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

Our Senior swimmers kicked off their season with some great results at the Metro South West Senior Long Course Championships.  These Championships were held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on the 7^th and 8^th of November.

Laura-Belle had some fabulous results, achieving personal best times in 3 out of 4 of her swims.  Laura-Belle took off over 3 seconds in the Open 50m Butterfly, achieving her first sub 40 time!

Michael had just completed his HSC physics exam the day before the meet.  The force (mass x acceleration) was with him and Michael achieved a personal best in the Open 50m Freestyle.

Elie showed gutsy efforts in his swims after returning from a break and several injuries.  Elie saved his best performance for the last of the day with a personal best in the Open 50m Freestyle.

It was Vanessa’s first-time swimming at these Championships and she had some wonderful results, with personal best times in the 50m Butterfly and 50m Breaststroke.  Vanessa was a finalist in her 4 events.

Summer added to her Metropolitan events with a personal best in the 100m Freestyle. Summer also achieved personal best times in the 100m Backstroke and 100m Breaststroke, and was a finalist in this event.

Brendan contested a massive 9 events during the meet.  Brendan was a finalist in four events, including a top 10 finish in the Men’s Open 200m Individual Medley.

Alison’s highlight was the Women’s Open 50m Freestyle, coming 9^th out of 130 swimmers.  Alison also picked up 2 silver medals, 1 bronze and 4 other top 10 finishes.

Congratulations to all our swimmers and thank you to Peter and Alison for their coaching.

Merrylands will send a team of 7 swimmers to the Metro South West Senior Championships this weekend.

The Championships are being held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th November.

Our team is competing in 39 individual events over the weekend, and consists of:

Laura-Belle Casey
Michael Evans
Brendan Kirkpatrick
Elie Menhem
Vanessa Ozols
Alison Sakurovs
Summer Shrestha

Following the session on Saturday, Metro South West are holding a Junior Qualifying Meet. We will have 6 swimmers competing at this meet in 8 events.

Our team consists of:

Joseph Assi
Joab Hada
Niushka Shrestha
Unish Shrestha
Daniel Vicic
Matthew Vicic

Good luck to all our swimmers at both meets.

Congratulations to Brendan Kirkpatrick who set a new record in the 1500m Freestyle Championships this morning.

Brendan set a new record in the Open 1500m Freestyle, finishing in a time of 19:34.63 and taking 7.51 seconds off the previous record which had been held by Mitchell Emery since 2007.

Congratulations to Brendan on his swim.

See Also

• Championship Records

Congratulations to Brendan Kirkpatrick who set a new record in the 200m Individual Medley Championship yesterday morning.

Brendan set a new record of 2:36.74 in the Senior 200m Individual Medley, breaking the previous record of 2:39.88 held by Robert Griffey since 2002.

Congratulations to Brendan on his swim.

See Also

• Championship Records

Congratulations to Lisa Shrestha and Brendan Kirkpatrick who both set new records in the Breaststroke Championships yesterday.

Lisa set a new record in the 9yrs 50m Breaststroke in a new personal best time of 52.11. Lisa took 0.29 seconds off the record, held by Natalie Tims, which was set all the way back in the 1972/73 season.

In the Open 200m Breaststroke, Brendan took 0.39 seconds off the record set by Todd Jenkin in 2005, to finish in 2:54.59.

Congratulations to both Brendan and Lisa on their swims.

See Also

• Championship Records

Merrylands was represented by 4 swimmers at the Metro South West Open Water Championships.  The championships were held at the Sydney International Regatta Centre on 17th November, 2019.

Matt was the first to compete, swimming in the Boys 11-13 Years JX 2.5k swim.  Matt swam a very strong race, improving on his result from last year by over 5 minutes!

Nevah and Summer were next to swim the 2.5k in the Girls event. This was the first time they have swum 2.5k in an Open Water environment and whilst there was some nervous anticipation both had solid swims and should be very proud of themselves!

Brendan swam the 5k event which was 2 laps around the course.  This was also Brendan's first time swimming this event and picked up a surprise gold in the "Boys" 26-35 Years age group.

Congratulations also to all the parents, Ruby and coach Alison who managed to up their step count for the week as they supported our swimmers around the course.

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!