Merrylands had some great results at the Metro South West 5-8yrs Meet today, along with some very happy young swimmers.

Our team took home some big smiles along with 6 medals, a stack of ribbons, 7 PBs (and one less tooth).

The meet was a great learning experience for our team, with some swimming their first 100m Individual Medley or 50m Breaststroke at a meet, or doing their first tumble turns in a race. Well done to the whole team on their swims.

Thank you to Emily and Alison for officiating at the meet, and to those members who came along just to support the kids!

Medal Tally

See Also

• Metro South West 5-8yrs Meet - Team

Merrylands will be represented by a team of 5 swimmers at the Metro South West 5-8yrs Meet this weekend.

The club will be represented by:

Gabriella Assi
Ethan Ton
Jay Shrestha
William Johnston
Lillian Zhu

Thanks to Club Merrylands for their support of our 8yrs & Under swimmers through free membership.

Have a great time kids!

See Also

• Metro South West 5-8yrs Meet
• Club Merrylands
• Free Membership for 8yrs & Under

Our State team had masterful performances at the NSW State Masters Championships on the weekend.

We had 4 swimmers compete at the Championships and achieve fantastic results.  

Kylee Murray competed in 4 events and won bronze medals in the 100m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly and 200m Individual Medley. Kylee's performances in the 100m Backstroke and 100m Freestyle were the fastest she has swum in over 2 years.

Leanne Tovkach also competed in 4 events and picked up a bronze medal in the 50m Breaststroke.  Leanne achieved all time personal bests in the 100m Freestyle and the 50m Freestyle where she took over a second off her personal best time.

Brendan Kirkpatrick competed in 5 events and earned himself 3 gold medals and 2 silver medals.  Brendan flew into 2 new all time personal best times, getting closer to the 29 mark in 50m Butterfly with a 30.26 and dropping 1.5 seconds in his 100m Butterfly time.

Alison Johnston competed in 5 events and picked up gold medals in every swim.  Alison achieved an all time personal best in the 200m Backstroke.

Peter Johnston was unfortunately unwell so did not compete at the meet but he was excitedly checking live results all weekend from home.

As a team Merrylands came 2nd in our division for the pointscore.

Congratulations to our swimmers on their results!

Merrylands is being represented by 5 swimmers at the NSW State Masters Championships this weekend.

The 2 day championships start at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre today. Our team will contest 22 events and consists of:

• Peter Johnston
• Brendan Kirkpatrick
• Kylee Murray
• Alison Johnston
• Leanne Tovkach

We wish our swimmers the best of luck at the meet. You can follow their progress over the weekend online.

See Also

• Masters Swimming NSW Championships
• Live Results

Merrylands' junior boys combined forces at the NSW Junior State Age over the weekend with some excellent results!  Every swimmer for the club swam a new official or unofficial personal best during the meet.

Joseph Assi qualified for this event for the first time in individual events and swam in the 10 Years 50m and 100m Breaststroke. Joseph was just outside his entry times, having already PB'd in the 50m Breaststroke 5 times since the start of the summer season!

It was Matthew Vicic's third time qualifying for this event and he competed in the 13 Years 50m Butterfly.  Matthew achieved a new personal best time of 31.68!

Unish Shrestha, Joseph Assi, Joab Hada and Daniel Vicic worked together as a team in the 10/11 Years 4x50 Freestyle and Medley Relays.  In the Freestyle relay the boys took over 3 seconds off their entry time with some extremely fast swimming.  Whilst the split times are unofficial, it is very encouraging to see what the boys are capable of doing!

Congratulations to our swimmers on their results!

Season Conclusion

Today is our final Saturday of club races for the season. The weather really turned it on for us last week. Thank you to everyone who arrived earlier than normal to allow us to start the 1500m Championships just after 6.30am. We know swimming is a water sport, we just want the water in the pool, not everywhere else!

Highlights of the season include new club Championship records and a stack of PB’s swum at meets including the Merrylands SwimFest, Area, Metropolitan, State & Open Water Championships. Congratulations to all of our swimmers on your achievements and to our great coaching team who work tirelessly to prepare our swimmers.
Thank you to everyone who has participated and contributed to another successful club season:

• Committee members
• Club Captains
• Everyone who helped set up, officiate & pack up
• Learn to Swim instructors & helpers
• Swimmers
• Coaches

We are holding a breakfast bbq at the conclusion of club races today, so please stay around to enjoy the breakfast as we say goodbye to Merrylands Swimming Centre for the next few months.

NSW State Open Championships

The State Open Championships were held last weekend. You can read the full report here.

