Metropolitan Entries 17 November 2009 Peter-Johnston Latest News Entries for the 2009/2010 NSW Metropolitan Championships start to close from Saturday, 21st November, 2009. To compete at these championships you must have achieved the required qualifying time at an approved meet as detailed on the Qualifying Time Information page. Swimming NSW will be using a new Online Entry System for the Metropolitan Championships which will be held on the 12 – 13 December 2009 at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre. Online Entries will close at 5pm SHARP on Wednesday 2nd December 2009. Manual entries will also be accepted but close with the club on Saturday, 21st November. All entries after this date must be completed online. However, please note that the online system does not currently support entries using a short course entry time. Entries with short course entry times must be completed manually and submitted to the club by the manual entry closing date. If you have entries with long course entry times you should complete these online and pay via credit card. Any other entries with short course entry times should be submitted separately with payment to the club. For example John wishes to enter the 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke & 100m Backstroke. Using his long course times John logs onto Events Online and enters the 50m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke and the 100m Backstroke and pays online for these three events. However John wants to enter using a short course time for his 100m Freestyle so he submits his multi entry card to his Club Race Secretary who will enter and pay for this event ONLY. Hence John pays $36.00 online and $12 to his race secretary. Manual Entries must be submitted on Multi-Entry Cards. The Multi-Entry cards must be completely filled out including date and place that times were achieved. Entries must also include your registration number. The Psych Sheet for the meet will be placed on the homepage of the Swimming NSW website (www.nswswimming.com.au) which will be available for download from 6pm Wednesday 2nd December 2009. All entrants are encouraged to download this document and check the events they have entered and their qualifying times. If any of these are incorrect you will have until 5pm Thursday 3rd December 2009 to send an email to correct any mistakes to meet.entries@nsw.swimming.org.au. Changes can only be made by sending an email. If you are unable to log on to Events Online but have already paid your membership for the 2009 – 2010 Season please contact our Registrar, Peter Johnston, to confirm that your membership is processed and paid, as the system will NOT let you enter if your membership is pending. The $5 per swimmer fee will NO LONGER apply for any manual entries received for these Championships. All competitors should attempt to enter the championships using the online system as soon as possible. If you have any questions or problems please contact a member of the club’s Competition Committee (Tricia Johnston, Teresa Johnson or Peter Johnston) before the Manual Entry closing date so that you don't miss out on entering. For more information on NSW meets read the Championship Procedures information in the Swim Meets Section. Instructions on how to enter online can be found on the Meet Entry Procedures page. No late entries will be accepted. See Also 2009/2010 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Program of Events 2009/2010 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Qualifying Times 2009/2010 NSW Metropolitan Championships - Online Entries Qualifying Time Information Meet Entry Procedures State, Metropolitan and Country Championship Procedures Competitor Information NSW Championship Entry Times (Schedule of Constants in Seconds) Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre Parking Arrangements
Jamberoo Trip 16 November 2009 Peter-Johnston Latest News Approximately 50 Members, Family and Friends attended a Social Trip to Jamberoo on Sunday. Everyone had a great time with excellent weather and short queues for the attractions. Thank you to our Social Secretary, Janet Sloane, and her helpers for all the work done to organise the trip.
North Sydney Masters Results 14 November 2009 Peter-Johnston Latest News Three swimmers traveled to North Sydney this evening for the North Sydney Masters Sensational Spring Sprints Meet at the North Sydney Olympic Pool. Ian Wilson, Darren Sloane and Peter Johnston all competed at the meet which was the seventeenth round of the NSW Branch Pointscore for 2009. Darren's best result was 6th in the 50m Breaststroke and Ian's best result was 3rd in the 50m Backstroke while Peter finished 2nd in the 50m Breaststroke. As a club, we finished in 17th place on 39 points. Congratulations to our swimmers on their results, with a couple of PBs also swum.
Recent Meet Results 07 November 2009 Peter-Johnston Latest News There have been PBs galore at three recent meets with 17 new personal best times swam. Check the Swim Meets Results section for all the meet results.
NSW Development Meet Results 04 October 2009 Peter-Johnston Latest News Belinda Sloane, Timothy Tunks and Charlotte Neill represented Metro South West at the New South Wales Development Meet at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre today. Belinda swam 4 new personal best times, Tim swam 3 while Charlotte also swam 3 new PBs. Congratulations to all three swimmers on their results.
