Metropolitan Results

Merrylands' team of five swimmers swam ten new personal best times at the NSW Metropolitan Championships, held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre this weekend.

Brittany Johnson swam six new PBs from her seven events at the meet. Brittany's first event was the 100m Breaststroke where she took over 1 second off her PB to finish in 1:24.19. The swim set the tone for the rest of Brittany's meet, as she followed up with PBs in the 50m Breaststroke, 200m Individual Medley, 100m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle and 100m Freestyle.
In the 200m Individual Medley, she took over 3 seconds off her time while she took almost 2 seconds off in the 100m Butterfly.

Anthony Ventra and Peter Johnston both swam new personal best times in both of their events as they went head to head in the Breaststroke events. In the 100m Breaststroke, Anthony took 0.15 seconds off his time to touch in 1:17.74 while Peter took almost half a second off to finish in 1:19.09. In the 50m Breaststroke, Anthony took almost half a second off his PB, finishing in 34.81 as Peter took 0.04 seconds off his time to finish in 35.22.

Despite not swimming PBs, our other two swimmers at the meet, Amber Johnson and Timothy Tunks both still swam well, with some good split times.

Congratulations to all our swimmers for qualifying and on their performances at the meet. The full results are now available here.

See Also
  • 2009 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Results

  • 2009 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Team

  • NSW Metropolitan Championships

    The 2009 NSW Metropolitan Championships will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th December, 2009.

    Our club will be represented by 5 swimmers at the meet, competing in 15 individual events.

    This year's team will again consist of some new and regular members.
    Timothy Tunks will compete at his first ever Metropolitan Championships and will swim in the 100m Breaststroke. Anthony Ventra and Peter Johnston will both compete in the 16yrs & Over 100m Breaststroke and Open 50m Breaststroke.
    Amber Johnson will swim the 50m, 100m and 200m Backstroke while Brittany Johnson will swim a massive seven events at the meet, four of which she will swim for the first time.
    Stephanie Hindle also qualified for the meet but unfortunately is unable to swim due to injury.

    Our team will be competing in the following events over the two day meet:

    Timothy Tunks
    10yrs & Under 100m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 2 - 4:02pm)
    Anthony Ventra
    16yrs & Over 100m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 9:59am)
    Open 50m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 11:03am)
    Amber Johnson
    16yrs & Over 100m Backstroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 10:54am)
    16yrs & Over 200m Backstroke (Day 2 - Session 3 - 11:39am)
    Open 50m Backstroke (Day 2 - Session 4 - 2:46pm)
    Brittany Johnson
    16yrs & Over 100m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 10:08am)
    Open 50m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 11:08am)
    16yrs & Over 200m Individual Medley (Day 1 - Session 1 - 12:26pm)
    16yrs & Over 200m Freestyle (Day 1 - Session 2 - 3:18pm)
    16yrs & Over 100m Butterfly (Day 2 - Session 3 - 10:26am)
    Open 50m Freestyle (Day 2 - Session 3 - 12:31pm)
    16yrs & Over 100m Freestyle (Day 2 - Session 3 - 1:27pm)
    Peter Johnston
    16yrs & Over 100m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 9:59am)
    Open 50m Breaststroke (Day 1 - Session 1 - 11:03am)

    Times should be used as a guide only.

    Congratulations to the 5 swimmers for qualifying and good luck at the meet.

    You can follow the team's progress over the weekend at http://www.nswswimming.com.au/.

    See Also
  • 2009 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Program of Events

  • 2009 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Qualifying Times

  • State, Metropolitan and Country Championship Procedures

  • Competitor Information

  • Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre Parking Arrangements
  • No Good Pain, No Gain

    Should I be training when I am sore?

    The answer is that it depends on the type of soreness or pain you are feeling—is it Good Pain or Bad Pain? It also depends on how long you have been feeling sore. The following article from Swimming NSW describes you how to tell the difference between Good and Bad Pain.

