Training moves to Granville Swimming Centre on Monday, 1st April.
Session Details
We are currently working with Council to finalise lane space. At this stage there are no changes planned to the current schedule - apart from no training sessions on Saturday mornings.
All swimmers who will continue to train in April are asked to complete the Training Enrolment Form by Monday, 18th March so that we can determine at what time sessions will be held. Swimmers who complete their enrolment forms by this date will receive a $5 credit* per swimmer that can be used on purchases from the Squad Shop.
Session times may change based on the number of enrolments received. Sessions will require a minimum of 4 enrolments to go ahead. The final training times for each group will be published on the Training Schedule.
If you will not be training at Granville, please let us know as soon as possible by email.
Sessions are scheduled to return to Merrylands in October.
About Granville Swimming Centre
- Heated 50m pool, with anti-wave lane ropes
- Modern facility, redeveloped in 2005
- 10 minute drive from Merrylands Swimming Centre - directions
- Free parking in Enid Avenue and behind the pool in Diamond Avenue
- Located right beside Granville Railway Station and Bus Interchange
- Indoor cafe
- Covered spectator seating
- Covered areas for stretching and warm-ups
- Operated by Cumberland Council - same pool entry fees as Merrylands
Travel
Granville Swimming Centre is located next to the Granville Railway Station and Bus Interchange. If you are travelling by car, consider car-pooling with other swimmers in your training group as an option for travel, for pick up and/or drop off, but remember, children under the age of 15 require a parent or guardian at the pool at all times.
* The $5 credit will only apply to swimmers who do not have a current outstanding balance, don't make a change to their enrolment after completing the form, and pay their April fees by Sunday 7th April.
See Also
BACK in the water at the Merrylands Swimming Centre, squad training for the Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club (MASC) began last Tuesday ahead of the 2018/2019 competition season.
MASC president Graham Edwards said this would be their 50th season as a club. "The club started just about the same time the pool opened in November 1968," he said. "On Saturday, November 10, we are having a back to Merrylands Day and we are calling on past members to come and join us to have a swim. "New members are also invited. We welcome swimmers of all ages, from toddlers through to masters; we welcome everyone."
Merrylands will also host the annual 'Interclub Cup' against the Parramatta City Swim Club next month. Mr Edwards said their 50th celebrations would culminate with a special anniversary dinner at the end of the season in April. For more information, visit merrylandsasc.asn.au
Conditions were just as wet on the pool deck as in the water as swimmers from the Merrylands Swim Club returned to squad training at the Merrylands Pool last week.
Training will return to Merrylands Swimming Centre on Tuesday, 2nd October, 2018.
All swimmers will need to complete enrolment forms for the new season. These forms must be completed online on the Squad Enrolment page.
When completing the enrolment form, you will need to login to the website. If you have forgotten your login details, or have not logged in before, you can retrieve them here.
Swimmers who complete their enrolment forms and club membership before Friday, 28th September* will receive $5 credit per swimmer, that can be used on purchases from the Squad Shop.
There has been changes to some of the squad fees for this summer (the last changes were in 2016) and there has been some changes to the Program Information and Conditions.
The Training Schedules are on the Training Schedule page. A minimum of 4 swimmers must enrol in any given session for it to go ahead. Some times may change based on the enrolments received.
All squad members must also register as members of Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club for the 2018/2019 swimming season.
Please remember when paying via EFT to use the Reference provided during the enrolment process.
* The $5 credit will only apply to swimmers who do not have a current outstanding balance.
See Also
Training moves to Granville Swimming Centre on Tuesday, 3rd April.
About Granville Swimming Centre
- Heated 50m pool, with anti-wave lane ropes
- Modern facility, redeveloped in 2005
- 10 minute drive from Merrylands Swimming Centre - directions
- Free parking in Enid Avenue and behind the pool in Diamond Avenue
- Located right beside Granville Railway Station and Bus Interchange
- Indoor cafe
- Covered spectator seating
- Covered areas for stretching and warm-ups
- Operated by Cumberland Council - same pool entry fees as Merrylands
Travel
Granville Swimming Centre is located next to the Granville Railway Station and Bus Interchange. If you are travelling by car, consider car-pooling with other swimmers in your training group as an option for travel, for pick up and/or drop off, but remember, children under the age of 10 require a parent or guardian at the pool at all times.
Session Details
The Training Schedule is now available. At this stage there are no changes planned to the current schedule.
Due to limited lane space, there will be no training sessions on Saturday mornings at this stage.