2008/2009 Season Review 01 October 2009 Peter-Johnston Features 2008/2009 was another historic year for our club as the club celebrated it's 40th Anniversary and 40 years since the opening of Merrylands Swimming Centre. As the 2008/2009 season began, Merrylands Swimming Centre had unusually already been open for 3 months - the centre having opened on June 30th due to extended maintenance at both the Guildford and Wentworthville centres - allowing our training squads to return to the centre much earlier than usual. The earlier opening date also enabled the club to attract more swimmers with 114 registered swimmers, the highest number in over 6 years, and a total membership of 159. The club's Learn to Swim program also continued be popular, however with slightly less numbers than previous years due to less instructors being available to teach the program. A new award, the Learn to Swim Volunteer of the Year Award was intriduced to recognise the contribution of members to the Learn to Swim Program, with Steven Nguyen being presented with the award at the Presentation Evening. The club's Anniversary Celebrations kicked off on Saturday 9th November with a Pool Party from 7am. The party included a BBQ breakfast and various pool games and activities for both the swimmers and Learn to Swim Participants. The celebration activities included the 40th Anniversary SwimFest Meet on March 1st 2009 and culminated with the 40th Anniversary Dinner at the Crown on McCredie Hotel Motel on March 28th. Over 100 guests attended the dinner to celebrate the club's rich history, renew old friendships and re-live their memories from their time at the club. In the club competitions, a number of new champions were crowned. Steven Nguyen won the Senior Handicap in his first season in the competition while "The Grumpy Old Men" crankily swam their way to the top of the Relay Pointscore, also winning the competition at their first attempt. Brittany Johnson won the Champion of Champions Award for a record breaking 5th time. Brittany won the Senior and Open Womens Championships, breaking 12 club championship records along the way and also represented the club at the Area and Metropolitan Championships. From the ranks of our novice swimmers, Fady Farid was presented with the Jack Smart Encouragement Award after steadily improving over the season. In the Graded Pointscore the long standing Michael Rossek and Ronald Exley trophies which are now full were retired and replace with two new pointscore shields, both trophies were presented to first time winners. Lachlan Stewart was awarded the Michael Rossek Trophy for the highest placed Junior Boy in the Graded Races Pointscore while Charlotte Neill received the Ronald Exley Trophy for the highest placed Junior Girl. The Michael Rossek and Ronald Exley trophies are now on permanent display in the club room. The club's representative teams had one of their most successful years ever with members competing at all levels up to and including State Open Championships. Our teams again consisted of a mixture of new and experienced swimmers. Amber Johnson qualified for the State Open Championships for the first time and was our club's first representative at the meet since 2004. The club was also represented by a relay team at the State Age Championships for the first time since 2006 with Simon Johnston, Steven Nguyen, David Johnston, Todd Jenkin, Reece Tulloch, Jonathan Tuivawa, Anthony Ventra, Peter Johnston, David Wang and Mitchell Burt competing in the 10x50m Freestyle Relay. The club was represented by its biggest team since 2003 at the Metropolitan Championships with 6 swimmers competing at the meet while at the Metropolitan Short Course Championships, Anthony Ventra won the club's first finalist ribbon at the meet since 2006. At the Metro South West Championships, the club finished the meet with two new Area Champions (the club's first since 2002) and 9 medals with Anthony Ventra, Mitchell Burt, David Wang, Steven Nguyen, Brittany Johnson, Peter Johnston taking home medals. Our swimmers were also finalists in 12 events. The results made this year's meet the club's best team performance at the championships in over 15 years, finishing in 13th place. At the short course championships our team won 7 medals and with finalists in 35 events and over 80% of our results in the top 10 making the meet the club's most successful Short Course Area Championships ever. Ten of our swimmer's performances over the season were recognised with selection in the 2009 Metro South West Area Development Squads. In the Club Championships, 23 Championship records were broken over the season. Our annual swimming meet, the Merrylands SwimFest, was held in excellent conditions with 27 clubs in attendance. Our swimmers won 33 medals and our club won the won the club pointscore, just ahead of Windsor. Our Winter Competition was held for the sixth time with increased numbers and those attending enjoying some new events. Jacob Killick won the male competition for the first time and Belinda Sloane the female competition for the third year in a row. As the summer ended, doubt was cast over the future of Merrylands Swimming Centre and the Club, as Holroyd Council commissioned consultants to carry out operational review of its three (3) swim centres. The review which was to recommend works required to maintain each swim centre over the next 10-15 years and advise on the economic viability and sustainability of the swim centres was due to be completed by June 2009, but as yet has not been completed. See Also 2008/2009 Rankings 2008/2009 Presentation Evening 40th Anniversary Pool Party 40th Anniversary Dinner NSW Metropolitan Championships - Team NSW State Age Championships - Team NSW State Open Championships - Team Metro South West Championships Open & Age Championships - Team Metro South West Championships Open & Age Championships - Results NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships - Team NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships - Results Metro South West Open & Age Short Course Championships - Team Metro South West Open & Age Short Course Championships - Results NSW State Age Short Course Championships - Team Metro South West Development Squads Merrylands Pool Re-opens June 30