NSW Junior State Age Championships

The State Junior Age Championships are being held this weekend at SOPAC. We have 2 swimmers who have qualified for individual events:

Joseph Assi: Event 53 - 100m Breast; Event 77 - 50m Breast
Matthew Vicic: Event 31 - 50m Butterfly

In addition Joseph Assi, Joab Hada, Unish Shrestha & Daniel Vicic will represent in two relays, Event 21 - 4 x 50m Free & Event 59 - 4 x 50m Medley.

Congratulations to our swimmers and coaches on qualifying for the Championships. We wish you all good luck and may the whale be with you.

Squad Training

Training moves to Guildford Swimming Centre next week (from Monday, 29th March, 2021). Sessions will be held in the outdoor pool and are scheduled to return to Merrylands in October. Please complete your squad enrolment to confirm that you plan to train whilst Merrylands is closed. The coaches will then confirm your days and sessions for training. See here for details.

Season 2021/2022

Registration for next season will open in September 2021 and club races will commence in October 2021. Stay tuned to the club website and FaceBook page for details as they are available.

Whales Challenge #3

Last Saturday we saw the 3rd & final Whales Challenge for the season contested. Congratulations to the Maroon “Turner” team who took the honours from the White “Emery” teamand ended up winning the season challenges 2 – 0, with the first challenge a tie between the teams.

Club Championship Results

Congratulations to all swimmers who competed in the 1500m Freestyle Open Championships last week. The results are here.

Season Championship Ribbons

Whilst we have not been able to hold championship presentations during the season we do have championship ribbons available for any swimmers who would like to receive them for their 1st, 2nd or 3rd placings in the championship events.
If you would like to receive your championship ribbons please let Margaret know and she will make arrangements for them to be provided to you.

Club AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the club will be held on Monday 24th May, 2021 in the Club Room at Merrylands Swimming Centre, commencing at 7.30pm.
The Annual Report of the club will be presented, together with the election of Office Bearers and Committee positions. Nominations for positions must be submitted to the Secretary at least 30 days prior to the meeting. We encourage all members to attend the AGM.

Annual Presentation

The Committee is still working through the logistics of holding the Annual Presentation to celebrate this season. We will communicate information to all members once this is finalised.

School Meet Results

Congratulations to Joab Hada who was successful at the Cumberland Zone Swimming Carnival. Joab went on to compete at the Parramatta Diocesan Carnival and made it to the NSWCPS Championships where he swam a PB in the 50m Freestyle. Congratulations Joab

MSW 5-8 Years Development Meet

The 5-8 Years Development Meet will be held on Saturday 17th April 2021 at Guildford Swimming Centre. The meet will commence at 2.00pm (warm up 1.00pm).
Entries close in Swim Central on Wednesday 7th April 2021. See here for details.

McCredie Park 40 Year Anniversary Meet

The postponed McCredie Park 40 Year Anniversary Meet will be held on Sunday 2nd May, 2021 at Guildford Swimming Centre. The meet will commence at 10.00am (warm up 9.00am). Entries close in Swim Central on Monday 26th April 2021 or when entries reach a timeline finish of 3.30pm. See here for details.

Masters Long Course Championships

The NSW Masters SC Championships will be held at SOPAC on Saturday 10th April 2021 & Sunday 11th April 2021. Entries close at 12.00pm on Friday 2nd April 2021. See here for details.

Upcoming Events

Sponsors

We receive great support from our club sponsors and we thank them for this support.

Merrylands will be represented by 5 swimmers at the NSW Junior State Age Championships which are being held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre this weekend.

Our team is competing in 3 individual events and 2 relays.

Joseph Assi has qualified for the 50m and 100m Breaststroke, while Matthew Vicic has qualified for the 50m Butterfly.

We will also be represented in the 4x50m Freestyle and 4x50m Medley Relays by Joseph, Joab Hada, Unish Shrestha and Daniel Vicic.

The championships will be streamed live for free on Swim TV.

Congratulations to our swimmers for qualifying and have a great meet!

See Also

• Swim TV - NSW Junior State Age Championships
• NSW Junior State Age Championships - Event Information

Vanessa and Alison represented Merrylands at the NSW State Open Championships on the 18th to 21st March, 2021.

The format was different with heats in the evening and finals in the morning.

Vanessa was all smiles after swimming a speedy 50m Freestyle on the first night of competition.  Vanessa took almost a second off her personal best and swum under 40 seconds for the first time!  

Alison also swam the 50m Freestyle and was her second fastest time of the season. 

Vanessa swam the 100m Freestyle on the final night of competition and was her second fastest 100m swim.

Well done to our swimmers on their performances.

Training moves to Guildford Swimming Centre from Monday, 29th March, 2021.

