Merrylands' team has finished the 2023 Australian Masters Championships with 10 medals, 13 personal best times and 23 season-best times.

Alison Johnston won 6 medals at the meet, taking home 2 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. Alison also swam 6 season-best times. Ian Johnston took home 2 medals - 1 silver and 1 bronze. He also swam 6 season-best times. Our final individual medallist, Peter Johnston, won a silver medal in the 200m Breaststroke and swam season-best times in all 7 of his events.

Our final medal came in the Mixed 4x50m Medley Relay where our team of Kylee Murray, Peter, Alison and Varant Jambazian took home the Bronze. Kylee also swam two new personal best times and 3 season-best times, while Varant swam 4 new PBs.

Leanne Tovkach swam 5 new personal best times at the championships, along with one season-best time.

Medallists

Personal Best Times

Medal Tally

Congratulations to our team on their results! A big thank you to our supporters at the meet, Tricia and William, and also to our coaching team of Peter, Alison and Katie for the work they have done with our squad.

See Also

• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 2
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 3
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 4
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 5
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Results
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Entries, Results and Points
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships

Our team finished the meet in style on Day 5 of the 2023 Australian Masters Championships with 2 medals, 4 new personal best times and 4 season-best times.

Alison Johnston added another silver medal to her count with second place in the 50m Freestyle.

Peter Johnston picked up his first medal of the meet with silver in the 200m Breaststroke in his fastest time since 2018. He also swam his fastest 50m Freestyle since 2019.

Varant Jambazian swam three new personal best times, all of which he had only set in the last couple of months. In the 50m Backstroke, Varant took a massive 8.74 seconds off his time from March. In the 200m Breaststroke, he took 5.03 seconds off his time from the NSW State Championships earlier this month and in the 50m Freestyle, he took 0.29 seconds off the time he had also set at State.

Ian Johnston finished the meet with two excellent swims, swimming his fastest times since 2018 in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle.

Finally, Leanne Tovkach finished the meet with a new personal best time in the 50m Freestyle, taking 0.52 off her PB from 2021.

Congratulations to our team on their performances over the 5 days of the championships!

See Also

• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 4
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 3
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 2
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Results
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Entries, Results and Points
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships

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.

See Also

• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 3
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 2
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Results
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Entries, Results and Points
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships

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.

See Also

• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Day 2
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Results
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Entries, Results and Points
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships

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.

See Also

• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Results
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships - Entries, Results and Points
• 2023 Australian Masters Championships

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.

See Also

• 2023 Australian Masters Championships

Merrylands will be represented by a team of 6 swimmers at the Metro South West 5-8yrs Meet this weekend.

The club will be represented by:

Damien Chan
Anna Johnston
Jude Johnston
William Johnston
Anastasia Krga
Lily Palise

Thanks to Club Merrylands for their support of our 8yrs & Under swimmers through free membership.

Have a great time kids!

See Also

• Metro South West 5-8yrs Meet
• Club Merrylands
• Free Membership for 8yrs & Under

Merrylands will be represented by a team of 9 swimmers at the NSW State Masters Championships at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre this weekend.

Our team will contest 38 events at the meet and consists of:

Varant Jambazian
Ian Johnston
Peter Johnston
Kylee Murray
Steven Nguyen
Timothy Oliver
Alison Sakurovs
Leanne Tovkach
Ian Wilson

We wish our team the best of luck at the meet.

See Also

• Masters Swimming NSW

Joseph Assi achieved 3 new personal best times and a State Finalist result at the NSW Junior State Age Championships this weekend. 

Joseph's first swim was the 200m Breaststroke and his first time swimming this distance at the State Championships.  Joseph went out like a flash, beating his 100m personal best in the process and held on to achieve a new personal best over the 200m.  He was just outside the finalists with 11th place.

In the 50m Breaststroke, Joseph swam his second fastest time ever, having only achieved a personal best at his school zone a few weeks earlier.

Joseph finished the meet with the 100m Breaststroke where he further reduced his time to finish in 10th place, earning his first NSW State Age finalist ribbon.

Congratulations Joseph on your fantastic performances and thank you to our coaches for preparing him for this meet.

And Another Season Ends

Well, here we are on the last Saturday of a season again.

Thank you to everyone who has helped during the season. Running club races every week requires the help of everyone and your participation is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to our Committee who again worked hard preparing for the season and running the club throughout the season.

Thank you to our Learn to Swim Co-ordinator, instructors and helpers who allowed us to again offer a Learn to Swim program.

Thank you to our club Coaches who work hard preparing, encouraging & teaching our swimmers to improve their skills. The results achieved during the season are a testament to your dedication and hard work.

Thank you to Darla Assi and Matthew Vicic for your work throughout the season as Club Captains.

Thank you to everyone who competed in club races and represented our club in meets. We hope you have enjoyed your season.

Thank you to our sponsors who provide great support for our club.

We will be back in October to start it all again 😊

Squad Training Change

Training moves to Guildford Pool from next Monday (27^th March). Training will continue through the first week of the Easter School Holidays (with the exception of Public Holidays). There will be no training from 17^th to 25^th April. If you are going to be away, please complete the Training Break Form to advise when you will be away.

The training times for each group will be published on the Training Schedule page.

SNSW Junior State Age Championships

Good luck to Joseph Assi who will represent our club at the Junior State Age Championships at SOPAC this weekend. Joseph has qualified for the 50m, 100m & 200m Breaststroke events. May the whale be with you Joseph for your swims

5 to 8 Year Meet

We have 6 swimmers representing our club at the Metro South West 5 to 8yrs Development Meet being held at Guildford Swimming Centre next Saturday (1^st April). Good luck to Damien Chan, Anna Johnston, Jude Johnston, William Johnston, Anastasia Krga & Lily Palise who have entered this meet. May the whale be with you all

Masters Meets – State & Nationals

The Masters State & National Championships are being held during April. We have 9 swimmers competing at State and 6 swimmers competing at Nationals. Good luck to all of our swimmers and may the whale be with you all

Annual Presentation

Date: Sunday 28^th May, 2023

Time: 4.00pm – 6.30pm

Venue: Club Merrylands Function room

We look forward to welcoming members and family to the presentation and encourage you to stay after the presentation to support the club by having a meal in any of the dining venues the club has.

Emails will be sent to club members who have a choice of a trophy or alternative award. If you receive an email please ensure you respond in a timely manner to assist the trophy committee in finalising the awards ready for the presentation.

Club AGM

Our club AGM will be held on Monday 22^nd May 2023. We invite every club member to attend the meeting. Keep an eye on the club website and social pages for more information about the meeting.

Junior Swimmers Results

Congratulations to the following swimmers on breaking the times last week in the 15m, 25m & 33m races:

33m Breaststroke

18/3/2023 – William Johnston

33m Freestyle

18/3/2023 – Eevi Opano

Lucky Door Prize

Last week’s Lucky Door Prize winner: Gabriella Assi

P-Plate Award

Your last chance to nominate someone for the P-Plate Award, recognising (or perhaps highlights) the “Silly Mistake of the Year”. Nominations here.

Lions Club Award

Each month the Committee votes for the Lions Club Award – the club’s Volunteer of the Year. This is your last chance to nominate a club member to recognise their service online here.

Rule Changes

Swimming NSW has published updated rules (again) as of 20^th March. The key change is to Backstroke finishes (rule SW6.3).

The new rules are now operational for all Swimming NSW meets and meets run under Swimming NSW rules.

Please note that these changes do not yet apply to Masters Meets run under the rules of Masters Swimming Australia.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

Check the website for the full list of upcoming meets, closing dates, programs and qualifying times.