    Think of a word that starts with “p,” rhymes with “main” and is great for your swimming. If you guessed “pain ”you’re absolutely right. But not just any kind of pain, good pain. What’s good pain you ask? It’s the kind of pain you feel when you push your body to it’s absolute limit, like during a really challenging butterfly set, a super tough distance set or an all-out set of 50’s. Good pain is an essential part of training. Without good pain, you will never develop the kind of physical fitness and mental toughness you’ll need to consistently swim best times in meets and achieve your ultimate swimming goal.

    Good pain should never be confused with bad pain, which is the pain you feel when you’ve injured yourself. Swimming with bad pain is the absolute worst thing you can do. Even though you might get away with it for awhile, it will eventually catch up to you, which means you will have to cut back on the amount of training you do, seek medical attention or worse- stop swimming for an indefinite amount of time. Swimming with bad pain is a “no-win” situation and should be avoided at all cost!
    The trick however is knowing how to tell the difference between good and bad pain.

    To test your knowledge on good and bad pain, I invite you to take the following quiz. All you have to do is tick the pains you think are good.

    The Name that Pain Quiz

    1. The pain you feel when your arms are so heavy that you can barely lift them out of the water during a butterfly set.
    2. The pain you feel when your muscles are so sore that you can’t finish your stroke in freestyle.
    3. The pain you feel in your neck from holding your head still in a long backstroke set.
    4. The pain you feel in your side during a challenging swim set ( some call it a stitch).
    5. The pain you feel in your shins from kicking a lot of breaststroke kick.
    6. The sharp pain you feel in your knee every time you kick or push off the wall.
    7. The pain you feel in your lungs during a major breath holding set, a set that also makes you feel dizzy.
    8. The pain you get from kicking your legs so hard that they end up feeling as thick and heavy as telephone poles.
    9. The sharp pain you feel in your shoulder every time you recover your arm in freestyle or butterfly.
    10. The pain you feel in your stomach muscles after doing a lot of sit-ups.

    The correct answers can be found at the end of this article. Knowing how to tell the difference between good and bad pain is one of the secrets to having a long and successful swimming career. Any bad pain should be reported to your coach right away. Don’t be afraid to tell them. A good coach wont think you’re slacking off, if fact they’ll admire you for being so responsible and in tune with your body.

    Although you should avoid bad pain at all costs, you should also try and experience as much good pain as you can. The more good pain you experience in training, the more time you will drop in meets.

    The Good Pains are: 1,2,3,4,5,8,10
    The Bad Pains are: 6,7,9

    So basically, Good Pain is achy, dull, and very general. It tells you that you are working hard. Bad Pain tends to be sharp and specific and tells you that you are hurt or injured. This type of pain should be referred to a Sports Physiotherapist for assessment and treatment.
    However, your body also needs time to recover from a hard workout. Tired, sore muscles for an extended period can be a sign of overtraining.

    Completing a warm-down (which includes a stretching routine) following a training session can help to reduce the amount of muscle soreness that you experience and also helps your body to recover more quickly.

    Swimsuit Update

    Following the most recent announcement by FINA regarding swimsuits, Swimming NSW has amended its Rules, covering swimsuit guidelines for Swimming NSW and Member Association events.

    Effective 26 November 2009, swimmers competing in Swimming NSW and Member Association events must comply with the following Swimming NSW Rules:

    GR19 SWIMWEAR
    GR19.1 General Swimsuit Rules
    GR19.1.1 The swimwear (swimsuit, cap and goggles) of all swimmers shall be in good moral taste and suitable for the individual sports discipline.
    GR19.1.2 Swimsuits worn by Competitors in Open Events, including ‘& Over’ events, conducted in NSW by Swimming NSW and any member Associations shall be non-transparent and conform to the following design:
    1. All swimsuits must be FINA approved;

