Six of our Masters Swimmers headed up the coast for the NSW Masters State Short Course Championships. This meet was held at the Peninsula Leisure Centre at Woy Woy.
Our team had great results including achieving some all-time personal bests which is a wonderful achievement in Masters Swimming. Some of our swimmers also wound back the clock with swims the fastest in 4 to 8 years!
Varant flew up the coast after racing at club and demonstrated hard work pays off with all of his swims being new short course personal best times. Varant cracked under 1:20 for the first time in his 100m Freestyle.
Peter picked up some bling with a Silver in the 100m Breaststroke and Bronze medals in the 50m Breaststroke and 200m Freestyle. Peter also earned club bragging rights with a 50m Freestyle win over Tim and Alison.
Kylee achieved a new personal best time in the 50m Backstroke where she also picked up a Bronze medal. Kylee’s 200m IM was the fastest she has swum since 2016 earning herself a Silver and Kylee’s new personal best in her 200m Backstroke gave her another Bronze medal.
Timothy bagged a Silver and a new personal best time in his 50m Freestyle. Timothy swam his fastest 200m Freestyle outside of Modern Pentathlon competitions and picked up a Bronze for his effort.
Alison almost had a clean sweep with 4 Golds and 1 Silver medal.
Ian swam his fastest 100m Freestyle since 2017 then followed with a Gold in the 200m Individual Medley, which was also his fastest time since 2017. Ian also decided to mix it up with a 50m Breaststroke and 100m Butterfly. The decision paid off with a Bronze medal in the Butterfly.
Well done to our team on these amazing results!
More fantastic swims from our team on Day 4 of the 2023 Australian Masters Championships with 3 medals, 2 personal best times and 6 season-best times.
Alison Johnston added 2 more medals to her tally with gold in the 200m Backstroke in her fastest time in 2 years and a silver in the 100m Butterfly in her fastest time since 2019.
Ian Johnston picked up his second medal of the meet with bronze in the 200m Backstroke - his fastest swim in this event since 2018. Ian also swam his fastest 400m Freestyle since 2019.
Varant Jambazian and Kylee Murray both swam new personal best times in the 400m Freestyle. Varant took 4.68 seconds off his time, while Kylee took 0.52 seconds off the personal best time she set in 2019. Kylee also swam her second-fastest time ever in the 200m Backstroke, after setting her PB at the NSW State Championships earlier this month. She then finished off her meet with her fastest 100m Butterfly since 2020.
Peter Johnston meanwhile swam his fastest 400m Freestyle since 2016.
Congratulations to our team on their swims today! Day 5, the final day of the meet, will see our team compete in the 50m Backstroke, 200m Breaststroke and finish off with the 50m Freestyle. You can follow their progress online or on Meet Mobile.
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Lots of great swims on Day 3 of the 2023 Australian Masters Championships with 1 medal, 4 new personal best times and 6 season-best times.
Alison Johnston picked up our sole medal on Day 3 with bronze in the 50m Butterfly, in her second fastest time this season. Alison also swam her fastest time since 2021 in the 100m Freestyle.
Varant Jambazian swam 2 new personal best times, with a huge 1.66-second PB in his 50m Breaststroke while he shaved 0.33 seconds off his 100m Freestyle time. Varant had only recently broken his 100m Freestyle time at the NSW State Championships just over 2 weeks ago
Leanne Tovkach also swam new PBs in both of her events. Leanne took 0.28 off her 50m Breaststroke time which had stood since 2019. She then took a massive 3.66 seconds off her 100m Freestyle PB from the NSW State Championships. Leanne's finish earned some big cheers from our team as she put her head down at the flags and swam to the wall without a breath in the last 5 metres.
Ian Johnston swam a season-best time in the 100m Freestyle which was also his fastest time since 2018. Ian's 50m Butterfly was just outside his season-best time from the NSW State Championships.
Kylee Murray swam a season-best time in the 400m Individual Medley which was also her second-fastest time ever. Kylee also swam a season-best time in the 50m Butterfly and her fastest swim since 2020.
Lastly, Peter Johnston swam his fastest time since 2018 in the 50m Breaststroke and 100m Freestyle.
Well done to our team on their results! Day 4 will see our team in action in the 400m Freestyle, 200m Backstroke and 100m Butterfly. You can follow their progress online or on Meet Mobile.
