NSW Metropolitan S/C Championships

03 July 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
Merrylands will be sending a team of 5 swimmers to this weekend's NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships contesting a total of 14 events.

The team of 5 swimmers has one more member than last year's and consists of:

Jordan Burden
8/9yrs 50m Breaststroke
8/9yrs 50m Backstroke
8/9yrs 100m Individual Medley
8/9yrs 50m Freestyle
Mitchell Emery
10/11yrs 50m Breaststroke
Troy Tomkinson
12/13yrs 50m Backstroke
12/13yrs 50m Butterfly
12/13yrs 50m Freestyle
Robert Griffey
16yrs & Over 50m Butterfly
Open 50m Freestyle
16yrs & Over 100m Freestyle
16yrs & Over 50m Backstroke
Open 50m Backstroke
Peter Johnston
16yrs & Over 50m Breaststroke

You can follow the team's progress over the weekend at http://www.nswswimming.com.au/.

Cumberland Development Squads Announced

30 June 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
The Cumberland Development Squads were announced recently with 4 members of our club being selected.

Thomas Wang, Mitchell Emery and Todd Jenkin have been selected to participate in the 2001 Achiever Squad and Blake McFarlane has been selected to participate in the 2001 Novice Squad.

The members of the Achiever Squad will attend a two-day camp in August in preparation for the NSW Development Meet to be held at the Sydney Aquatic Centre in September.

Congratulations to the 4 swimmers selected.

Campbelltown Short Course Meet

25 June 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
On June 24th, 5 members of the club travelled to Campbelltown for their Annual Open Short Course Carnival in a final attempt to qualify for this year's NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships.

Although none of the swimmers achieved qualifying times on the day the club managed to pick up two medals through the efforts of Jordan Burden. Jordan took home silver medals the 9yrs & Under 50m Freestyle and the 9yrs & Under 50m Breaststroke.

Despite the fact that none of our swimmers achieved qualifying times at the meet, the club will have 5 representatives including Jordan at the 2001 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships, which begin at the Sydney Aquatic Centre on Saturday July 8th.

The meet results will be posted when they become available.

Metropolitan Entries

09 June 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
Entries for the 2001 NSW Metropolitan Short Course Championships are due in with our Race Secretary by Monday 18th June, 2001. The entries are to be on Multi-Entry Cards, which will be available at training from Tuesday 12th June, 2001.

To compete at these championships you must have achieved the qualifying time. The time must have been achieved at a "District Approved Meet".

Meets that are not District Approved include:
  • School Swimming Carnivals (School, District/Zone, and some Regional/Area)

  • RSL Meets

  • RSL Club nights


    • You can not use times achieved at these meets and entries will not be accepted if these times are used.

    The Entry Times should also be related to the course in which the Meet is to be conducted with the appropriate constant added or subtracted from the time.

    The Multi-Entry cards must be completely filled out including date and place that times were achieved. Entries must also include your registration number.

    Only accredited coaches will have access to the Pool Deck at the meet. Parents are reminded that they are not permitted on the Pool Deck or in the Marshalling Area at any time.

    For more information on NSW meets read the Championship Procedures information in the Swim Meets Section.

    Smithfield Winter Meet

    28 May 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
    Yesterday saw 12 members of the club travel to the Sydney Aquatic Centre for the Smithfield A.S.C. 10th Annual Winter Carnival.

    With over 4500 entries and up to 12 heats in some events the competition was extremely tough. Due to the large number of entries the organisers were forced to use both ends of the competition pool and run the male and female events simultaneously. Even then the meet still didn't finish until after 4:30pm from a 9:00am start.

    A number of members broke their PBs but from our 50 entries we were only able to win one medal. That medal went to Peter Johnston who placed 3rd in the Open 50m Breaststroke.

    Despite the number of entries the meet ran very well and was one of the few chances to compete in a short course meet at the Sydney Aquatic Centre.

    However not all the action was in the competition pool. A number of Australia's Olympic stars were present including Michael Klim, Grant Hackett and Giaane Rooney. The Olympians were busy filming a series of new television commercials for Channel Nine's coverage of the World Swimming Championships from Fukuoka, Japan.

    The commercials, to air leading up to and during the championships in July, feature the swimmers in Wide World of Sports swimming costumes in the Aquatic Centre's diving pool. To add a Japanese flavour to the commercials they also feature Grant Hackett wrestling with a Sumo.

    Apart from being able to watch the filming, during breaks a small number of competitors were lucky enough to get autographs from the stars.

    The meet results will be posted when they become available.

    2000/2001 Presentation Evening

    20 May 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
    This year's Presentation Evening, held on the 19th May 2001, saw Robert Griffey take out the Champion of Champions Competition for the second year running.

    The Champion of Champions Award is presented to the club member who is the best all round performer in that season. It takes into account performances both at club and at representative meets. Robert was a clear winner, breaking 10 Championship records on his way to victory in both the 16yrs and Open Championships. He also won a medal at the District Championships in the 100m Freestyle and represented the club at State and Metropolitan Championships.

    In the Graded Pointscore Nathan Cause was presented with the Michael Rossek Trophy for the highest placed Junior Boy and Smantha Anderson received the Ronald Exley Trophy for the highest placed Junior Girl. This was the first time either of these competitors had received the awards and they will be looking to hold on to them next season.

    The evening also saw Team Johnston take home the Relay Competition Trophy for the 3rd year running. The competition was very close and will be even closer next year with a number of teams vowing to end Team Johnston's run at the top.

