Merrylands was represented by 7 swimmers at the Metro South West Open Water Championships at the Sydney International Regatta Centre today.

Unish Shrestha and Alison Johnston both took home medals, with Unish finishing 3rd in his age group in the 2.5km event and Alison winning her age group in the 5km event.

The meet was a big learning experience for our team, especially for Unish, Daniel Vicic, Joseph Assi and Joab Hada, who were swimming in their first Open Water competition.

Well done to all our swimmers.

Club Races for Saturday, 8th January, and morning training sessions on 4th & 6th January are cancelled.

Due to the long COVID-19 testing queues and inability to access the pool car park, combined with a number of Pool Staff having to isolate causing staffing shortages, Council has reduced the opening hours of Merrylands Swimming Centre for the next 10 days. The pool will only be open from 12pm to 7pm. 

This means the pool will not be open on Saturday morning, or for morning training this week.

Afternoon training sessions will proceed as planned. It is expected normal hours will resume on the 10th January.

Swimmers who have already entered for the 8th January will be refunded. As the week progresses, the Competition Committee will review whether any changes will need to be made to the race program.

Update: 4th January

Due to staffing shortages associated with the impacts of COVID-19, Merrylands Swimming Centre will be closed until further notice. Council will reassess the situation in the coming days. Training sessions will be held at Guildford Swimming Centre for the remainder of this week and will start 1 hour later than usual.

See Also

• Merrylands Swimming Centre

It was a hot day at Penrith's Sydney International Regatta Centre for the NSW State Open Water Championships.  Matthew Vicic represented the club in the 5k Open Water event.

This was the second time Matthew has competed at this event and he took two and a half minutes off his previous time!

Well done Matthew and we hope you enjoyed your slurpie afterwards!

Matthew Vicic will represent Merrylands at the NSW Open Water Championships at the Sydney International Regatta Centre tomorrow.

Matt will compete in the 5km event.

Congratulations on qualifying Matt, and we wish you the best of luck!

See Also

• NSW Open Water Championships

On a hot day, Merrylands swimmers were burning up the pool at the NSW Junior Metropolitan Championships!

Chloe Ton achieved a personal best time in the 50m Freestyle in her first Metropolitan Championships.

Joseph Assi and Unish Shrestha both swam in the 50m Breaststroke.  Joseph swam a new personal best time and Unish finished in his second fastest time, just outside the PB he achieved last week.

Joseph saved his best until last in the 100m Breaststroke.  Joseph took over a second off his time and came 10th, achieving his first Metropolitan Finalist result.

Congratulations to all our swimmers on their performances!

Christmas Wishes

With 2021 drawing to a close I’m sure everyone is looking forward to a great time celebrating with families.

On behalf of the Committee I would like to thank everyone for their help in getting club activities back in our lives. We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2022 ahead.

Today is our last swim before a two-week break for Christmas and New Year. Following club races today we will be holding a number of activities:

• 400m IM championship presentations
• Squad Christmas party
• Novelty races and events
• Breakfast with the Stars
• Christmas Hamper draw

Club Return – Saturday 8^th January 2022

Club races will resume on Saturday 8^th January, 2022. The Merrylands 50’s will be swum and won on the day. Entries for this event are through online entries as usual.

Freestyle Turns Workshop

Our coaches are holding a freestyle turns workshop with Masters Swimming NSW. This is being held on Saturday 8^th January, 2022 (9.00am – 10.00am). The workshop is open to any adult members of our club, whether you are a masters member or not and there is no charge for this workshop for our adult members. Register your interest at https://forms.office.com/r/85KE5z16Nr

Squad Training Break

The last training session for 2021 will be held on Thursday, 23^rd December and training will resume on Tuesday, 4^th January, 2022. If you will be away during January please complete the training break form.

Swim Meets

Last weekend Vanessa Ozols competed at the Swimming NSW Multi-Class Championships. Vanessa achieved a PB in the 200m Freestyle final and won her first gold and silver medals. Vanessa also rubbed shoulders with a number of Paralympians. Congratulations Vanessa 👏

The Swimming NSW Junior Metropolitan Championships are being held this weekend at SOPAC. We wish Joseph Assi, Unish Shrestha & Chloe Ton the best of luck in their events and may the whale be with each of you. 🐋

The Swimming NSW Open Water Championships are being held on Monday 20^th December & Tuesday 21^st December at the Regatta Centre Penrith. Matthew Vicic is competing in the 5klm championship. Good luck Matthew, we know you have been putting in the long distance training in preparation for this. May the whale be with you

COVID-19 Safety Protocols

Information & Conditions for Attendees can be found here.