All swimmers who intend on continuing to train in April must complete the Training Enrolment Form by Friday, 30th March so that we can determine at what time sessions will be held.
Swimmers who do not complete this form will not be permitted to commence training without contacting the club's coach, Peter Johnston first.
Session times may change based on the number of enrolments received. Sessions will require a minimum of 4 enrolments to go ahead. The final training times for each group will be published on the Training Schedule page on Monday, 2nd April.
If you will not be training at Granville, please let us know as soon as possible by email.
Training will return to Merrylands on Tuesday, 2nd October.
Training Breaks
There will be no training sessions for any groups during the April School Holidays (16th to 27th April).
Senior, Age, Masters & Adult Squads
The Senior, Age, Masters & Adult Squads will take their annual training break from 16th April to the 6th May.
- Last Session: Thursday, 12th April
- Sessions Resume: Monday, 7th May
Novice, Junior & Development Squads
In addition to the April School Holidays, the Novice, Junior & Development Squads will take their annual training break during July.
- Last Session: Thursday, 28th June
- Sessions Resume: Monday, 30th July
See Also
Everyone wants to win on race day. Everyone stands behind the blocks wanting to win. Some hope. Some pray. Some cross their fingers. Some rub their lucky swim cap. Some, not many, enjoy the quiet confidence of knowing that winning is possible because of the time and effort spent preparing for race day.
Everyone wants to win the race. How many want to win every workout just as badly?
Former Australian National Youth Coach Bill Sweetenham often says to swimmers, Winning tomorrow starts by winning today. To win tomorrow's race, first win today's training session. Will you be a better swimmer tomorrow because of what you did in training today?
Here are a few tips on how to win workouts:
- Arrive earlier than everyone else. Stretch for 15 minutes before anyone else arrives. If travelling or school commitments mean you can’t get to the pool early, stretch in the bus, train or car on the way to training.
- Make sure you have a drink bottle containing clean water or sports drink at every session. Drink regularly throughout the workout.
- Be the first swimmer to get in the pool and start training. Start the first lap with a race quality dive or race start. Ask the coach to grade your dive out of ten for technical excellence.
- Finish every repeat (including drills) with a legal, race quality touch. In free and fly this means no breathing inside the flags. In fly and breast this means an explosive, two-handed touch. In backstroke this means a powerful touch on a full stroke without looking at the wall. If swimming in a lane next to other swimmers doing the same stroke, make a conscious effort to race them from the flags to the wall on every repeat to practice your ability to win close race finishes.
- Swim your warm up (and swim down) with the same attention to detail as you demand in the main set. Quality, explosive starts, aggressive turns, no breathing inside the flags, never breathing first or last stroke in fly and free, full underwater pull with every lap of breaststroke etc. Warm up and swim down means great skills and excellent technique done slowly.
- Challenge someone faster than you to a race every workout. It could be a kicking race. It could be a challenge based on skills and speed (i.e. who can swim the fastest lap with the fewest breaths-time added to number of breaths="total" score and the lowest score wins). It could a technique challenge (i.e. ask the coach to rate your drill efforts out of ten, then try to do it better and achieve a higher score). If you are a strong backstroker who is a weak butterflyer, challenge a strong butterflyer to a swimming (or kicking) race. Work on your weaknesses.
- When swimming an effort in training, ask yourself four questions:
- Could I do this with fewer strokes?
- Could I do this with fewer breaths?
- Could I do this with better technique?
- Could I do this with better starts, turns and finishes?
Challenge yourself to do it better every time.
- If you want to be the best swimmer in your club, your state, Australia or the World, you must be the best swimmer in your lane first. You must set yourself a higher standard than anyone else in your lane is prepared to. You must set a higher standard and more challenging goals than even your coach thinks possible.
- Aim to do it to faster, with better skills and excellent technique especially when you are tired. Race day success will require you to swim fast when you are tired, under pressure and hurting. Make training more demanding than race day. Deliberately make training tougher than the toughest race. Ask your coach if you can do a time trial at the end of training.
- Believe that anything is possible. You can do PBs in training. You can swim 25 metres at maximum speed without taking a breath. You can kick 40 metres in your 50 metre PB swim time. You can do it. The words, "I can't" usually mean, "I am not prepared to try in case I fail".
There are no guarantees to success. You can, however, increase the likelihood of success by making training more demanding than you ever thought possible, attempting to so the impossible everyday and aiming to win every workout.