Presentation Evening

Our swimmers celebrated the 2020/21 season at our annual Presentation Night, held at Club Merrylands on Saturday night.

This was our first face to face presentation night in 2 years, after running a virtual presentation last year.

Our President and MC for the evening, Graham Edwards, kicked off the night with a summary of the wonderful performances by our swimmers and volunteers over the last 12 months.

The Graded Pointscore was presented, with a lot of friendly rivalry between family members and squad groups evident! Congratulations to Brendan Kirkpatrick and Alison Johnston for taking out the Senior Pointscore, and to Unish Shrestha and Vanessa Ozols for winning the Junior Pointscore Championships. Vanessa also had the highest pointscore overall, with 299 point earned during the season.

The hotly contested Relay Pointscore was presented to team Slanigiro consisting of Brendan Kirkpatrick, Elie Menhem, Matthew Vicic, Michael Vicic, Sophia Vicic and Breeanah Khoury. 

Another hotly contested award - the Senior Handicap - was presented to Glenda Wood. Glenda's experience and consistency in this event brought her over the line, with an overall win of one point.

The Learn to Swim Volunteer of the Year Award was presented to Kylee Murray.  Kylee brings enthusiasm to her teaching and also covered many classes for the other teachers throughout the season.

The Coaching Awards and prized beanies were awarded to Shreya Shrestha, Darla Assi, Daniel Vicic and Pavla Hannan.  These swimmers have demonstrated a consistent effort and positive attitude to training throughout the season.  

The Age and Open Pointscore was awarded to swimmers based on championship results, with some very competitive age groups and close results.  Congratulations to all our Age and Open Champions.

The Jack Smart Encouragement Award is in memory of Life Member, Jack Smart.  This was awarded to William Johnston for his progression from 15m races to 50m events.

The Jim Pye "Minties" Development Award is in memory of Life Member, Jim Pye.  This award is presented to a Junior Swimmer who has swum consistently over the season, steadily improving and representing the club at various swimming meets.  Daniel Vicic was the recipient of this award.

Representative Awards and club shirts were presented to Alison Johnston, Matthew Vicic, Summer Shrestha, Vanessa Ozols, Unish Shrestha, Joab Hada and Joseph Assi for their representation of the club at Swimming NSW Events.  This was the first time Unish, Joab and Joseph had received these awards.

The Lions Award was presented to Peter Johnston for his services to the club over the past season.

The Champion of Champions Award is based on performance in Graded Races, Championships, and representative swims for the club.  This award ended in a tie, with Brendan Kirkpatrick and Matthew Vicic being on equal points.  Brendan had achieved the bulk of his points from his performances at Club Championships while Matthew had earned his from setting new club records and his representative swims at Area, Metropolitan and State Championships.

Congratulations to all our swimmers on their awards.  Thank you to the parents, volunteers and coaches who do so much work to help our swimmers achieve their results.  

Thank you to Club Merrylands for their ongoing support and sponsorship of our club and for hosting our presentation night.

Metro South West Championship Entries

Entries for the 2021 Metro South West Area Short Course Championships close on Tuesday, 8th June, 2021. The Championships will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Saturday 19th & Sunday 20th June, 2021.

This is the main meet of the winter season for many of our swimmers and all swimmers who qualify are expected to compete.

Please speak to your coach if you have any questions about your events.

State Masters Results

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!

NSW Junior State Age Results

Merrylands' junior boys combined forces at the NSW Junior State Age over the weekend with some excellent results!  Every swimmer for the club swam a new official or unofficial personal best during the meet.

Joseph Assi qualified for this event for the first time in individual events and swam in the 10 Years 50m and 100m Breaststroke. Joseph was just outside his entry times, having already PB'd in the 50m Breaststroke 5 times since the start of the summer season!

It was Matthew Vicic's third time qualifying for this event and he competed in the 13 Years 50m Butterfly.  Matthew achieved a new personal best time of 31.68!

