Metro South West Junior Championships

Good luck to our team of 13 swimmers who are representing Merrylands at the Metro South West Junior Championships on Saturday, 16th February.

The championships are being held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

Our team consists of:

Laura Belle Casey
Abraham El-Chami
Bilal El-Chami
Joab Hada
Helen Macpherson
Elie Menhem
Lisa Shrestha
Nevah Shrestha
Niushka Shrestha
Summer Shrestha
Unish Shrestha
Daniel Vicic
Matthew Vicic

Our team will compete in 67 individual events at this meet.  Good luck to the team and may the whale be with you all!

Streamline to Faster Swimming

How important is a streamline to a swimmer? I think it can make a world of difference, particularly in a short-course setting, since streamlines and the idea of reducing drag can be applied to starts, swimming, and turns. My take on swimming and streamlines is they are a way to make a minimum energy investment for a maximum speed return. Not exactly a free lunch for a swimmer, but as close as it gets in the swimming pool. Initiating the first kick or pull is a matter of determining when the swimmer's speed is about to drop from faster than they can swim to their race swimming speed. Experiment with different timing.

From a start, the speed gained from the push off of the block and from the force of gravity is faster than the swimmer can actually swim. If they can maintain that speed for any extra duration, and everything else is equal, their overall time for the race could be quicker. And all they had to was perform an improved streamline.

During the swimming portions of a race, any chances to reduce the external forces fighting against the swimmer's forward progress (like drag) can result in a faster race time. If a better body position through a slight adjustment of head position results in decreased drag, then the swimmer just got faster - without putting any real extra effort into moving forward any faster. Other ways to reduce drag include paying attention to hand entry and hand/arm position (both arms!) during the stroke cycle. And don't forget the legs. A wide kick might have more force to it for some swimmers, but it also increase drag, and it is likely that the wide kick's force is working to overcome the drag it creates, resulting in little or no added speed (in other words, a narrow kick could be more efficient).

What about turns? Lot's of chances to reduce drag on those things, open or flip. How is the direction being changed? Is there a loose limb sticking out someplace that is being "dragged" through the water instead of slipped through it? Is water being pushed against or slid through during the direction change? How about the swimmer's push off the pool wall. The swimmer's upper body must be in a streamline shape prior to the initiation of the push to maximize speed off of the wall. As the push-off continues, the swimmer must pull the rest of their body into a streamline so they area able to hold that speed (which should be faster than swimming) for as long as possible.

The easiest place to make a quick change in streamlines is off a wall. These are the things I look for in a streamline after the swimmer as left the wall:

  • One hand aligned on top of the other, with fingers pointing the direction of travel. The little finger and thumb of the top hand wrapped around the lower hand (to allow leverage and to prevent separation).
  • The fingertips stretching and reaching as far forward as possible.
  • The arms extended, pointing the direction of travel, with the biceps behind the ears.
  • The surface from the back of the swimmer's hands, along the arms, then down the shoulders and back should be one (relatively) smooth surface with no "head bump" sticking up on that side.
  • The head bump is on the chest side.
  • The swimmer's arms are actively squeezing in behind the head, as if they are trying to make their elbows touch.
  • The swimmer's core is tight and straight - every muscle pulling in towards the centre, trying to make the swimmer longer and thinner.
  • The swimmer's legs are adducted (that is, squeezed in and together) with their toes are pointed.
  • I want to see the swimmer become a strong, long torpedo, rocket, or pencil shape off the wall (and on a start).

We practice streamlines off starts and turns regularly. We include a few push offs that are purposely not streamlined to remind the swimmers how much easier it is when they do perform a great streamline. You can practice and use streamlining techniques every swim workout to help make yourself a better swimmer.

Swim On!

5-8yrs Meet Results

Congratulations to our team of 6 swimmers who competed at the Metro South West 5-8yrs Meet yesterday.

Our team were finalists in 7 events, and swam 17 new personal best times from the 18 events entered.

Well done to the whole team on their swims!