Championship Results – 11^th December 2021

400m Individual Medley

FINA Swimming Rules Interpretations

During 2021 (Version 17.03.2021) FINA issued interpretations to a number of rules These are:

SW 4 THE START

SW 4.4 Any swimmer starting before the starting signal has been given, shall be disqualified. If the starting signal sounds before the disqualification is declared, the race shall continue and the swimmer or swimmers shall be disqualified upon completion of the race. If the disqualification is declared before the starting signal, the signal shall not be given, but the remaining swimmers shall be called back and start again. The Referee repeats the starting procedure beginning with the long whistle (the second one for Backstroke) as per SW 2.1.5.

Interpretation:

After all swimmers are “stationary” (SW 4.1), any swimmer initiating a start before the signal may be disqualified when such movement is observed and confirmed by both the starter and referee (SW 2.1.6). When video timing is available (FR 4.7.3), it may be used to verify the disqualification.

SW 7 BREASTSTROKE

SW 7.6 At each turn and at the finish of the race, the touch shall be made with both hands separated and simultaneously at, above, or below the water level. At the last stroke before the turn and at the finish an arm stroke not followed by a leg kick is permitted. The head may be submerged after the last arm pull prior to the touch, provided it breaks the surface of the water at some point during the last complete or incomplete cycle preceding the touch.

Interpretation

“Separated” means that the hands cannot be stacked one on top of the other. It is not necessary to see space between the hands. Incidental contact at the fingers is not a concern.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

Sponsors

We receive great support from our club sponsors and we thank them for this support.

Three members will represent Merrylands at the NSW Junior Metropolitan Championships at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre this weekend.

Our team consists of:

Congratulations to all our team members on qualifying, especially Chloe as it is her first time qualifying for these championships. We wish them the best of luck!

See Also

• NSW Junior Metropolitan Championships

Swim Meets

We have seen the commencement of external swim meets and already some great times have been achieved by our swimmers.

Congratulations to Joseph Assi, Joab Hada, Summer Shrestha & Unish Shrestha on their swims at the Swimming NSW LC Qualifying Meet held at SOPAC last weekend

This weekend Vanessa Ozols is competing at the Swimming NSW Multi-Class Championships. Have great swims Vanessa and may the whale be with you

The Swimming NSW Junior Metropolitan Championships are being held next weekend (18^th & 19^th December) at SOPAC. We have a team of three swimmers competing. We wish Joseph Assi, Unish Shrestha & Chloe Ton the best of luck in their events and may the whale be with each of you too

Club Championship Record

Last Saturday Matthew Vicic swam a new club record time in the 14 Year Boys 100m Butterfly Championship. Matthew swam a personal best time of 1:11.58 and this broke the previous record held by Brett Turner (1:20.40 set in the 1977/78 season) by almost 9 seconds. Congratulations Matthew, keep up the fast flying. 😊

Christmas Activities

Well who would believe that we are nearly half way through the club season. Next Saturday (18^th December) is our last swim before a two week break for Christmas and New Year. We will be holding a number of activities next Saturday morning:

• Squad Christmas party
• Novelty races and events
• Breakfast with the Stars
• Christmas Hamper draw

The club is again funding the Christmas raffle hamper prizes and these will be drawn following club races. So make sure you are at club races next Saturday morning otherwise you will miss out on all the fun

Club races will resume on Saturday 8^th January, 2022.

Squad Training Break

The last training session for 2021 will be held on Thursday, 23^rd December. Training will resume on Tuesday, 4th January, 2022,

If you will be away during December or January please complete the form to indicate your last day of training and your first day back. The form can be found here.

COVID-19 Safety Protocols

A reminder that all attendees (swimmers, spectators, volunteers) must sign-in, and out, when they attend the swimming centre, using the Service NSW app, and show proof of vaccination to council staff when asked.

Information & Conditions for Attendees also found here.

Championship Results – 4^th December 2021

100m Backstroke

100m Butterfly

*New Record

Upcoming Meet Calendar

Sponsors

We receive great support from our club sponsors and we thank them for this support.

Our last training session for 2021 will be held on Thursday, 23rd December, while our last week of club races will be held on Saturday, 18th December.

Club Races start at 7am as usual, and will include Novelty Events after the regular races.

Training will resume on Tuesday, 4th January, 2022, with Club Races resuming on Saturday, 8th January.

Our Christmas Party will be held on Saturday, 18th December in conjunction with the Club Races from 7am. All squad members are encouraged to attend for the club races and novelty events. We would love to see you there. Enter online here.

Are going to be away at all in December or January?

If you will be away, then please complete the form below to indicate your last day of training and your first day back.

Training Break Form

The Committee and Coaching Staff hope you have enjoyed the first few months back in the water after a long break. Have a Merry Christmas and keep training hard as school carnivals and the Merrylands SwimFest approaches.

See Also

• Training Break Form
• Training Schedule
• Club Races - Online Entries

Congratulations to Matthew Vicic on breaking the 14 Years Boys 100m Butterfly record today.

Matt swam a personal best time of 1:11.58, taking over a second off his time.

The previous record had been held by Brett Turner since the 1977/78 season.  Matthew beat this record by almost 9 seconds!

Well done Matthew!

See Also

• Championship Records