      or
    GR19.1.3 Swimmers may wear swimsuits provided the suits meet the following criteria:
    1. Men’s swimsuits are limited to one (1) suit that covers at most the body surface from hips to knee. Swimsuits may not extend above the waist or below the knees;
    2. Women’s swimsuits are limited to one (1) suit that is of “open back” and “open shoulder” designs that may extend down to the knee. Swimsuits must not extend below the knees.
    3. No zippers or other fastening devices are allowed except for a waist tie.
    4. Swimsuits must be of textile material and must not contain any non textile material such as polyurethane or neoprene.
    GR19.1.4 Swimsuits worn by competitors in Age Group (18 & under) Events conducted in NSW by Swimming NSW and any Member Associations shall be non-transparent and conform to the following design:
    1. Men’s swimsuits are limited to one (1) suit that covers at most the body surface from hips to knee. Swimsuits may not extend above the waist or below the knees;
    2. Women’s swimsuits are limited to one (1) suit that is of “open back” and “open shoulder” designs that may extend down to the knee. Swimsuits must not extend below the knees.
    3. No zippers or other fastening devices are allowed except for a waist tie.
    4. Swimsuits must be of textile material and must not contain any non textile material such as polyurethane or neoprene.
    GR19.1.5 The Referee of a competition has the authority to exclude any swimmer whose swimsuit does not comply with this Rule.
    GR19.1.6 Swimsuits are limited to one (1) suit.

    NB: Australian Open Records can only be broken by wearing a FINA approved swimsuit.


    The new swimsuit rules will apply at all NSW Championships. The NSW Open Water Championships and Metropolitan Championships are the first NSW meets in which these rules will be effective. Below is how these rules will be enforced:

    NSW Open Water Championships
    Before the commencement of the first race, the referee will remind swimmers of the new swimsuit rule changes at the referee briefing. As the swimmers enter the water the referee will be marking names off as well as checking that swimsuits meet the requirements for Age Group or Open events.

    Metropolitan Championships
    Before the commencement of the meet, the announcer will remind swimmers of the new swimsuit rules changes. When swimmers are marshalled for their respective events, the Marshall will be marking names off and checking that the swimsuits being worn meet the Age Group or Open event requirements. It is recommended that each swimmer know WHICH TYPE OF SWIMSUIT they are wearing in each event as the Marshall will also have a checklist for FINA approved suits as well as the rules.

    See Also
  • FINA 2010 List of Approved Swimsuits
  • Metropolitan Entries

    Entries for the 2009/2010 NSW Metropolitan Championships start to close from Saturday, 21st November, 2009.

    To compete at these championships you must have achieved the required qualifying time at an approved meet as detailed on the Qualifying Time Information page.

    Swimming NSW will be using a new Online Entry System for the Metropolitan Championships which will be held on the 12 – 13 December 2009 at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

    Online Entries will close at 5pm SHARP on Wednesday 2nd December 2009. Manual entries will also be accepted but close with the club on Saturday, 21st November. All entries after this date must be completed online.

    However, please note that the online system does not currently support entries using a short course entry time. Entries with short course entry times must be completed manually and submitted to the club by the manual entry closing date.

    If you have entries with long course entry times you should complete these online and pay via credit card. Any other entries with short course entry times should be submitted separately with payment to the club.

    For example John wishes to enter the 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke & 100m Backstroke. Using his long course times John logs onto Events Online and enters the 50m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke and the 100m Backstroke and pays online for these three events.
    However John wants to enter using a short course time for his 100m Freestyle so he submits his multi entry card to his Club Race Secretary who will enter and pay for this event ONLY. Hence John pays $36.00 online and $12 to his race secretary.

    Manual Entries must be submitted on Multi-Entry Cards. The Multi-Entry cards must be completely filled out including date and place that times were achieved. Entries must also include your registration number.

    The Psych Sheet for the meet will be placed on the homepage of the Swimming NSW website (www.nswswimming.com.au) which will be available for download from 6pm Wednesday 2nd December 2009. All entrants are encouraged to download this document and check the events they have entered and their qualifying times. If any of these are incorrect you will have until 5pm Thursday 3rd December 2009 to send an email to correct any mistakes to meet.entries@nsw.swimming.org.au.
    Changes can only be made by sending an email.

