Our team of four swimmers achieved excellent results at the Metro South West Long Course Championships over the weekend.

The meet kicked off with the Open 50 Breaststroke.  Brendan was the first to swim and achieved a solid season best time.  The girls were up next and Laura-Belle took a massive 2.5 second chunk off her previous time and Sophia was right on her entry time.

The Open 50 Butterfly followed with Brendan having another top swim, getting under the 31 second mark.

Laura-Belle had a cracker of a swim in the 14 Year Girls 100m Freestyle taking over 5 seconds off her previous best time.

The Open 50 Backstroke was a PB-a-thon for the girls with Sophia, Laura-Belle and Alison all reducing their times.

The last event for Saturday was the Open 50m Freestyle. Brendan took a second off his entry time to dip under 29 seconds. Laura-Belle achieved another PB to keep Sophia on her toes, who followed with a solid time.  Alison was a finalist in the event, coming 8^th overall.

There was no signs of fatigue on Day 2 as our swimmers continued to excel. Brendan achieved a Season Best in the Open 100 Backstroke, earning himself a ribbon in the process.  He then raced to the other end of the pool to back straight up for a gutsy 50 Butterfly, which was within a second of the time set the day before.

Alison earned the first medal of the meet, picking up a Bronze in the 17/Over 50m Butterfly.

The second medal of the meet was from Alison in lane 1 of the Open 100m Freestyle, picking another bronze.  Not to miss out on the “skins” action, Alison made her way to the other end to back up with a 50m Backstroke straight after.  The ribbon was appreciated, the lactic was not.

Brendan dipped under the 29 mark again in the Men’s 17/Over 50m Freestyle to pick up another ribbon and beat his time from the previous day.  A gold was won by Alison in the Women’s event, with the time also faster than the previous day.

The 17/Over 50m Breaststroke was next, with Brendan coming 4^th and 0.1 outside the time he swam the previous day.  Alison also came 4^th in the Women’s event.

Laura-Belle finished the meet off with a bang in the 14 Year Girls 100m Breaststroke. Laura-Belle took a huge 7 seconds off her previous mark and achieved a top 10 finish in the process.

Congratulations to all our swimmers on their wonderful performances!

Medal Tally

Gold - 1
Bronze - 2
Top 10 - 8

Merrylands will send a team of 4 swimmers to the Metro South West Senior Long Course Championships.  The Championships are being held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on the 2nd and 3rd November, 2019.

Our team is competing in 22 individual events over the weekend.

Good luck to Laura-Belle, Brendan, Alison and Sophia!

Merrylands has a team of 5 swimming at the NSW State Masters Short Course Championships. The championships are being held at Peninsula Leisure Centre, Woy Woy over the 12th and 13th October, 2019.

The team of 5 are competing in 23 events across the weekend. Good luck to Peter, Brendan, Kylee, Alison and Leanne.

The club is also being represented by 3 swimmers at the Swimming NSW Junior Area Representative Meet at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Saturday.

Niushka, Summer and Matt are part of the Metro South West Area team and have been selected in 15 individual events and 3 relays between them.

Good luck to both teams. We know you will make us proud!

Merrylands' team took home 8 medals from the NSW State Masters Long Distance Championships on Sunday.

The club finished with 6 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze.

Congratulations to Ian Wilson, Brendan Kirkpatrick, Peter Johnston and Alison Sakurovs on their swims.

Merrylands will be represented by 4 swimmers at the NSW State Masters Long Distance Championships at the Knox Grammar School Aquatic Centre on Sunday, 8th September.

Ian Wilson, Brendan Kirkpatrick, Peter Johnston and Alison Sakurovs will compete at the meet in 2 events each.

We wish them the best of luck at the meet.

Alison Sakurovs became the club's first finalist at a Swimming NSW Championship since 2016 at the NSW State Age Short Course Championships today.

Alison finished 7th in the 19yrs & Over 50m Freestyle in 28.01 - her second fastest time ever, and her fastest time in 3 years. This was also Alison's best ever placing at a Swimming NSW Championship.

Alison's result is off the back of some excellent swims at the FINA World Masters Championships in South Korea last week.

Congratulations to Alison on her fantastic result.

See Also

• 2019 NSW Senior State Age Short Course Championships - Live Results
• 2019 NSW Senior State Age Short Course Championships - 50m Freestyle
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Report

Merrylands will be represented by Alison Sakurovs at the 2019 NSW State Age Short Course Championships at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. The championships will be held from Friday 23rd to Sunday 25th August, 2019.

Alison will be competing in the 50m Freestyle on Sunday morning, off the back of some excellent swims in South Korea at the FINA World Masters Championships last week.

Congratulations to Alison for qualifying and good luck to her at the meet.

You can follow the her progress over the weekend at https://nsw.swimming.org.au/.

See Also

• Swimming NSW
• Live Results

Alison Sakurovs achieved some excellent results at the FINA World Masters Championships in Gwangju, South Korea last week.

Alison's first event was the 100m Freestyle, held on Day 2 of the championships. In a close race, she swam her fastest time since March 2017 to finish in 12th place.

On Day 3, Alison raced the 200m Freestyle and the 50m Butterfly. In the 200m Freestyle, Alison swam her fastest time this year to finish 19th, while in the 50m Butterfly she finished in 14th place.

Alison had 2 more events on Day 4 - her final day of competition. In the 50m Freestyle, Alison finished 12th in another season best time and her first sub-29 second swim since April, 2018. In her last event of the meet, the 100m Butterfly, she finished strongly to again place in 12th.

Congratulations to Alison on her results and thank you to all those members who supported her at the meet, cheering her on while watching the live stream at training in the afternoons.

All of Alison's swims can be watched on YouTube via the links below.

See Also

• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Results
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Start List and Results
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - 100m Freestyle
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - 200m Freestyle
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - 50m Butterfly
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - 50m Freestyle
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - 100m Butterfly
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Official Website
• FINA - Official Website

Alison Sakurovs will represent Merrylands at the 2019 FINA World Masters Championships in Gwangju, South Korea from August 5-18. The swimming events at the Championships will be held from 12-18 August at the Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Centre.

Alison will swim in the following 5 events at the championships:

Day 2 - Tuesday, 13th August
100m Freestyle (approximately 2:30pm) - Heat 31, Lane 5

Day 3 - Wednesday, 14th August
200m Freestyle (approximately 2:50pm) - Heat 22, Lane 9
50m Butterfly (approximately 5:40pm) - Heat 25, Lane 3

Day 4 - Thursday, 15th August
50m Freestyle (approximately 11:10am) - Heat 46, Lane 3
100m Butterfly (approximately 4:35pm) - Heat 13, Lane 4

FINA will be broadcasting a live stream of the meet on their YouTube channel.

Good luck to Alison at the Championships.

See Also

• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Start List and Results
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Live Streams
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Live Stream - Day 2
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Live Stream - Day 3
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Live Stream - Day 4
• 18th FINA World Masters Championships - Official Website
• FINA - Official Website

Merrylands' team of 3 swimmers performed well at the NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships on the weekend.

Alison Johnston swam her fastest time since 2017 in the 50m Freestyle, finishing in 28.30. Summer Shrestha swam her second fastest time ever in the 100m Breaststroke, just 0.09 outside the PB she swam at the Metro South West Championships 3 weeks ago, while Matthew Vicic swam a new personal best time in the 100m Butterfly, taking 0.06 off the time he swam at the Metro South West Championships.

Well done to Matthew, Summer and Alison on their swims. The results of the championships are available here.

See Also

• 2019 New South Wales Metropolitans Short Course Championships - Results