Wylas Timing System Trial

We are trialling the Wylas Timing system this morning. This is another timing system available and has some added benefits, including the ability to connect touch pads to the system.

We expect a bit of a learning curve on the morning and we will hold a briefing before races commence.

Key points for timekeepers to note are:

• At the start of the race do NOT press any button, the watch will start automatically
• Take split times at the start end of the pool as we normally do
• To take a split time and at the end of the race press the VOLUME button (either up or down) to stop the watch when your swimmer touches the wall
• Do not take a time if you do not have a swimmer in your lane. The watch will automatically reset for the next race

We will also be trialling the marshalling, scoreboard and touchpad modules during the morning so we can test all facets of the system.

Whales Challenge #3

The 3^rd and final Whales Challenge for the season will see the White & Maroon teams go head to head to claim the overall win for the season today. Having both won one Challenge each so far this season the overall winning team rests on today’s swims. Remember to wear your team colour cap and help your team come out on top.

Trophy Return

With only a couple of weeks left of club races we ask that you return any perpetual trophies from last season and bring them back to the club room.

P-Plate Award

The P-Plate Award recognises (or perhaps highlights) the “Silly Mistake of the Year”. Nominations here.

5 to 8 Year Meet

The Metro South West 5 to 8yrs Development meet will be held at Guildford Swimming Centre on Saturday, 1^st April. This is a great little meet which is usually over in a couple of hours. Entry is open to club only and full swimmer registered members, so we encourage all of our swimmers in the age group to enter the meet. Follow this link and enter today.

Masters Meets – State & Nationals

Calling all Masters swimmers. State & National Championships will be held in April.

The NSW State Long Course Championships will be held on Saturday 1^st April & Sunday 2^nd April at SOPAC. Entries close on Friday 24^th March.

National Championships will be held from Tuesday 18^th April to Sunday 23^rd April in Hobart. Entries close on Thursday 23^rd March.

Entries for both meets can be submitted through Swim Central.

Lions Club Award

Each month the Committee votes for the Lions Club Award – the club’s Volunteer of the Year. You can nominate a club member to recognise their service online here.

Annual Presentation

With the function room at Club Merrylands unavailable for Saturday nights we are moving our Annual Presentation to a Sunday afternoon.

Presentation details are:

Date: Sunday 28^th May, 2023

Time: 4.00pm – 6.30pm

Venue: Club Merrylands Function room

We look forward to welcoming members and family to the presentation and encourage you to stay after the presentation to support the club by having a meal in any of the dining venues the club has.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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

Saturday 11^th March

Next Saturday we have a couple of events occurring:

Whales Challenge #3

The 3^rd and final Whales Challenge for the season will see the White & Maroon teams go head-to-head to claim the overall win for the season, having both won one Challenge each so far this season. Remember to wear your team colour cap and help your team come out on top.

Timing System trial

Whilst we use the Dolphin timing system for club races we are going to trail another wireless timing system next Saturday during club races. This system, Wylas, is similar to the Dolphin system however has an added benefit where touch pads can be linked to the system. We are trialling the Wylas system to see if it could be an alternative to the current Swimming NSW timing system used when we hire the touchpads for SwimFest.

We expect a bit of a learning curve on the morning, but from a timekeeper’s point of view it works the same way – press the button when your swimmer touches the wall.

Trophy Return

Do you have perpetual trophies from last season to return? Time to dust them off and bring them back to the club room to prepare for the presentation.

Lions Club Award

Each month the Committee votes for the Lions Club Award – the club’s Volunteer of the Year. You can nominate a club member to recognise their service online here.

P-Plate Award

The P-Plate Award recognises (or perhaps highlights) the “Silly Mistake of the Year”.Have you seen a swimmer, spectator or official 17 years or over do something silly? Nominate the person here.

Club Uniforms

Order your club uniforms online here.

5 to 8 Year Meet – 1^st April

The Metro South West 5 to 8yrs Development meet is on at Guildford Swimming Centre on Saturday, 1^st April. This is a great little meet, usually over in a couple of hours, so don’t be an April Fool and enter today!