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A fantastic start to the 2023 Australian Masters Championships with 4 medals, 3 all-time personal best times and 7 season-best times.
Alison Johnston started off the day in style with a gold medal in the 200m Butterfly, finishing in her fastest time this season and her 5th fastest of all time. She also took home silver in the 100m Backstroke in a season-best time and swam a season-best time in the 200m Freestyle.
Ian Johnston won his first individual medal at an Australian Championship with silver in the 100m Backstroke in a season-best time. He also swam his second-fastest time this season in the 200m Freestyle.
Leanne Tovkach swam a new personal best time in the 100m Backstroke, taking 1.32 seconds off her previous time. In the 200m Freestyle, Leanne swam another PB, taking 2.79 seconds off the time she set at the NSW State Championships just over 2 weeks ago. In the 100m Breaststroke, she finished just outside her PB with her fastest time this season.
Kylee Murray swam a new PB in the 100m Backstroke, taking 0.08 seconds off the personal best time she set in 2019. In the 200m Freestyle, Kylee swam her second-fastest time ever, which was also her second-fastest time this season.
Varant Jambazian swam his second-fastest times ever in the 100m Breaststroke and 200m Freestyle. His PBs in both of those events were from the NSW State Championships just over 2 weeks ago.
Our final swimmer on Day 2, Peter Johnston, swam his fastest time in the 100m Breaststroke since 2018 and his fastest time in the 200m Freestyle since 2017.
Our final medal came in the Mixed 4x50m Medley Relay where our team of Alison, Peter, Kylee and Varant took home the bronze.
A great start to the meet! Day 3 will see our team in action in the 400m Individual Medley, 50m Breaststroke, 50m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle. You can follow their progress online or on Meet Mobile.
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The Australian Masters Championships will be held at the Hobart Aquatic Centre from Tuesday 18th to Saturday 22nd April, 2023.
Merrylands will be represented by a team of 6 swimmers, competing in 48 individual events and 2 relays over the 5-day meet. Our team consists of:
- Varant Jambazian
- Ian Johnston
- Peter Johnston
- Kylee Murray
- Alison Johnston
- Leanne Tovkach
Good luck to our swimmers at the meet. You can follow the team's progress online here.
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Merrylands' team has finished the Australian Masters Championships with 22 medals and 24 new personal best times.
Sophia Vicic took home 9 medals from the meet - 2 Gold, 5 Silver and 2 Bronze. Sophia also swam 3 new personal best times. Alison Johnston finished the meet with 7 medals - 3 Gold, 3 Silver and 1 Bronze, with one new PB. Katie Hope claimed 3 medals, with 1 Silver and 2 Bronze, all in new personal best times. Peter Johnston won Bronze in the 200m Breaststroke and swam season-best times in all his events, while Leanne Tovkach finished with Bronze in the 100m Backstroke and 5 new PBs.
Our final medal came in the Women's 4x50m Medley Relay where our team of Sophia, Katie, Alison and Kylee Murray took home the Bronze. Kylee also swam 6 new PBs at the meet, narrowly missing out on a medal after finishing in 4th place, 4 times.
Varant Jambazian swam 4 new PBs at the meet, while Ian Johnston swam 2 new PBs and Steven Nguyen swam season-best times in all his events.
To top it all off, Merrylands finished second in the Life Member's Trophy point score at the meet. The Life Member's Trophy is for Clubs with 5-20 members and rewards performance & participation. It is calculated by taking the number of points gained at the National Championships, divided by the club's membership at end of the previous year.