Merrylands SwimFest Results

The Results of the Merrylands SwimFest are now available.

Thank you to everyone who attended the meet and to all the members of our club and other volunteers who worked at the meet, we couldn't have run it without you and you did a great job.

The results of the meet are now available in the SwimFest section of our website.

Mounties finished 1st in the Club Point Score, with Ripples St Marys in 2nd, and Merrylands 3rd.

We would like to thank the sponsors of the meet for their continued support.

The 2018 Merrylands SwimFest Swim Meet is proudly sponsored by:

  • Merrylands Bowling & Sports Club
  • Accucom Systems Integration
  • Nikkis Pizza

See Also

Issue 19, 2017/2018

Masters BPS Meet

Last Saturday saw our club host our 2nd Masters Meet. It was a great success again, with feedback from visiting officials very complimentary about how smoothly the meet ran and the family culture of our club.

Thank you to everyone who helped out, be they our junior swimmers, masters swimmers, parents and officials. Behind the scenes Alison spent weeks preparing the meet, so an extra big thank you to you Alison.

For the record Ryde won the point score, with Merrylands 2nd and Warringah 3rd.

Speedo Sprint Heats

Congratulations to the 10 swimmers who represented our club last Sunday. Great results with a lot of PB’s achieved across all strokes. Well done to all of our swimmers and coaches.

Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club – 50th Anniversary

As we have mentioned a range of celebrations will be held over the 2018/2019 season and the sub-committee are commencing the celebrations today with something to whet your appetite. We hope you enjoy it. Thank you to the sub-committee for their work in making the surprise.

Relay Team Revised Times – 17th February, 2018

The relay team competition is underway again with 3 rounds to go. Your team can submit a revised time to the Race Secretary before the relay swim today.

Merrylands SwimFest Meet – Saturday 24th February, 2018

We need a lot of help on the day to run this meet, so if you haven’t yet advised you are able to assist on the day, please let Graham know today.

We will also be running a major raffle on the day and we have two great prizes already, however we would like to offer more prizes. So if you could bring donations that would be greatly appreciated as we can prepare some additional hamper prizes.

Hosting Duties – MSW 5 – 8 Year Meet - Saturday 3rd March, 2018

We are rostered to provide hosting duties at the Metro South West 5 – 8 Years Meet on Saturday 3rd March, 2018. This is an afternoon meet held locally at Guildford Pool. Our duties include helping with gate entry, result posting, presentation of medals & ribbons etc. We need about 4 or 5 helpers on the day, so if you can help please let Graham know.

Whales Picnic – Sunday 11th March, 2018

The Whales Picnic is being held at Blaxland Riverside Park, Jamieson Street, Sydney Olympic Park (off Holker Street, Silverwater) on Sunday 11th March, 2018 (11.00am – 4.30pm).

Trophy Return

Please return any perpetual trophy’s you have from last season on a Saturday morning to the club room (you have 5 more weeks left to do this).

Race Starting Time and Entries

With championships underway and running until the end of the season it is important that we start on time at 7.00am. So to make sure you don’t miss your race, arrive before 7.00am and be ready when called at marshalling.

Remember to also get your race entries in on time (it eases the load on the Race Committee)

Any questions about races should be emailed to race.secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au

Active Kids Program

For more information see the noticeboard in the club room or visit the MyServiceNSW website at www.service.nsw.gov.au or Swimming NSW website at https://nsw.swimming.org.au/page.php?id=258

Uniforms

Visit our new online store at https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/ to order uniform items.

