thank you to our major sponsors who provide fantastic support to our club. If you know of a business or organisation that may be interested in providing sponsorship or support to our club please speak to Graham Edwards.

Congratulations to Matthew Vicic on breaking the 15 Years Boys 100m Freestyle record today.

Matt swam a time of 1:02.67, slicing 0.07 off the previous record, which 2 swimmers had jointly held.

Troy Tomkinson set the previous record of 1:02.74 in the 2003/04 season, which Anthony Ventra then equalled in 2008/09.

Well done Matt!

See Also

• Championship Records

Congratulations to Leo Zhu on setting a new record in the 13 Years Boys 100m Breaststroke today.

Leo took 0.49 off the previous record, finishing in 1:25.47.

The previous record of 1:25.96 had been held by Todd Jenkin since the 2001/02 season.

This is Leo's first club record - well done!

See Also

• Championship Records

Club Captains

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains closed last Saturday. Congratulations to the following members who received nominations:

We will confirm if these members accept their nominations and undertake voting next week. We encourage all financial first-claim members to vote. The announcement of the Club Captains for 2022/2023 will be made the following week.

Club Championship Races

We have two championships (100m Freestyle & 100m Breaststroke) being swum today. This is followed by Learn to Swim and Skill Session being held from 9.00am. We have a very busy morning and ask that swimmers be in the marshalling area and ready for their races as this will help us meet the tight morning timeline.

Learn to Swim

The Learn to Swim program starts today and we welcome all of our participants. We still need helpers to assist in delivering this important program. Please speak to Peter Johnston if you are able to assist with any roles for this program.

MSW Long Course Championships

Merrylands was represented by a team of 13 swimmers at the MSW Long Course Championships at SOPAC last weekend.

Our team had a massive weekend, achieving 30 new personal best times, 8 finalists, 2 medals, and new qualifying times for State and Metropolitan Championships. The full report can be found at here.

Congratulations to the team of Aisha Abdelraheem, Ameena Abdelraheem, Joseph Assi, Laura-Belle Casey, Ren Hum, William Johnston, Alison Johnston, Jay Shrestha, Lisa Shrestha, Daniel Vicic, Matthew Vicic, Leo Zhu & Lillian Zhu on the fantastic results achieved. Thank you to our coaches and to Danielle Vicic and Denise Assi who undertook the hosting duties on Sunday morning.

Relay Competition

The Relay Competition commences today. Teams must have nominated the team members (maximum of 6), the team time and have paid the team entry fee of $12 before the relay is swum today. Complete the forms online here.

Parramatta Inter-Club Cup

The Inter-Club Cup is being held next Saturday. We still need swimmers for some age groups (2 for each age group to ensure we have swimmers in every event) as well as ensuring we have enough swimmers for teams in every relay event. Entry to swim in the meet is FREE and entries close next Wednesday (9^th November 2022), click here to submit your entries.

We also require the help of everyone on the afternoon as we will need to set up, provide timekeeping (we will have automatic timing system being used), catering, pack up etc. Please see Graham to volunteer.

Skills Sessions

The 2^nd of the Super Saturday Skills Session is being held today, commencing at 9.00am.

Swimmers from Novice 2 and above are welcome to book into this session. The cost is $7.50 per swimmer, which will come off your multi-session pass.

These sessions are an extra session, not a replacement for a session during the week, and need to be booked online.

Junior Swimmers Results

We have seen fantastic swimming and results in the 15m, 25m & 33m races at club so far this season. Congratulations to the following swimmers on breaking the times for these events:

25m Freestyle

15/10/2022 – Leah Johnston

22/10/2022 – Anastasia Krga *

22/10/2022 – Aiden Festo *

25m Backstroke

22/10/2022 – Anastasia Krga *

25m Breaststroke

29/10/2022 – Patrick Hannan

33m Freestyle

22/10/2022 – Leah Johnston *

29/10/2022 – Anastasia Krga *

29/10/2022 – Aiden Festo *

33m Backstroke

29/10/2022 – Anastasia Krga *

15m Freestyle

22/10/2022 – Lilly Palise

* broke the time at their first attempt

MSW Open Water Championships

Merrylands will be represented by Joseph Assi & Daniel Vicic at the Open Water Championships being swum at the Sydney International Regatta Centre on Sunday. Both Joseph & Daniel qualified to swim in the 2.5km event. Good luck to you both and may the whale be with you (hopefully it doesn’t get in your way)

Merrylands Swimming Centre Modernisation

The modernisation works for swimming centres was discussed at the Council meeting this week.

Council has recently received full funding from the NSW Government (WestInvest Fund) for the modernisation of Guildford Swimming Centre, so there is now discussion regarding the funding of the modernisation of Merrylands Swimming Centre.