Masters Meets – State & Nationals

All Masters swimmers are encouraged to represent our club at the upcoming NSW State & Nationals Masters meets.

The NSW State Long Course Championships will be held on Saturday 1^st April & Sunday 2^nd April at SOPAC. Entries close on Friday 24^th March.

National Championships will be held from Tuesday 18^th April to Sunday 23^rd April in Hobart. Entries close on Thursday 23^rd March.

Entries for both meets can be submitted through Swim Central.

Lucky Door Prize

The Lucky Door prize is drawn again this morning. You could win your choice of a Speedo kickboard, flipper bag or pair of Opal Mirror goggles. How do you win? You must be in attendance at the Championship presentation when your name is called to win.

NSW Senior Metropolitan Results

Matthew Vicic swam two new personal best times at the NSW Senior Metropolitan Championships last weekend. Matt took 3.61 seconds off his 200m Butterfly, finishing in 2:34.06. He also took 0.35 seconds off his 100m Backstroke, with a new PB of 1:13.49. In Matt's other events, he was just 0.22 outside his 100m Butterfly PB and 0.30 outside his 100m Freestyle PB. Congratulations Matt on your swims.

Junior Swimmers Results

The fantastic swimming and results in the 15m, 25m & 33m races continue. Congratulations to the following swimmers on breaking the times for these events:

33m Freestyle

Caleb Mackie

33m Backstroke

Conner Mackie

Changes to Swimming Rules

Swimming NSW has made changes to its GENERAL RULES, SWIMMING RULES, OPEN WATER & MULTI CLASS SWIMMING RULES to align with the recent World Aquatics rule changes that came into effect on 1 January 2023.

Some rule changes relate to technical official duties and responsibilities, e.g. Starter, Inspector of Turns & Judges of Stroke. However, there are some changes to the start and stroke rules that affect swimmers. These changes are:

The Start

Any swimmer initiating a start before the starting signal may be disqualified.

Previously the rule read Any swimmer starting before the starting signal has been given, shall be disqualified.

Backstroke

When using a ledge at the start, at least one toe of each foot must be in contact with the end wall or face of the touchpad. Bending the toes over the top of touchpad is prohibited.

Previously the rule read the toes of both feet must be in contact.

Other wording changes for backstroke have removed the wording ”in his respective lane” from the rules. However, it is still a requirement for a swimmer to finish in their respective lane.

Breaststroke

All movements of the arms shall be simultaneous without alternating movement.

All movements of the legs shall be simultaneous without alternating movement.

Previously the rules required the arms and legs respectively to be on the same horizontal plane.

Medley

Leaving the wall on the back during the freestyle portion is permissible but no kicking action is permitted until the swimmer has returned past the vertical to the breast at which point kicking, including a butterfly kick(s) may commence.

The existing rule was deleted and a change in wording to clarify what is permissible.

The Race

A swimmer swimming over the course alone shall cover the whole distance to qualify. A swimmer who does not complete the whole distance in accordance with the relevant FINA rules shall be disqualified.

Previously a swimmer not completing the course would be treated as Did Not Finish, however, will now be Disqualified.

We recommend that you take time to review all other changes to Swimming NSW Rules. The new rules can be found on the Swimming NSW website.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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

Matthew Vicic swam two new personal best times at the NSW Senior Metropolitan Championships last weekend.

Matt took 3.61 seconds off his 200m Butterfly, finishing in 2:34.06. He also took 0.35 seconds off his 100m Backstroke, with a new PB of 1:13.49.

In Matt's other events, he was just 0.22 outside his 100m Butterfly PB and 0.30 outside his 100m Freestyle PB.

Congratulations to Matt on his swims.

Matthew Vicic will represent Merrylands at the NSW Senior Metropolitan Championships this weekend.

Matthew will race 4 events at the championships which are being held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on 25-26 February.

Matt will be swimming in:

• 100m Backstroke
• 200m Butterfly
• 100m Freestyle
• 100m Butterfly

Congratulations to Matt on qualifying for the meet and we wish him and his coach Alison the best of luck.

