And Another Season Ends

Well, here we are on the last Saturday of a season again.

Thank you to everyone who has helped during the season. Running club races every week requires the help of everyone and your participation is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to our Committee who again worked hard preparing for the season and running the club throughout the season.

Thank you to our Learn to Swim Co-ordinator, instructors and helpers who allowed us to again offer a Learn to Swim program.

Thank you to our club Coaches who work hard preparing, encouraging & teaching our swimmers to improve their skills. The results achieved during the season are a testament to your dedication and hard work.

Thank you to Darla Assi and Matthew Vicic for your work throughout the season as Club Captains.

Thank you to everyone who competed in club races and represented our club in meets. We hope you have enjoyed your season.

Thank you to our sponsors who provide great support for our club.

We will be back in October to start it all again 😊

Squad Training Change

Training moves to Guildford Pool from next Monday (27^th March). Training will continue through the first week of the Easter School Holidays (with the exception of Public Holidays). There will be no training from 17^th to 25^th April. If you are going to be away, please complete the Training Break Form to advise when you will be away.

The training times for each group will be published on the Training Schedule page.

SNSW Junior State Age Championships

Good luck to Joseph Assi who will represent our club at the Junior State Age Championships at SOPAC this weekend. Joseph has qualified for the 50m, 100m & 200m Breaststroke events. May the whale be with you Joseph for your swims

5 to 8 Year Meet

We have 6 swimmers representing our club at the Metro South West 5 to 8yrs Development Meet being held at Guildford Swimming Centre next Saturday (1^st April). Good luck to Damien Chan, Anna Johnston, Jude Johnston, William Johnston, Anastasia Krga & Lily Palise who have entered this meet. May the whale be with you all

Masters Meets – State & Nationals

The Masters State & National Championships are being held during April. We have 9 swimmers competing at State and 6 swimmers competing at Nationals. Good luck to all of our swimmers and may the whale be with you all

Annual Presentation

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.

Emails will be sent to club members who have a choice of a trophy or alternative award. If you receive an email please ensure you respond in a timely manner to assist the trophy committee in finalising the awards ready for the presentation.

Club AGM

Our club AGM will be held on Monday 22^nd May 2023. We invite every club member to attend the meeting. Keep an eye on the club website and social pages for more information about the meeting.

Junior Swimmers Results

Congratulations to the following swimmers on breaking the times last week in the 15m, 25m & 33m races:

33m Breaststroke

18/3/2023 – William Johnston

33m Freestyle

18/3/2023 – Eevi Opano

Lucky Door Prize

Last week’s Lucky Door Prize winner: Gabriella Assi

P-Plate Award

Your last chance to nominate someone for the P-Plate Award, recognising (or perhaps highlights) the “Silly Mistake of the Year”. Nominations here.

Lions Club Award

Each month the Committee votes for the Lions Club Award – the club’s Volunteer of the Year. This is your last chance to nominate a club member to recognise their service online here.

Rule Changes

Swimming NSW has published updated rules (again) as of 20^th March. The key change is to Backstroke finishes (rule SW6.3).

The new rules are now operational for all Swimming NSW meets and meets run under Swimming NSW rules.

Please note that these changes do not yet apply to Masters Meets run under the rules of Masters Swimming Australia.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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

Training moves to Guildford Swimming Centre from Monday, 27th March, 2023.

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

All swimmers will receive an email with a link to advise whether or not they will continue training. This must be completed by Friday, 24th March.

Training will continue through the first week of the Easter School Holidays (with the exception of Public Holidays). There will be no training from 17th to 25th April. If you are going to be away, please complete the Training Break Form to advise when you will be away.

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 page.

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

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

Wylas Timing System Trial

Thank you to everyone who assisted as we trialled the Wylas timing system last Saturday morning. We appreciate your help in allowing us to see how this system works and whether it may provide a viable alternative to other systems available.

Whales Challenge #3

The 3^rd and final Whales Challenge for the season was swum and won last Saturday. It was great to see some younger embers swimming in their first Whales Challenge relay.

In a tight finish, the Maroon team did just enough to win with 1,030 points to White’s 1,011. This means that the Maroon team also won the series 2-1 this season. Well done to everyone who competed for their teams!

Squad Training Change

Training moves to Guildford Pool from Monday 27^th March – more details to come.

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.

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. Entries close on Tuesday 21^st March. 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.

Annual Presentation

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.

Annual General Meeting

With the end of our season coming we will be holding our AGM soon. Keep tuned for the date to be advised (generally it is held around a week before the Annual Presentation).

We encourage all members to attend the AGM and consider nominating for a Committee position. To ensure the continued growth of the club we need members who can take the club forward in the coming years, so please consider taking on a role in the management of the club.

Junior Swimmers Results

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

25m Backstroke

4/3/23 – Leah Johnston

33m Backstroke

11/3/23 - Leah Johnston* (broke on first attempt)

33m Freestyle

4/3/23 – Jude Johnston

25m Butterfly

11/3/23 – William Johnston

P-Plate Award

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

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.

A large number of nominations were received for February for both members and non-members (family members) who have helped during the month (some received multiple nominations). Thank you to the following:

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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

Congratulations to Katie Hope on setting a new record in the 50m Backstroke Championship last Saturday.

Katie set a new record in the Senior 50m Backstroke in a time of 37.11, taking 0.24 seconds off the record held by Brittany Johnson since 2011.

Congratulations to Katie on her swim.

See Also

• Championship Records

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.