Graham attended the Council meeting this week and spoke to this project. There was unanimous support from all Councillors that Merrylands Swimming Centre is an important community asset and needs to be upgraded. Council resolved at the meeting to:

1. Insert into its 23-24 works program, the concept and detailed development of designs for the refurbishment of the Merrylands Swim Centre.
2. Consult and engage with the community on the refurbishment of the Merrylands swim centre.
3. The costs associated with the development of a concept and detailed plans be funded from Councils 23-24 capital works program.
4. Prepare and return a report to Council by April 2023 to determine how much of the approximate $17 million currently allocated to swimming pools in Council’s long term capital projections can be specifically set aside for the refurbishment of the Merrylands Swim Centre.
5. Upon receipt of the report immediately seek funding for the project through the State and Federal Governments.

Stay tuned for further information on this. We will continue to press Council to undertake the appropriate modernisation of Merrylands Swimming Centre.

Lions Club Award

We are looking for your help in recognising those members who provide service to the club, over and above their normal duties. So, if you would like to nominate a club member to be considered for their service, please submit your nomination.

Membership Cards

Remember to download a copy of your membership card from Swim Central to show to the pool staff if requested when entering the swimming centre. Instructions are here.

Technical Officials

To be able to run club races and have the times accepted by Swimming NSW we need to ensure that we have qualified technical officials. This includes various roles around the pool deck, including timekeeping. Training for most roles is conducted online and we encourage you to start by obtaining your timekeeping qualification. See https://nswtraining.swimming.org.au/ for more information and ask Graham any questions you may have about becoming a technical official.

Club Uniforms

We have a great range of club uniforms available for sale. These can be purchased through the club’s online shop.

To order uniform items go to https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/club-uniforms

Upcoming Meet Calendar

Check the website for the full list of upcoming meets, closing dates, programs and qualifying times.

Sponsors

Thank you to our major sponsors who provide fantastic support to our club. If you know of a business or organisation that may be interested in providing sponsorship or support to our club please speak to Graham Edwards.

Our team of 13 swimmers had a massive meet at the Metro South West Long Course Championships at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre over the weekend.

Merrylands’ swimmers achieved 30 new personal best times, 8 finalists, 2 medals, and new qualifying times for State and Metropolitan Championships.

Aisha had a tremendous 100m Freestyle with a strong back end to take 5 seconds off her personal best time.

Ameena had an excellent 100m Backstroke taking 8 seconds off her PB, and almost 2 seconds off her 100m Freestyle PB.

Joseph cracked the 40-second barrier in the 50m Breaststroke for the first time and also achieved new personal bests in the 100m Freestyle, 50m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke. Joseph earned top 10 finishes in his 100m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley.

Laura-Belle smashed her 50s with new personal best times in the 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle. She also achieved a top 10 ranking in the 50m Freestyle.

Ren achieved personal best times in both his Breaststroke events, including a new personal best in his 50m split in the 100m Breaststroke before further lowering it in the 50m event.

William had great results in his 50m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle, with a textbook head down inside the flags finish for his Freestyle. William achieved PBs and top 10 finishes for both his swims.

Alison jumped in between coaching and picked up the club’s two medals, with Silver in the 50m Butterfly and Bronze in the 50m Freestyle.

Jay had a fantastic swim in his 100m Freestyle, taking another 6 seconds off his time after dropping 16 seconds at club races 2 weeks ago and finishing in the top 10.

Lisa had a wonderful 100m Backstroke in a new personal best time while finishing just outside her PB in the 100m Freestyle.

Daniel had a ripper of a meet and achieved personal best times in all 4 of his events, including massive personal best times in his 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke. Daniel also equalled his 50m Backstroke PB in the 100m Backstroke split. 

Matthew was pretty fly, dropping times in his 50m and 100m Butterfly, picking up a top 10 for his 100m Butterfly in the process. He also achieved new personal best times in his 50m and 200m Freestyle events.

Leo achieved new personal best times in 4 of his events, narrowly missing out on 3^rd place in the 100m Breaststroke. Leo also cracked 30 seconds for the first time for the 50m Freestyle and finished his meet with a new personal best in the 200m Breaststroke.

Lillian was just over her 50m Freestyle time after being unwell the day before.

Congratulations to all our swimmers on their fabulous results and thank you to our coaches for preparing them for this meet. Thank you as well to Denise and Danielle for fulfilling our hosting duties and to all our parents for supporting our swimmers.

Whales Challenge #1

Last week saw the first of the three Whales Challenges for this season. Thank you to everyone who swam for their teams. The final results saw the White “Emery” team (881 points) score a victory over the Maroon “Turner” Team (707 points) to take a 1-0 series lead.

The 2^nd Whales Challenge will be held on Saturday 10^th December 2022 and this will give the Maroon team a chance to level the series.

Club Championships

Last week we held the 200m Individual Medley championships. Congratulations to all swimmers who competed and especially to Joseph Assi who broke the record in the 12 Year Boys, swimming a record time of 3:02.75, breaking the record time of 3:08.37 set by David Wang in 2005.

Club Captains

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains close today at 9.30am. Information about the duties and responsibilities of Club Captains can be found on the club website in the By-Laws.

Please ensure you take the time to nominate members for both Male and Female Club Captains. All financial first claim members can vote for these positions on week 6 (12^th November, 2022).