Sessions will be held in the outdoor pool and are scheduled to return to Merrylands in October.

All swimmers who will continue to train from 29th March must complete the Training Enrolment Form before they commence training at Guildford

Session times may change based on the number of enrolments received. Sessions will require a minimum of 4 enrolments to go ahead. The training times for each group are published on the Training Schedule.

If you will not be training at Guildford, please let us know as soon as possible by email.

Training will continue through the Easter School Holidays (with the exception of Public Holidays). If you are going to be away, please complete the Training Break Form to advise when you will be away.

What is changing

• No Training Sessions on Saturday mornings due to pool availability
• Novice (1) sessions will start at 4:30pm instead of 5:15pm due to reduced lane space
• Beginner sessions will move from Saturday to Monday

What isn't changing

• Swimmers will continue to be booked into sessions, and must be cancelled through the booking system if you can't attend
• Squad Fees continue to be paid via a multi-session pass
• Pool Entry must be paid on entry to the centre
• You may be required to show your Club Membership Card when paying pool entry or topping up a Pool Entry Card
• Spectators must sign in at the pool entrance for contact tracing using the Service NSW App

Swimmers must ensure they collect their training equipment from Merrylands Swimming Centre after their last session this week.

See Also

• Squad Enrolment Form
• Training Schedule
• Training Break Form

MSW Area Junior Championships

Fantastic results from our strong team of 15 swimmers who represented our club at the Metro South West Area Junior Championships held at SOPAC last Saturday. Read the full report here.

NSW State Open Championships

The State Open Championships commenced on Thursday and conclude on Sunday.
Vanessa Ozols competed in the 50m Freestyle on Thursday night (swam a PB!) and will swim the 100m Freestyle tonight. Alison Sakurovs competed in the 50m Freestyle on Friday night.

Whales Challenge #3

The 3rd Whales Challenge is being contested today. Good luck to both teams as they battle out final season supremacy.

Squad Training

Training moves to Guildford Swimming Centre from Monday, 29th March, 2021. Sessions will be held in the outdoor pool and are scheduled to return to Merrylands in October. The coaches will provide more information over the next week.

McCredie Park 40 Year Anniversary Meet

The postponed McCredie Park 40 Year Anniversary Meet will be held on Sunday 2nd May, 2021 at Guildford Swim Centre. The meet will commence at 10.00am (warm up from 9.00am to 9.45am).
This is a development meet and we encourage all of our members to compete at this meet, as it provides a range of 25m, 50m, 100m, 200m and relay events.
Entries close in Swim Central on Monday 26 April 2021 or when entries see the timeline reach a 3.30pm finish.
To see the program and meet information please click here.

Club AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the club will be held on Monday 24th May, 2021 in the Club Room at Merrylands Swimming Centre, commencing at 7.30pm.
The Annual Report of the club will be presented, together with the election of Office Bearers and Committee positions. Nominations for positions must be submitted to the Secretary at least 30 days prior to the meeting.
We encourage all members to attend the AGM.

Annual Presentation

Stay tuned for information regarding the Annual Presentation for this season. We will advise details once confirmed.

Season Championship Ribbons

Whilst we have not been able to hold championship presentations during the season we do have championship ribbons available for any swimmers who would like to receive them for their 1st, 2nd or 3rd placings in the championship events.
If you would like to receive your championship ribbons please let Margaret know and she will make arrangements for them to be provided to you.

COVID-19 Safety Plan & Protocols

Health updates that affect our club members can be found here.
Thank you to everyone for your assistance in complying with the protocols required during the season. Your assistance has allowed the club to hold club races every week without any COVID-19 impacts. Thank You!

School Meet Results

Congratulations to Unish Shrestha who is the 11 Year Boys Age Champion for the ASISSA Carnival. Unish came 1st in Breast, 2nd in Free & Back and will compete in all 4 strokes at the upcoming CIS Carnival.

Season Finale – BBQ Breakfast next week

Well it is hard to believe that the season is coming to an end next week ☹. Despite lingering COVID-19 protocols and a La Nina summer weather event that tested our patience we have been able to hold a full season of club races and Championships.

Our successful Learn to Swim program concludes today. A great big thank you to everyone (the LTS Committee & Coordinator, instructors & helpers) involved in providing this important program to our next generation.

Next Saturday sees the final week of club races. Good luck to all swimmers as they swim to finalise their season results in the graded races, championships, relay & handicap events. We will be holding a breakfast bbq at the conclusion of club races, so please stay around to enjoy the breakfast as we look back at another fun season at Merrylands Swimming Centre.

Upcoming Events

Sponsors

We receive great support from our club sponsors and we thank them for this support.