Unish Shrestha, Joseph Assi, Joab Hada and Daniel Vicic worked together as a team in the 10/11 Years 4x50 Freestyle and Medley Relays.  In the Freestyle relay the boys took over 3 seconds off their entry time with some extremely fast swimming.  Whilst the split times are unofficial, it is very encouraging to see what the boys are capable of doing!

Congratulations to our swimmers on their results!

State Open Results

Vanessa and Alison represented Merrylands at the NSW State Open Championships on the 18th to 21st March, 2021.

The format was different with heats in the evening and finals in the morning.

Vanessa was all smiles after swimming a speedy 50m Freestyle on the first night of competition.  Vanessa took almost a second off her personal best and swum under 40 seconds for the first time!  

Alison also swam the 50m Freestyle and was her second fastest time of the season. 

Vanessa swam the 100m Freestyle on the final night of competition and was her second fastest 100m swim.

Well done to our swimmers on their performances.

NSW State Open Championships

Vanessa Ozols and Alison Sakurovs will represent the club at the NSW State Open Championships which start today.

The heats are swum in the evening and finals in the morning and will feature some of the top swimmers from around the country as they prepare for the Tokyo Olympics later this year.

Vanessa is competing in the 50m Freestyle tonight and 100m Freestyle on Saturday night. 

Alison will compete in the 50m Freestyle on Friday night.

Good luck girls and may the whale be with you!

Metro South West Junior Championships Results

Merrylands' team of 15 swimmers had an amazing time at the Metro South West Junior Championships held at Sydney Olympic Park today.

As a team, Merrylands achieved 43 new personal best times out of 47 swims with every swimmer contributing to the PB tally!

We scored 17 top 10 finishes, 2 silver medals, 2 bronze medals and a new State Qualifying time.

Congratulations to all our swimmers on the wonderful performances and thank you to our coaches for the ongoing support.

Medalists

Matthew Vicic 
Silver - 100m Freestyle
Bronze - 100m Backstroke
Bronze - 100m Butterfly

Joseph Assi
Silver - 100m Breaststroke & State Qualifying Time

Finalists

Lucas Alveraz - 100m Freestyle
Joseph Assi - 200m Individual Medley
Niushka Shrestha - 100m Butterfly
Shreya Shrestha - 100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke
Unish Shrestha - 100m Butterfly, 100m Backstroke, 200m Individual Medley, 100m Breaststroke
Daniel Vicic - 100m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke
Matthew Vicic - 400m Freestyle
Leo Zhu  - 200m Individual Medley, 100m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke

Merrylands SwimFest Results

Merrylands had awesome results at our SwimFest Carnival this weekend!

As a team, we achieved 92 PBs, 7 Gold Medals, 12 Silver and 19 Bronze Medals.  Merrylands came third overall in the pointscore.

Thank you to our committee members who did so much work behind the scenes to enable the meet to go ahead with ever-changing restrictions.  Thank you to everyone who helped set up before the meet and pack away afterwards.  Thank you to our timekeepers and visiting clubs who assisted with timing.  Thank you to our BBQ chefs, runners, marshals, check starters, recorders, announcers and visiting referees. Thank you to our captains and coaches. Thank you to our swimmers for bringing their enthusiasm and thank you to the parents for preparing the swimmers' food!

Thank you TEAM Merrylands!

The results of the meet, including the full pointscore are available in the SwimFest section of our website.

See Also

Ripples St Marys wins 2021 Merrylands SwimFest

While there was rain and storms forecast, the sun was shining at the 2021 SwimFest.

Congratulations to Ripples St Marys on taking out the 2021 SwimFest Pointscore!

Mounties finished in 2nd place and Merrylands came 3rd.

Thank you to everyone who attended the meet and for all the volunteers who gave up time to make our meet happen!

The results of the meet, including the full pointscore are available in the SwimFest section of our website.

See Also

Metro South West Senior Championships 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 7th and 8th 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 9th 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.