Welcome
Welcome back to our first week of Club Races at Merrylands. We have a jam-packed season planned with Championships, Meets and activities. This morning we open with club races, Novelty Events and a BBQ.
Since we were last together………….
Over the last few months a number of things of note have occurred:
April
- State Masters Championships were held at SOPAC
- MSW 5-8 Years meet held at Guildford
- 9 of our swimmers competed at the Australian Masters Championships in Tasmania, bagging 10 medals, 13 PBs’& 23 Season Best times
- Tim Oliver competed in the 2023 Modern Pentathlon Australian Championships
May
- Presentation Evening and AGM held with the new Committee elected
June
- A team of 12 swimmers represented the club at the MSW Area Short Course Championships at SOPAC
- Great results from the short course races held at Guildford, with lots of PBs, Area times and new Metrops time. Pizza rounded out the night for everyone
- A big night of ten pin bowling was held at Parramatta Leagues Club. Thank you to Parramatta Leagues Club for providing a grant towards the cost of the night
July
- Joseph Assi and Leo Zhu represented the club at the Metropolitan Short Course Championships
- SNSW announced they were introducing a new Meet Levy (see separate section for more information about this)
- New pace clocks were installed at Merrylands Swimming Centre thanks to a NSW Govt Office of Sport Local Sport Grant sourced by the club
August
- The World Aquatics Masters Championships were held in Japan. A team of 4 swimmers (Kylee Murray, Steven Nguyen, Alison Johnston and Ian Wilson) represented the club at these championships. Outstanding results were achieved, with 1 medal (Alison won the club’s first ever World medal), 1 finalist, 3 new personal best times and 7 season best times
- Wylas timing system was purchased thanks to a grant from Club Merrylands
September
- Cumberland City Council voted unanimously in support of a Notice of Motion to allocate $14.6m to the cost of refurbishing Merrylands Swimming Centre
- Tim Oliver came 2nd in the Oceanian Championships for Modern Pentathlon, held in Cairo, Egypt
- New laptop computers were purchased to replace the existing equipment thanks to kind assistance from Accucom Systems Integration
Club Captains
Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains are open and close at 9.30am on week 4 (28th October, 2023). Information about the duties and responsibilities of Club Captains can be found on the club website in the By-Laws.
All financial first claim members can vote for these positions on week 6 (11th November, 2023).
Committee 2023/2024
The Executive and Committee for 2023/2024 were elected at the AGM in May:
Executive Members
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President
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Graham Edwards
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Vice President
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Peter Johnston
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Secretary
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Leanne Tovkach
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Treasurer
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Ian Johnston
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Race Secretary
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Alison Johnston
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Social Secretary
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Denise Assi
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Committee Members
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Tricia Johnston
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Margaret Edwards
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Ian Wilson
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Danielle Vicic
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Kylee Murray
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We have a couple of vacancies on the Committee and other roles, so if you are interested in helping out, please speak to Graham Edwards
Swimming NSW Meet Levy
SNSW announced in June 2023 they were introducing a new Meet Levy to take effect post 30th August 2023. Implementation of this new Meet Levy proposed adding a cost of $1.50 for every race entry from club races up, with this levy going directly to SNSW (this would see club race entry cost rising from $0.50 to $2.00 and club championship entries rising from $1.00 to $2.50 but with no increased financial return to our club). We objected to the implementation of this new Meet Levy, especially at club race & championship level. SNSW subsequently decided to defer the implementation at club level (for 12 months), but they have implemented this at intra club and higher meet level.
We will continue to object to the implementation of a Meet Levy at club race level and we will keep you informed as we receive further information.
Parramatta Inter-Club Cup
We will take on Parramatta City and McCredie Park at Granville Swimming Centre on Saturday, 11th November. This is a great event for all our members with events from 7yrs & Under through to 50yrs & Over, and we need everyone’s help to retain the cup we won last season.