Medallists
| Sophia Vicic |
| |
50m Freestyle |
(Bronze) |
| |
100m Freestyle |
(Bronze) |
| |
200m Freestyle |
(Gold) |
| |
50m Backstroke |
(Silver) |
| |
100m Backstroke |
(Silver) |
| |
200m Backstroke |
(Silver) |
| |
50m Breaststroke |
(Silver) |
| |
100m Breaststroke |
(Gold) |
| |
100m Individual Medley |
(Silver) |
| Alison Johnston |
| |
25m Freestyle |
(Gold) |
| |
50m Freestyle |
(Silver) |
| |
100m Freestyle |
(Bronze) |
| |
100m Backstroke |
(Silver) |
| |
50m Butterfly |
(Silver) |
| |
100m Butterfly |
(Gold) |
| |
200m Butterfly |
(Gold) |
| Katie Hope |
| |
200m Freestyle |
(Bronze) |
| |
50m Breaststroke |
(Bronze) |
| |
200m Breaststroke |
(Silver) |
| Peter Johnston |
| |
200m Breaststroke |
(Bronze) |
| Leanne Tovkach |
| |
100m Backstroke |
(Bronze) |
Personal Best Times
| Kylee Murray |
| |
25m Freestyle |
| |
50m Freestyle |
| |
200m Freestyle |
| |
25m Backstroke |
| |
200m Backstroke |
| |
25m Butterfly |
| Varant Jambazian |
| |
50m Freestyle |
| |
100m Freestyle |
| |
50m Breaststroke |
| |
50m Butterfly |
| Leanne Tovkach |
| |
50m Freestyle |
| |
100m Freestyle |
| |
100m Backstroke |
| |
25m Breaststroke |
| |
100m Breaststroke |
| Katie Hope |
| |
200m Freestyle |
| |
50m Breaststroke |
| |
200m Breaststroke |
| Sophia Vicic |
| |
200m Freestyle |
| |
100m Backstroke |
| |
200m Backstroke |
| Ian Johnston |
| |
100m Backstroke |
| |
200m Backstroke |
| Alison Johnston |
| |
25m Freestyle |
Medal Tally
Congratulations to our team on their results! A big thank you also to our coaching team of Peter, Alison and Katie for the work they have done with our squad.
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The final day of the Australian Masters Championships saw more excellent results from our team, with 7 medals and 8 new personal best times.
Alison Johnston picked up another 3 medals with Gold in the 200m Butterfly, Bronze in the 100m Freestyle and lastly a Gold in the 25m Freestyle in a new personal best time.
Sophia Vicic also took home another 3 medals, finishing with Gold in the 100m Breaststroke, Silver in the 50m Breaststroke and Bronze in the 100m Freestyle.
Katie Hope was our final medalist of the day, taking out the Bronze in the 50m Breaststroke and breaking her 11-year-old PB in the process.
Varant Jambazian swam another 2 new PBs, breaking his times in both the 50m Breaststroke and 100m Freestyle.
Leanne Tovkach swam new PBs in the 100m Freestyle and the 100m Breaststroke.
Kylee Murray also finished off the meet with 2 new PBs, with new personal best times in the 25m Backstroke and 25m Freestyle, while finishing just 0.45 outside her 100m Freestyle PB.
Lastly, Ian Johnston, Peter Johnston and Steven Nguyen all swam season-best times in all their events on the final day.
Congratulations to our whole team on their performances at the meet!
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Wow! What a great start to the Australian Masters Championships, with 10 medals and 11 PBs on Day 2.
Sophia Vicic finished the day with 3 medals - one of each colour. Sophia took home Bronze in the 50m Freestyle, Silver in the 100m Backstroke, in a new PB, and Gold in the 200m Freestyle in a new PB.
Alison Johnston finished with 2 Silver medals, with 2nd place in both the 50m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke.
Katie Hope won a Silver in the 200m Breaststroke and a Bronze in the 200m Freestyle - both swims in new personal best times.
Peter Johnston took home a Bronze medal in the 200m Breaststroke, with season-best times in all 3 of his events.
Leanne Tovkach took home her first national medal, with Bronze in the 100m Backstroke in a new personal best time, taking over 2 seconds off her previous best. Leanne also took almost 2 seconds off her 50m Freestyle PB.
Our final medal came in the Women's 4x50m Medley Relay where our team of Sophia, Katie, Alison and Kylee Murray took home the Bronze.
Kylee also swam 3 new PBs, taking over a second off her 50m Freestyle - a time that had stood since 2016; over a second off her 25m Butterfly PB; and 2 seconds off her 200m Freestyle, breaking her time from 2014 and swimming under 3 minutes for the first time.
Steven Nguyen swam a season-best time of 27.56 in the 50m Freestyle.
Ian Johnston swam a massive PB in the 100m Backstroke, taking 5 seconds off his time from 2015. Ian also swam season-best times in the 50m and 200m Freestyle.
Lastly, Varant Jambazian swam a massive 3 second PB in the 50m Freestyle.
A great start to the meet! Day 3 will see our team in action in the 400m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 50m Backstroke, 25m Breaststroke, 100m Individual Medley 50m Butterfly and 200m Backstroke. You can follow their progress in the Live Results.
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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.
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