Upcoming Events

MEET NAME

MEET DATE

ENTRY CLOSING DATE

MASC 50metre Freestyle

Saturday 17th February

Closed

MASC 400metre Freestyle (Open)

Saturday 24th February

Wednesday 21st February

Merrylands SwimFest

Saturday 24th February

Closed

MASC 50metre Breaststroke

Saturday 3rd March

Wednesday 28th February

MSW 5 – 8 Years Meet

Saturday 3rd March

Tuesday 20th February

MASC 50metre Backstroke

Saturday 10th March

Wednesday 7th March

Speedo Sprint Finals

Saturday 10th March

 

Whales Picnic

Sunday 11th March

 

MASC 800metre Freestyle (Open)

Saturday 17th March

Wednesday 14th March

MSW Long Course Sprint Meet

Saturday 17th March

Thursday 15th March

MASC 200metre Freestyle

Saturday 24th March

Wednesday 21st March

Speedo Sprint Heat Results

It was a PB-a-thon for Merrylands at the Speedo Sprint Series Heats held at Blacktown Aquatic Centre on the 11th February, 2018. Merrylands had a team of 10 swimmers competing in 34 events. The team absolutely smashed it with 29 new personal best times.

The meet commenced with Breaststroke and our swimmers achieved 100% for personal bests. Laura-Belle and Elie swum under 50 seconds for the first time. Matt demonstrated perseverance at training pays off and achieved a 4 second PB in his Breaststroke.

The Backstroke was up next and the times continued to drop. Michael was first up and not only did he swim under 40 seconds for the first time but skipped the 39s and went straight for a 38! Team Shrestha smashed their times with Summer, Niushka and Nevah all clocking new PBs. Joab came well under his entry time with an 8 second PB too!

Following on was the Butterfly and Bilal made Merrylands proud. It was Bilal’s first-time swimming 50m butterfly and whilst there were nerves before the race, Bilal not only completed the race but held two stroke breathing the whole way!

The final event was the Freestyle and although it had been a long afternoon, the run of PBs continued. Michael locked in an official PB after already having swum a PB at his school carnival a few days earlier. Summer also made swimming under 40 look easy by skipping a 39 and going for a 38 for the first time. Our 9 years girls pushed each other with new PBs for Nevah, Niushka and Ameena. Joab was last to swim for the day and finished our run with a 3 second PB.

There was great team spirit and it was wonderful to see our team cheering loudly and supporting each other’s achievements throughout the afternoon.

See Also

Issue 18, 2017/2018

Masters BPS Meet - Today

Today we are hosting our annual Masters BPS meet. This event has attracted a total of 75 Masters swimmers from across various clubs in NSW/ACT, as well as 11 visiting technical officials.

The meet commences with warm-up at 11.00am and races starting at 11.30am. We expect the races to conclude by 1.00pm. We will be staying after club races & squad training to set up for the meet and I would like to thank our members (young and old) and parents who are helping with the meet today.

Merrylands SwimFest Meet – Saturday 24th February, 2018

This meet is one where every junior club member should be entering events as it is our major swim meet for the season. Entries close online at 5.00pm TODAY.

We need a lot of help on the day to run this meet, so if you haven’t yet advised you are able to assist on the day, please let Graham know today.

We will also be running a major raffle on the day and we have two great prizes already, however we would like to offer more prizes. So if you could bring donations over the next two weeks that would be greatly appreciated as we can prepare some additional hamper prizes.

Youth Advisory Panel’s Twilight Race Party

Swimming NSW’s Youth Advisory Panel has been busy organising an event designed specifically by teenagers for teenagers. Reece Tomkinson is a member of the Youth Advisory Panel and he has been active in the work to plan this event. The Twilight Race Party will be held on Saturday 17th February, 2018 from 4pm to 8pm at the Angelo Anestis Aquatic Centre, Bexley.

Cost is $10 with more information on the noticeboard in the club room or visit http://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/u742iET46J or @snswyap on Facebook

Recently Swimming NSW sought nominations for new members to join the Youth Advisory Panel for the coming season. It gives me great pleasure to advise you that Sophia Vicic is one of 7 new appointments selected from a large group of applicants. Sophia will join Reece Tomkinson on the panel, giving our club two representatives on this important panel.