    This year there was also the presentation of a new award, The Jack Smart Encouragement Award, which went to Ryan Doherty. This award was donated by Jack's daughters in his memory after he passed away last year. Ryan only joined the club this year and after his efforts both at club and at training was a deserved winner of the award in its inaugural year.

    The night was very enjoyable and those people that stayed after the presentation had a good time joining in the activites. We hope to see more people stay after the presenation next year and join in the fun.

    What did you think of the Presentation? Fill in the 2000/2001 Presenation Evening Survey and let us know.

    See Also
  • Presentation Evening Survey

    • A Mixed Bag for Troy at the Nationals

    24 April 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
    Troy Tomkinson had a 5 days of ups and downs at the Tip Top Australian Age Championships last week with 2 disqualifications and a 5th place.

    Troy was disqualified in both the 100m Freestyle (false start) on the opening day of the championships and the 100m Butterfly (incorrect finish) on the final day. Both disqualifications occurred in the heats of the events meaning that he missed out on a possible place in the finals.

    Troy's third event at the championships, the 50m Freestyle, was a much different story. He qualified for the final in a time of 26.63 to be seeded as the fifth fastest. He then backed up his qualifying position to place fifth in the final in 26.24, only 1/100th of a second behind 4th place.

    As a club, Merrylands finished 133rd overall with 20 points.

    Troy's National results can be found here:
  • Troy Tomkinson

    • Merrylands at the Nationals

    11 April 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
    Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club will have one of it's first representatives in nearly 20 years at this month's Tip Top Australian Age Championships in the form of Troy Tomkinson.

    Merrylands was last represented at the Australian Championships by Astrid Howton in 1983.

    Troy leaves for Melbourne next week to compete in three events at the Championships, the 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle and the 100m Butterfly.

    The Championships will be help at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre from April 19 to April 23.

    You can keep up to date with Troy's progress at the Nationals at http://www.swimming.org.au/

    Successful Sprint Meet

    31 March 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
    Merrylands had a very successful afternoon at the Cumberland District Sprint Meet on March 31st. The club was represented by 19 members and collected 15 medals.

    Jordan Burden successfully defended his title in the Boys 8yrs & Under 50m Breaststroke and placed second in the 50m Backstroke and 50m Butterfly.

    Thomas Wang left his first Sprint Meet with a Silver in the 9yrs & Under 50m Breaststroke and a Bronze in the 50m Freestyle.

    Mitchell Emery and Mitchell McFarlane placed well in the 10yrs events. Mitchell Emery made up for his disappointment at the Cumberland Championships with Silver in the 50m Breaststroke and Mitchell McFarlane took home his first Cumberland medal with Silver in the 50m Freestyle.

    After winning medals in the 100m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly at the District Championships Troy Tomkinson was ineligible to compete in the 50m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly. However Troy still took home a Gold in the 50m Backstroke and a Silver in the 50m Breaststroke.

    Peter Johnston and Robert Griffey represented the club in the 15yrs & Over events. Peter made up for a poor start in the 50m Breaststroke to beat Robert to the wall in 1 -2 for Merrylands. Robert improved on his Silver medal in the Breaststroke with dominant wins in both the Backstroke and Butterfly. With Robert ineligible to compete in the 50m Freestyle, Peter added a Silver medal to his Breaststroke Gold.

    Brittany Johnson was our lone female medallist with a Bronze in the 11yrs 50m Butterfly for her first Cumberland medal.

    The team had a very enjoyable afternoon and the meet is great way to end the summer season. A number of swimmers also broke their PBs. We hope to see even more club members there next year.

    Energy Drinks - Drug Test Warning

    22 March 2001 Peter-Johnston Latest News
    The recent energy drink fad sweeping the country has Australian Swimming chiefs worried that unsuspecting athletes may test positive to high levels of caffeine at in-competition drug tests.

    As a result of their concerns, the sport's governing bodies are circulating pamphlets warning swimmers of the risks. They are also looking to increase swimmer's awareness of the risks through their drug education programs.

    The drinks, which are very high in caffeine, are claimed to significantly increase energy levels and vitalise mind and body. The drinks are highly promoted for the common market although not specifically for sport.

    Yesterday, NSW Swimming Executive Director, Peter Thomas said the association would be distributing circulars warning of the drug-testing dangers to athletes and would also be "increasing the profile of these types of caffeine consumption as part of the usual drug education program."
    "We do a lot of drug education, and it does address all aspects," Thomas said. "Something that we have considered recently is to include these sort of drinks and supplements as they are becoming more commonplace, and they are so readily available."
    "Because they are bought over the counter like soft drinks, athletes may not necessarily realise the caffeine content in them and it is, in certain doses, a prohibited substance."
    "They have got to be aware of it, and that if you consume enough of them, the level of caffeine could be such that it puts you into the prohibited range, and any athlete, regardless of whether they are high-profile or not, could be subject to testing."

    Individual coaches are also warning their swimmers to steer clear of the energy drinks.
    Caffeine is targeted by drug-testers during competition. As a stimulant drug, if it is taken in sufficient quantity it can produces a positive drug test, resulting in suspension from competition.
    A spokesman for the Australian Sports Drug Association said caffeine "was a game-day enhancer" designed to give athletes a "boost or pep-up". As a result, there was no out-of-competition testing.

    There are no hard and fast rules about how many energy drinks, cups of coffee or other products can be consumed as this depends on a number of factors, including body weight and metabolism. Athletes using these products may have high levels of caffeine and it's by-products and are likely to exceed the drug testing limits, which amounts to cheating.

    Swimmers are advised to avoid using caffeine during or around competition.