Merrylands' team of nine swimmers achieved outstanding success at the Metro South West Short Course Championships over the weekend.
Despite being one of the smallest clubs in attendance, Merrylands made a significant impact, recording 30 personal best times across 25 swims. The team also achieved five top-10 finishes and one Metropolitan Short Course qualifying time.
Jay Shrestha continued the momentum from his successful summer season. Wearing the new club representative shirt he received at the recent Presentation Night, Jay added to his growing list of achievements by securing a Metropolitan Short Course qualifying time in the 50m Breaststroke. He took two seconds off his previous best and was also the third-fastest 13-year-old in the event. Jay achieved top-10 finishes in both the 100m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke, with both swims resulting in new personal best times. He also broke the 30-second barrier for the first time in the 50m Freestyle.
Tomas Dlesk had the busiest program of the Merrylands swimmers, contesting five events. He recorded personal best times in all five races and also achieved three personal-best 50m split times, bringing his total to eight new bests for the meet. Tomas achieved top-10 finishes in the 100m Butterfly and 200m Individual Medley. His performance in the 200m Individual Medley was particularly impressive, demonstrating the benefits of the dedicated work he has put into his turns and technical skills over the past six months.
Joseph Assi opened his competition with an excellent swim in the 100m Butterfly, recording a new personal best and showcasing his speed through the turns. Joseph lined up alongside Jay in the 50m Breaststroke and, not to be outdone, dropped more than a second from his previous best to maintain bragging rights. He was also ranked 10th among 16-year-olds in the event. Joseph rounded out his meet with another personal best in the 100m Freestyle and demonstrated strong leadership throughout the weekend by encouraging and supporting the younger swimmers.
William Johnston contested four events and achieved significant time drops across all his races, including two personal-best 50m split times. He swam a strong 100m Freestyle, taking seven seconds off his previous best, and was the final Merrylands swimmer in action on Saturday afternoon in the 200m Individual Medley. The wait was worthwhile, as William delivered an outstanding swim, taking 23 seconds off his personal best with excellent underwater work. He also remained calm and focused when his 100m Backstroke heat was stopped at the 15m mark due to technical issues and had to be re-swum. Despite the disruption, William produced another personal best before finishing the meet with a new best time in the 100m Breaststroke.
Samantha Terry raced both of her events on Saturday and delivered excellent performances while continuing to learn how to manage race-day nerves. She began with the 100m Butterfly, taking an impressive seven seconds off her personal best time. Samantha then returned in the afternoon for the 100m Freestyle, where she lowered her best time by a further two seconds.
Jude Johnston received his first Club Representative Cap as this was his debut appearance at an Area Championship meet. Jude took the experience in his stride and raced confidently, recording a significant personal best in the 100m Freestyle. He also achieved his first sub-two-minute swim in the 100m Breaststroke, taking eight seconds off his previous best time.
Marcus Chan produced a huge improvement in the 100m Freestyle, taking more than 11 seconds off his personal best and skipping the 1:40 range entirely to record a time in the 1:39s.
Damien Chan competed in the 100m Freestyle, where he made the most of an excellent start and powered his way to a new personal best, taking six seconds off his previous time.
Alison Johnston jumped in for a couple of swims between coaching, achieving a top-10 finish in the 50m Freestyle and a season-best performance in the 100m Freestyle.
The team arrived well prepared, following their rehearsed pre-race warm-up routines and maintaining discipline with their swim downs throughout the meet. Once again, Merrylands swimmers demonstrated the outstanding technical skills that have become a hallmark of the club, particularly in their starts, underwater work and turns.
A special thank you to Alison, Peter and Matthew for preparing the swimmers for the championships, and to all the parents who supported the team throughout the weekend.