SwimFest Wrap

Wow! What a day it was last Saturday! Hot at the start, some timing issues, lots of great racing, excellent times, a bag of medals, with an explosive finish.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped last Saturday. We had some members turn up just to help with the setup, members who were there to help run the meet, members who helped with the pack up, the clean up on Sunday morning, and all of the above.

Thank you to everyone who helped setup before the meet. It was great to have so many helpers and we had everything done before the warm-up at 1:30pm.

During the meet – thank you to the timekeepers, BBQ and caterers, marshals, check starters, medals, announcer, recorders, runners and other officials for your contribution. Everything we could control went flawlessly, and when things went wrong that we couldn’t control (i.e. the timing system and weather) you all reacted quickly to keep the show on the road.

Unfortunately, Swimming NSW had an issue with the timing system at the 100m end of the pool, which meant we had to switch to using our Dolphin system for the 100m & 200m events which delayed the meet, as did the first storm.

When the second storm front hit, the way everyone sprung into action was just fantastic. We have never seen weather like that at the pool before and yet everything got packed up and most importantly, everyone got home safely. Thank you to everyone for your help!

Finally, a big thank you to Ian Wilson, Domenic Vicic, Danielle Vicic, Alison Johnston and Peter Johnston who were back at the pool for 3 hours on Sunday morning to finish the pack up.

In the pool, our team swam very well with 47 new personal best times and a massive 32 medals.

If you didn’t collect your medals, they will be available for collection after the races this morning.

Thank you to everyone for your help and well done to our swimmers on their results. 2023 is certainly a SwimFest to remember!

Senior Metropolitan Championships

Good luck to Matthew Vicic who is representing the club at the Senior Metropolitan Championships this weekend. Matt is swimming in 4 events over the two days.

Congratulations to Matt for qualifying and we wish him and his coach Alison the best of luck at the meet.

Photos

Have you got photos from the SwimFest, Inter-Club Cup, other meets or a Saturday morning you can share? Please use the share button in the weekly Whales Tales email to upload them.

Calling all 5 to 8 year olds

The Metro South West 5 to 8yrs Development meet is on at Guildford Swimming Centre on Saturday, 1^st April. This is a great little meet, usually over in a couple of hours, so don’t be an April Fool and enter today!

Starr Partners Community Series Video

Have you seen the Starr Partners Community Video promoting the club yet? If not, it is available on the Starr Partners YouTube page. Thank you to Starr Partners for their ongoing support.

Lions Club Award

Each month the Committee votes for the Lions Club Award – the club’s Volunteer of the Year.

You can nominate a club member online here.

Trophies

Do you have perpetual trophies from last season to return? Time to dust them off and bring them back to the club room to prepare for the presentation.

Thanks for your patience as we finalised the results from the weekend.

Results for all events up to and including the first 3 heats of the Mens 100m Freestyle have been uploaded to Swim Central last night and are awaiting approval.

Medals that had not been collected will be available for collection by a representative from each club at the Senior Metropolitan Championships this weekend. We will arrange distribution to clubs not in attendance.

Please note that medals will not be awarded for the Mens 100m Freestyle as the event was not completed.

Thanks again for attending our meet.

Thank you to everyone for attending the Merrylands SwimFest today.

Unfortunately due to the storm, we were unable to complete the meet or the results for the final few events. Our priority was everyone's safety.

The outstanding results will be completed as soon as possible. Medals for events where the results had not been announced will also be distributed as soon as possible. Please note that all times listed in the live results on the website are unofficial. Official results will be posted and uploaded to SwimCentral once the results are complete.

Thank you again for attending today's meet.

SwimFest Saturday is here!

The Merrylands SwimFest is on today. Thank you to everyone who has volunteered for a role – especially those members who are just coming along to help.

If you haven’t nominated to help, please see Ian Wilson to do so.

We need assistance setting up for the meet, so we are asking that you arrive at the meet by 12:30pm to assist with the setup.