Hosting Duties – MSW 5 – 8 Year Meet - Saturday 3rd March, 2018

We are rostered to provide hosting duties at the Metro South West 5 – 8 Years Meet on Saturday 3rd March, 2018. This is an afternoon meet held locally at Guildford Pool. Our duties include helping with gate entry, result posting, presentation of medals & ribbons etc. We need about 4 or 5 helpers on the day, so if you can help please let Graham know.

Whales Picnic – Sunday 11th March, 2018

The Whales Picnic is being held at Blaxland Riverside Park, Jamieson Street, Sydney Olympic Park (off Holker Street, Silverwater) on Sunday 11th March, 2018 (11.00am – 4.30pm). So save the date.

Trophy Return

It is now time to return any perpetual trophy’s you have from last season. Please return these on a Saturday morning to the club room.

Metro South West Area program changes 2018/2019

Metro South West Area programs will be changing during the 2018/2019 and this will include date and championship meet format changes. These changes operate in conjunction with Swimming NSW & Swimming Australia program changes and one of the major changes will be to Area & State Championship age group qualification, number of days/sessions of meets and events offered.

As we receive final confirmation of new dates and program changes we will communicate these to you. However our coaches are aware of the proposed changes and their training programs will reflect the changes to ensure our swimmers are suitably prepared for these meets.

Race Starting Time and Entries

Remember to enter races the Saturday prior to or during the week before the cut-off times (manual card entries at 6pm Wednesday & online entries at 8pm Thursday). There is a limit of 2 swims in addition to a championship swim (when there is a championship event for your age group).

Any questions about races should be emailed to race.secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au

Relay Team Revised Times – 17th February, 2018

The relay team competition recommences today. Your team can submit a revised time to the Race Secretary before the relay swim next Saturday (17th February, 2018) for the last 4 rounds.

Active Kids Program

For more information see the noticeboard in the club room or visit the MyServiceNSW website at www.service.nsw.gov.au or Swimming NSW website at https://nsw.swimming.org.au/page.php?id=258

Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club – 50th Anniversary

A range of celebrations will be held over the 2018/2019 season and the sub-committee want to whet your appetite for these celebrations, so on Saturday 17th February, 2018 they have a little surprise planned for you. Make sure to bring your 50 cent coins with you!!

Uniforms

Visit our new online store at https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/ to order uniform items.

Upcoming Events

MEET NAME

MEET DATE

ENTRY CLOSING DATE

MASC 50metre Butterfly

Saturday 10th February

Closed

Merrylands Masters BPS meet

Saturday 10th February

Closed

Speedo Sprint Heats

Sunday 11th February

Closed

MASC 50metre Freestyle

Saturday 17th February

Wednesday 14th February

MASC 400metre Freestyle (Open)

Saturday 24th February

Wednesday 21st February

Merrylands SwimFest

Saturday 24th February

Saturday 10th February

MASC 50metre Breaststroke

Saturday 3rd March

Wednesday 28th February

MASC 50metre Backstroke

Saturday 10th March

Wednesday 7th March

Speedo Sprint Finals

Saturday 10th March

 

Whales Picnic

Sunday 11th March

 

MASC 800metre Freestyle (Open)

Saturday 17th March

Wednesday 14th March

MASC 200metre Freestyle

Saturday 24th March

Wednesday 21st March

Issue 17, 2017/2018

Race Entries

As we enter the last 8 weeks of our season we have championships every Saturday morning. A couple of reminders to help these mornings run smoothly:

  • A limit of 2 swims in addition to a championship swim (when there is a championship for your age group)
  • Manual card entries close at 6pm on Wednesday
  • Online entries close at 8pm Thursday
  • No late entries or changes to swims are accepted

Any questions about races should be emailed to race.secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au

Trophy Return

It is now time to return any perpetual trophy’s you have from last season. Please return these on a Saturday morning to the club room.

Metro South West Area program changes 2018/2019

As part of the Swimming NSW competition changes being implemented in 2018/2019 Metro South West Area programs will be changing.

An invitation is extended to all Coaches, Club Members and Parents to attend an information evening where the proposed new competition structure will be presented by MSW.