    If you are unable to log on to Events Online but have already paid your membership for the 2009 – 2010 Season please contact our Registrar, Peter Johnston, to confirm that your membership is processed and paid, as the system will NOT let you enter if your membership is pending.

    The $5 per swimmer fee will NO LONGER apply for any manual entries received for these Championships.

    All competitors should attempt to enter the championships using the online system as soon as possible. If you have any questions or problems please contact a member of the club’s Competition Committee (Tricia Johnston, Teresa Johnson or Peter Johnston) before the Manual Entry closing date so that you don't miss out on entering.

    For more information on NSW meets read the Championship Procedures information in the Swim Meets Section.

    Instructions on how to enter online can be found on the Meet Entry Procedures page.


    No late entries will be accepted.

    See Also
  • 2009/2010 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Program of Events

  • 2009/2010 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Qualifying Times

  • 2009/2010 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Online Entries

  • Qualifying Time Information
  • Meet Entry Procedures
  • State, Metropolitan and Country Championship Procedures
  • Competitor Information
  • NSW Championship Entry Times (Schedule of Constants in Seconds)
  • Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre Parking Arrangements
  • Jamberoo Trip

    Approximately 50 Members, Family and Friends attended a Social Trip to Jamberoo on Sunday.

    Everyone had a great time with excellent weather and short queues for the attractions.

    Thank you to our Social Secretary, Janet Sloane, and her helpers for all the work done to organise the trip.

    North Sydney Masters Results

    Three swimmers traveled to North Sydney this evening for the North Sydney Masters Sensational Spring Sprints Meet at the North Sydney Olympic Pool.

    Ian Wilson, Darren Sloane and Peter Johnston all competed at the meet which was the seventeenth round of the NSW Branch Pointscore for 2009.

    Darren's best result was 6th in the 50m Breaststroke and Ian's best result was 3rd in the 50m Backstroke while Peter finished 2nd in the 50m Breaststroke.

    As a club, we finished in 17th place on 39 points. Congratulations to our swimmers on their results, with a couple of PBs also swum.

    NSW Development Meet Results

    Belinda Sloane, Timothy Tunks and Charlotte Neill represented Metro South West at the New South Wales Development Meet at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre today.

    Belinda swam 4 new personal best times, Tim swam 3 while Charlotte also swam 3 new PBs.

    Congratulations to all three swimmers on their results.

    2008/2009 Season Review

    2008/2009 was another historic year for our club as the club celebrated it's 40th Anniversary and 40 years since the opening of Merrylands Swimming Centre.

    As the 2008/2009 season began, Merrylands Swimming Centre had unusually already been open for 3 months - the centre having opened on June 30th due to extended maintenance at both the Guildford and Wentworthville centres - allowing our training squads to return to the centre much earlier than usual.

    The earlier opening date also enabled the club to attract more swimmers with 114 registered swimmers, the highest number in over 6 years, and a total membership of 159. The club's Learn to Swim program also continued be popular, however with slightly less numbers than previous years due to less instructors being available to teach the program. A new award, the Learn to Swim Volunteer of the Year Award was intriduced to recognise the contribution of members to the Learn to Swim Program, with Steven Nguyen being presented with the award at the Presentation Evening.

    The club's Anniversary Celebrations kicked off on Saturday 9th November with a Pool Party from 7am. The party included a BBQ breakfast and various pool games and activities for both the swimmers and Learn to Swim Participants. The celebration activities included the 40th Anniversary SwimFest Meet on March 1st 2009 and culminated with the 40th Anniversary Dinner at the Crown on McCredie Hotel Motel on March 28th. Over 100 guests attended the dinner to celebrate the club's rich history, renew old friendships and re-live their memories from their time at the club.