Social Trip 25 September 2009 Peter-Johnston Latest News The Social Committee are organising a day at Jambaroo Action Park on Sunday, 15th November, 2009. The details are as follows: When: Sunday, 15th November, 2009 Departing: Meet at Merrylands Swimming Centre at 7.45am for an 8.00am departure Returning: 7.00pm (approximately) Cost per person: $35.00 which includes unlimited rides and attractions at the park from 10am to 5pm and return coach travel. Children under the age of 3 years of age are free. What to bring: Food, drinks, chairs and/or rug, swimming gear and towels Supervision: Please note all children under the age of 16 years of age are required to be accompanied by at least one parent/guardian. Payment: Full payment must be received by Saturday 31st October, 2009. More information will be provided in the weekly Whales Tales Newsletters. See Also Jamberoo Action Park
2009/2010 Registration 06 September 2009 Peter-Johnston Latest News It’s coming up to that time of the year again so it’s time to find those costumes and goggles and hit the heated water. Training resumes at Merrylands Swimming Centre on Monday, 14th September. Our two weeks of pre-season time trials will start at 7:00am on Saturday, 19th and Saturday, 26th September and the 2009/2010 season will begin on Saturday, 10th October. There are a number of changes to Registration for this season. This year renewing members must register through the Swimming NSW Membership System on the Internet. Payments for registrations must also be made through this system via Credit/Debit Card. Information on how to renew your membership will be available soon. We understand that there will be some members who are unable to renew their membership online for various reasons. If you are unable to re-register online for any reason, please contact us and we can make alternative arrangements for you. New Members and members in the Learn to Swim program will not be able to join or renew online. New members will have to register at club on a Saturday morning or at training. Learn to Swim Members will have to register on the Learn to Swim Registration & Grading Day. As of this season, all parents and adults who regularly attend the Club Races on Saturday mornings will be required to join the club as Non Swimming Members (unless they want to swim). There are a number of benefits to being a registered member of the club. Members are entitled to vote at Annual General and Special General meetings, vote for our Club Captains and can be recognised for their service to the club through awards such as the Lions Club Award or Life Membership. Other benefits of membership can be found here. This year, swimmers 20yrs & Over will again have the option of registering as a Masters Competitor. This allows them to participate in Masters Swimming activities including a new Masters Only competition on Saturday Mornings. More information on this new competition is available here. Programs for the Pre-Season and Summer Season, and the Time Record Sheet can be found in the Club Races section. See Also Club Races Swimming Training
New Masters Competition 06 September 2009 Peter-Johnston Latest News A new Masters Competition will be held as part of our Club Races on Saturday Mornings this season. The Masters Aerobic Trophy will only be open registered Masters Competitors and is based on the National and State Masters Aerobic Trophy Competitions run by Masters Swimming Australia and Masters Swimming NSW. The Aerobic Trophy encourages swimmers to swim long distances to improve their health, fitness & endurance. The competition consists of a number of distances and strokes starting with 400m. Points are awarded according to relative fitness, with the ultimate goal to achieve maximum points in all events in a calendar year. In the club competition, events will include 400m Freestyle, 400m Individual Medley, 800m Freestyle, 1500m Freestyle and one Timed Distance Swim of either ½ hour, ¾ hour or 1 hour in Freestyle, Backstroke or Breaststroke. Points will be allocated based on the times or distances swum, the swimmer's age group and the swimmer's gender according to the Age Group Times tables. The full rules of the competition can be found in the Race By-Laws which, along with the Age Group Times are available on the Governing Documents page. Masters Competitors can also participate in Masters Swimming Meets including the NSW Branch Pointscore (BPS) Competition and the NSW State Masters Championships. Our club is currently in 6th place in Division 4 of the BPS competition. Masters Swimming Meets are held about twice a month and are open to all members regardless of ability. At swim meets, swimmers compete against others of the same pace. Results are broken up into age groups (in five-year increments) with points are allocated from fastest to slowest and are added to determine the club with the most points and the club with the highest average point score. A social event is usually held after each carnival and families are welcome to attend. For more information about Masters Membership and Competitions, please speak to our Registrar or a member of the Competition Committee. See Also Masters Swimming Governing Documents Masters Swimming NSW Masters Swimming Australia - Aerobic Trophy
NSW State Age Short Course Championships 24 August 2009 Peter-Johnston Latest News Anthony Ventra will represent Merrylands at the 2009 NSW State Age Short Course Championships at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre this weekend. Anthony will be competing in the following events at the meet: Anthony Ventra 15yrs 50m Freestyle (Day 2 - Session 3 - 5:12pm) 15yrs 100m Breaststroke (Day 3 - Session 5 - 2:25pm) Times should be used as a guide only. Congratulations to Anthony on qualifying and we wish him the best of luck at the meet. You can follow the team's progress over the weekend at http://www.nswswimming.com.au/. See Also 2009 NSW State Age Short Course Championships - Program of Events 2009 NSW State Age Short Course Championships - Qualifying Times State, Metropolitan and Country Championship Procedures Competitor Information Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre Parking Arrangements