This meeting is being held on Tuesday 6th February, 2018 at Guildford Pool at 7.30pm.

Youth Advisory Panel’s Twilight Race Party

Swimming NSW’s Youth Advisory Panel has been busy organising an event designed specifically by teenagers for teenagers. Reece Tomkinson is a member of the Youth Advisory Panel and he has been active in the work to plan this event. The Twilight Race Party will be held on Saturday 17th February, 2018 from 4pm to 8pm at the Angelo Anestis Aquatic Centre, Bexley.

Cost is $10 with more information on the noticeboard in the club room or visit http://www.emailmeform.com/builder/form/u742iET46J or @snswyap on Facebook

February 2018 Important Dates

  • Masters BPS Saturday 10th February, 2018 (entries closed)
  • Merrylands SwimFest Saturday 24th February, 2018 (entries close 10th February, 2018)

Please see Graham to confirm you can help on these days. The more helpers we have on the days the smoother the meets run. If you have family members or friends who would like to also help out please let Graham know.

Learn to Swim

Our Learn to Swim program commences this morning and runs for 6 weeks. Welcome to our returning and new learn to swim participants and thank you to all of our instructors and helpers for volunteering for this program.
Hosting Duties

We are rostered to provide hosting duties at the Metro South West 5 – 8 Years meet on Saturday 3rd March, 2018. This is an afternoon meet held locally at Guildford Pool. Our duties include helping with gate entry, result posting, presentation of medals & ribbons etc. We need about 4 or 5 helpers on the day, so if you can help please let Graham know.

Active Kids Program

As previously advised this NSW Government initiative commenced on 31st January, 2018. It is a program open to all NSW school enrolled children and provides each child with a voucher for $100 to use towards an eligible sport activity every calendar year.

Registration to obtain a voucher is available and the voucher is valid for use until 31st December, 2018. You can retain the voucher to use when swimming registrations for the 2018/2019 season occur in October 2018.

For more information see the noticeboard in the club room or visit the MyServiceNSW website at www.service.nsw.gov.au or Swimming NSW website at https://nsw.swimming.org.au/page.php?id=258

Whales Picnic – Sunday 11th March, 2018

Sunday 11th March, 2018 (11.00am – 4.30pm) sees a Whales Picnic being held at Blaxland Riverside Park, Jamieson Street, Sydney Olympic Park (off Holker Street, Silverwater). A great time is planned to relax and socialise away from the pool.

Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club – 50th Anniversary

As we have mentioned earlier in the season 2018 will see our club celebrate our 50th anniversary. As the swimming centre officially opened in November 1968 we will have a range of celebrations over the 2018/2019 season. We have a sub-committee (Ian Wilson, Trish Johnston & Margaret Edwards) working on ideas for these celebrations. If you have any ideas or would like to assist please see one of these people.

Uniforms

Visit our new online store at https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/ to order uniform items.

Upcoming Events

MEET NAME

MEET DATE

ENTRY CLOSING DATE

Whales Challenge

Saturday 3rd February

Closed

MASC 50metre Butterfly

Saturday 10th February

Wednesday 7th February

Merrylands Masters BPS meet

Saturday 10th February

Friday 2nd February

Speedo Sprint Heats

Sunday 11th February

Tuesday 30th January

MASC 50metre Freestyle

Saturday 17th February

Wednesday 14th February

MASC 400metre Freestyle (Open)

Saturday 24th February

Wednesday 21st February

Merrylands SwimFest

Saturday 24th February

Saturday 10th February

MASC 50metre Breaststroke

Saturday 3rd March

Wednesday 28th February

MASC 50metre Backstroke

Saturday 10th March

Wednesday 7th March

Speedo Sprint Finals

Saturday 10th March

 

Whales Picnic

Sunday 11th March

 

MASC 800metre Freestyle (Open)

Saturday 17th March

Wednesday 14th March

MASC 200metre Freestyle

Saturday 24th March

Wednesday 21st March