There is lots of setup work to do including:

• Shelters
• Chairs & Tables
• Lane Ropes
• Timing Equipment & Touchpads
• Flags and Banners
• BBQ and Food preparation

Then it all needs to be packed away again at the end. Please make sure you help.

Warm-up starts at 1:30pm with the meet starting at 2:30pm. All the information you need including the timeline and meet program is here. Swimmers need to be ready for the land warm-up at 1:15pm.

Alison and the Club Captains will be organising the swimmers to ensure they get to their races on time. We have 26 swimmers competing in 120 individual events and 4 relays. Relay teams are listed in the Meet Program.

Lastly, don’t forget your club uniforms, hats, sunscreen, healthy snacks and drink bottles and good luck to all our swimmers!

No Club Races - Saturday, 18^th February

If you are at the pool reading this at 7am and wondering where everyone is, it is because there are no club races this week.

Club Races will be back on 25^th February.

Starr Partners Community Series Video

The video that Starr Partners conducted filming and interviews for a couple of weeks ago was published this week. Have you seen it yet? If not, it is available below.

Thank you to Starr Partners for their ongoing support.

Speedo Sprint Series Heats Results

Well done to our team at the Speedo Sprint Series Heats last weekend. Our team achieved 30 new personal best times, with a number of top 10 finishes. Well done everyone!

A full report is available here.

Lions Club Award

Each month the Committee votes for the Lions Club Award – the club’s Volunteer of the Year.

Members nominated for January:

Congratulation to these members on being nominated and thank you for your service to the club. Nominations are open for any member to recognise the service of other members. You can nominate a club member online here.

Merrylands team of 13 swimmers hit the water at the Metro South West Speedo Sprint Heats on the weekend. The heats were held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre and for 5 of our swimmers it was their first time racing at this pool!

All our swimmers had great performances and as always there were so many wonderful moments.  As a team, we achieved 30 new personal best times!

Aisha achieved 3 new personal best times including a fast 50m freestyle where she swam under 37 seconds for the first time.

Gabby was on debut at this meet and achieved personal best times in all her events, cracking the minute in her 50m Breaststroke.

Joseph took a chunk of time off his 50m Backstroke and continued to drop his 50m Freestyle after only achieving a PB the week before.

Cameron successfully completed his first-time swimming at SOPAC and did a great job with his 2 swims.

Patrick had classy swims with a beautiful 50m Backstroke taking 5 seconds off his time, as well as his Butterfly and Breaststroke swims.

William broke the minute for the 50m Backstroke for the first time and swam his first sub-50 second 50m Freestyle.

Anastasia was a bundle of excitement all day and put her energy to good use with personal best times in all her events.

Nikolai achieved personal bests in his 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle events, edging closer to the 40-second barrier.

Jay had a cracking 50m Backstroke taking over a second off his time, with his head lovely and still.

Lisa had awesome swims with new personal best times in her 50m Backstroke, Butterfly and Freestyle and was only 0.04 off her Breaststroke time.

Daniel achieved a new personal best time in his 50m Butterfly, having only dropped it in our championship the day before. Daniel also swam under 32 seconds for 50m Freestyle for the first time.

Leo set new times in 3 of his events, including a speedy 50m Backstroke in 33 seconds and continued to lower his 50m Freestyle time after successive PBs in his last 3 swims.

Lillian broke her 50m Backstroke time and was close to her best in all her other swims.

Thank you to all our parents and support crew for encouraging our swimmers and thank you to Peter and Alison for preparing our swimmers for the meet.

Merrylands will be sending a team of 13 swimmers to the Speedo Sprint Series Heats which will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre tomorrow.

Our team will compete in 46 individual events at the meet and consists of:

Aisha Abdelraheem
Gabriella Assi
Joseph Assi
Cameron Evans
Patrick Hannan
William Johnston
Anastasia Krga
Nikolai Krga
Jay Shrestha
Lisa Shrestha
Daniel Vicic
Leo Zhu
Lillian Zhu

Good luck to our team at the meet, especially those swimming at their first Speedo Sprint Series!