Learn to Swim

Our Learn to Swim program starts on 5^th November 2022. Enrolments are open to existing members and the cost is $55. Enrolments close at 8.00pm next Wednesday (2^nd November 2022). Full details about the program and how to register can be found on the club website. We also need helpers to assist in delivering this important program. Please speak to Peter Johnston if you are able to assist with any roles for this program.

Relay Competition

Time trials for the Relay Competition have concluded and the competition for points commences next Saturday (5^th November 2022).

To ensure your team can compete in the relay competition you must nominate your team members (maximum of 6), the team time and pay the team entry fee of $12 before next Saturday. Enter your team on the website.

MSW Long Course Championships

Merrylands will be represented by a team of 13 swimmers competing in a total of 50 individual events at the MSW Long Course Championships at SOPAC this weekend.

Good luck to the team of Aisha Abdelraheem, Ameena Abdelraheem, Joseph Assi, Laura-Belle Casey, Ren Hum, William Johnston, Alison Johnston, Jay Shrestha, Lisa Shrestha, Daniel Vicic, Matthew Vicic, Leo Zhu & Lillian Zhu who have qualified for the meet. May the Whale with you all

Skills Sessions

The next Super Saturday Skills Session will be held on Saturday 5^th November 2022 (between 9am to 10am).

Swimmers from Novice 2 and above are welcome to book into this session. The cost is $7.50 per swimmer, which will come off your multi-session pass.

These sessions should be considered an extra session, not a replacement for a session during the week, and need to be booked online.

Membership Cards

Remember to download a copy of your membership card from Swim Central to show to the pool staff if requested when entering the swimming centre. Instructions are here.

Technical Officials

To be able to run club races and have the times accepted by Swimming NSW we need to ensure that we have qualified technical officials. This includes various roles around the pool deck, including timekeeping. Training for most roles is conducted online and we encourage you to start by obtaining your timekeeping qualification. See https://nswtraining.swimming.org.au for more information and ask Graham any questions you may have about becoming a technical official.

Parramatta Inter-Club Cup

The Inter-Club Cup is only 2 weeks away. We will take on Parramatta City and McCredie Park right here at Merrylands Swimming Centre on Saturday, 12^th November 2022.

Every club swimmer should be looking to enter the meet to represent our club. So enter today! Entries close on Wednesday, 9^th November 2022.

We also require the help of everyone on the afternoon as we will need to set up, provide timekeeping (we will have automatic timing system being used), catering, pack up etc. Please see Graham to volunteer.

This will be the 8^th time the meet has been held, with the past years not being held due to Covid restrictions.

Club Uniforms

We have a great range of club uniforms available for sale. These can be purchased through the club’s online shop.

To order uniform items go to https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/club-uniforms

Club Facilities & Equipment

The Committee work hard to ensure we have the best equipment and facilities available for our club members.

We know the swimming centre is in need of refurbishment and we continue to work with Council to pursue the upgrade of these major facilities.

However, you will have seen a few new things over the past year. These include the storage shed, starting equipment and digital signage. Our club has been fortunate to obtain a number of grants to fund these purchases.

The storage shed, including storage shelving, crates and trolley were provided through the Local Sport Grant Program (NSW Government).

The starting equipment was purchased through a grant also provided through the Local Sport Grant Program (NSW Government) and was purchased just prior to this season starting.

We also now have new digital signage which you will see displaying information about our club. This was just purchased through a grant provided by Club Merrylands in the ClubGRANTS scheme.

Thank you to the organisations providing these grants as the funds assist our club in continually upgrading our equipment, and to the Committee members who have worked behind the scenes.

Lions Club Award

The Lions Club Award is presented each year at the Club’s Annual Presentation Evening. The Award is presented to a club member in recognition of their services to the club.

Each month the Committee vote for the Lions Club award, with the total votes accumulating to the presentation of the annual award.

We are looking for your help in recognising those members who provide service to the club, over and above their normal duties. So if you would like to nominate a club member to be considered for their service please submit your nomination.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

Check the website for the full list of upcoming meets, closing dates, programs and qualifying times.

Sponsors

Thank you to our major sponsors who provide fantastic support to our club. If you know of a business or organisation that may be interested in providing sponsorship or support to our club please speak to Graham Edwards.

Merrylands will be represented by a team of 13 swimmers at the Metro South West Championships at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre this weekend.

Our team is competing in 50 individual events over the 2-day meet, and consists of:

Aisha Abdelraheem
Ameena Abdelraheem
Joseph Assi
Laura-Belle Casey
Ren Hum
William Johnston
Alison Johnston
Jay Shrestha
Lisa Shrestha
Daniel Vicic
Matthew Vicic
Leo Zhu
Lillian Zhu

Congratulations to all our swimmers on qualifying and good luck to them at the meet.

Congratulations to Joseph Assi on breaking the 12 Years Boys 200m Individual Medley record today.

Joseph swam a time of 3:02.75, taking almost 6 seconds off the previous record.

The previous record had been held by David Wang since the 2005/06 season.

This is Joesph's first club record - well done!

See Also

• Championship Records