Merrylands Swimming Centre refurbishment
In November 2022 Cumberland City Council voted to obtain a report on allocating capital works funds towards the cost of refurbishing Merrylands Swimming Centre. This report was received and discussed at the Council meeting in September 2023 and Council voted unanimously to allocate $14.6m to the cost of refurbishing the swimming centre. We will continue to work with Council to see this decision followed through and have refurbishment works carried out. We will share more information with you as we hear more about the project.
Planning your Championship races
As you will see in the Season Program we have club championship races commencing on Saturday 28th October 2023 (week 4). A tight season sees a number of Championship double up days, so it is vital that you plan your swims well ahead to ensure you qualify for the Championships you wish to compete in. How do you do this? Follow these quick tips to plan your qualifying swims:
- Review the Season Program to see the date Championship swims are held;
- Plan your qualifying swim for a Championship at least 2 weeks before the Championship is held as this provides you with leeway in case you miss a week, are disqualified in the race etc;
- For example the first Championship is the 200m Individual Medley on Saturday 28th October (week 4). Plan to swim your qualifying swim for this Championship in Week 2;
- Likewise look at the following weeks Championships and try and include these in your earlier swim plans. The more Championships you swim qualifying races for at the start of the season the less likely you are to miss qualifying.
The entry cost for each 100m and 200m Championship swim (Age & Open) will increase to $2 per entry. This increase reflects the fact that swimmers obtain points for both their Age & Open Championships from their one swim.
Club Uniforms
We have a great range of club uniforms available for sale. These can be purchased through the club’s online shop.
Some items require special orders to be placed, so minimum numbers may be required before orders for these items can be placed with the supplier.
If you have any questions about club uniforms please talk to the Property Officer, Margaret Edwards.
https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/club-uniforms
Technical Officials
Welcome back to all of our technical officials. For those who are non-swimming members don’t forget to renew your Dry/Support membership to ensure your technical accreditation remains current.
We need as many technical officials as possible to provide our swimmers with the best opportunities for their swims and qualification for events.
We will be holding a Technical Official refresher information session after club races this morning, so please stay around and join in.
For more information about becoming a Technical Official please see Graham
Metro South West LC Championships
The MSW Area Long Course Championships will be held at SOPAC on Saturday 21st October and Sunday 22nd October. Entries are open and close Wednesday 11th October, so make sure you complete your race entries prior to this date.
Relay Competition
Time trials commence today for the Relay Competition and continue for the next two weeks. The competition starts on 4th November, so start organising your team and your team entry time.
Sponsors
We have been fortunate over many years to receive great support from a number of sponsors. Our sponsors provide financial support to allow us to upgrade facilities, purchase equipment, provide free membership opportunities and in-kind support for events such as our Annual Presentation and Ten Pin bowling social event.
Without this great support it would be difficult to do all of the things we do, so we would like to thank all of our sponsors for the fantastic support they provide to our club. Please support our club sponsors whenever you can.
If you know of a business or organisation that may be interested in providing sponsorship or support to our club please speak to Graham Edwards
Upcoming Meet Calendar
Check the website for the full list of upcoming meets, closing dates, programs and qualifying times.
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MEET NAME
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MEET DATE
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ENTRY CLOSING
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NSW State Masters SC Championships
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Saturday 14th October &
Sunday 15th October
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Closed
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MSW Long Course Championships
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Saturday 21st October &
Sunday 22nd October
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Wednesday 11th October
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Parramatta Inter-Club Cup
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Saturday 11th November
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TBA
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MSW Open Water Championships
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Sunday 12th November
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Wednesday 8th November
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NSW Junior Metrop Championships
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Saturday 25th November & Sunday 26th November
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Tuesday 14th November
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NSW Senior State Age Championships
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Sunday 10th December to Saturday 16th December
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Tuesday 28th November
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NSW Open Water Championships
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Sunday 17th December & Monday 18th December
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TBA
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Merrylands SwimFest
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Saturday 17th February
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TBA
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