    In the club competitions, a number of new champions were crowned. Steven Nguyen won the Senior Handicap in his first season in the competition while "The Grumpy Old Men" crankily swam their way to the top of the Relay Pointscore, also winning the competition at their first attempt.

    Brittany Johnson won the Champion of Champions Award for a record breaking 5th time. Brittany won the Senior and Open Womens Championships, breaking 12 club championship records along the way and also represented the club at the Area and Metropolitan Championships.
    From the ranks of our novice swimmers, Fady Farid was presented with the Jack Smart Encouragement Award after steadily improving over the season.

    In the Graded Pointscore the long standing Michael Rossek and Ronald Exley trophies which are now full were retired and replace with two new pointscore shields, both trophies were presented to first time winners. Lachlan Stewart was awarded the Michael Rossek Trophy for the highest placed Junior Boy in the Graded Races Pointscore while Charlotte Neill received the Ronald Exley Trophy for the highest placed Junior Girl. The Michael Rossek and Ronald Exley trophies are now on permanent display in the club room.

    The club's representative teams had one of their most successful years ever with members competing at all levels up to and including State Open Championships. Our teams again consisted of a mixture of new and experienced swimmers.
    Amber Johnson qualified for the State Open Championships for the first time and was our club's first representative at the meet since 2004. The club was also represented by a relay team at the State Age Championships for the first time since 2006 with Simon Johnston, Steven Nguyen, David Johnston, Todd Jenkin, Reece Tulloch, Jonathan Tuivawa, Anthony Ventra, Peter Johnston, David Wang and Mitchell Burt competing in the 10x50m Freestyle Relay.
    The club was represented by its biggest team since 2003 at the Metropolitan Championships with 6 swimmers competing at the meet while at the Metropolitan Short Course Championships, Anthony Ventra won the club's first finalist ribbon at the meet since 2006.
    At the Metro South West Championships, the club finished the meet with two new Area Champions (the club's first since 2002) and 9 medals with Anthony Ventra, Mitchell Burt, David Wang, Steven Nguyen, Brittany Johnson, Peter Johnston taking home medals. Our swimmers were also finalists in 12 events. The results made this year's meet the club's best team performance at the championships in over 15 years, finishing in 13th place.
    At the short course championships our team won 7 medals and with finalists in 35 events and over 80% of our results in the top 10 making the meet the club's most successful Short Course Area Championships ever.
    Ten of our swimmer's performances over the season were recognised with selection in the 2009 Metro South West Area Development Squads.

    In the Club Championships, 23 Championship records were broken over the season.



    Our annual swimming meet, the Merrylands SwimFest, was held in excellent conditions with 27 clubs in attendance. Our swimmers won 33 medals and our club won the won the club pointscore, just ahead of Windsor.

    Our Winter Competition was held for the sixth time with increased numbers and those attending enjoying some new events. Jacob Killick won the male competition for the first time and Belinda Sloane the female competition for the third year in a row.

    As the summer ended, doubt was cast over the future of Merrylands Swimming Centre and the Club, as Holroyd Council commissioned consultants to carry out operational review of its three (3) swim centres. The review which was to recommend works required to maintain each swim centre over the next 10-15 years and advise on the economic viability and sustainability of the swim centres was due to be completed by June 2009, but as yet has not been completed.

    See Also
  • 2008/2009 Rankings

  • 2008/2009 Presentation Evening

  • 40th Anniversary Pool Party

  • 40th Anniversary Dinner
  • NSW Metropolitan Championships - Team

  • NSW State Age Championships - Team

  • NSW State Open Championships - Team

  • Metro South West Championships Open & Age Championships - Team

  • Metro South West Championships Open & Age Championships - Results

  • NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships - Team

  • NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships - Results

  • Metro South West Open & Age Short Course Championships - Team

  • Metro South West Open & Age Short Course Championships - Results

  • NSW State Age Short Course Championships - Team

  • Metro South West Development Squads

  • Merrylands Pool Re-opens June 30