Parramatta Inter-Club Cup - next Saturday

We are hosting the Parramatta Inter-Club Cup next Saturday (9th November, 2019) at Merrylands Swimming Centre. The team list is available on the club website. Please email the Race Secretary (race.secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au) BEFORE Wednesday if you are unable to participate. Swimmers payments ($10 per swimmer includes races, pool entry & sausage sandwich) for the meet can be made through the club online shop (https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/).

Races start at 3.30pm so we will be setting up from 2.00pm. All swimmers need to be ready to commence warm up at 3.00pm. This means swimmers need to arrive by 2.30pm to prepare & stretch and to be ready to enter the water at 3.00pm.

We need help from all of our parents at this meet, as we need to set up the pool, marshalling, announcer, timekeeping during races, cooking the bbq etc. See Graham to volunteer for your favoured role.

Club Captains

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains close this morning at 9.30am. See Graham today to submit your nomination for Club Captain. All financial first claim members can vote for these positions on week 6 (16th November, 2019). 

Relay Competition

Remember to organise your team if you have not done so yet (maximum of 6 team members, with any 4 of the team swimming each week). The competition commences on Saturday 9th November, 2019. The competition is held over 10 weeks and concludes on Saturday 21st March, 2020. See Margaret if you need to organise your relay team.

Club Uniform

We have a great range of club uniform items available for sale. These can be sourced through our online shop (https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/). Please see our Property Officer (Margaret Edwards) if you need assistance or have questions about the club uniform items.

Swim Central

Swim Central is provided by Swimming Australia & Swimming NSW for membership and event entry. If you have complaints or feedback we recommend you provide this to Swimming Australia & Swimming NSW by completing the following surveys:

Membership Survey: https://bit.ly/2IBk2hp 
Meet Entries Survey: https://bit.ly/2ARsjtk 

Remember: Please do not leave your meet entries until the last minute. Our Race Committee are able to help you if you are having difficulties, but don’t leave it until Thursday afternoon to ask for help (or after entries have closed).

Online Entries – Check Your Events Carefully

In the new online entries system, the descriptions of the events cannot be changed e.g. Senior Handicap instead of 50m Freestyle, or 100m Backstroke Championship instead of 100m Backstroke. Please check your event selections carefully before you pay.

Chocolate Fundraising

We are running the chocolate fundraising activity again this season. We have boxes of yummy healthy treats available, so please see Trish Johnston to take a box or two. Monies can be returned to Trish as well and we plan to complete this activity by the end of November 2019.

We need your help!

We still have a few vacant positions following the Club’s Annual General Meeting in May and we need your help to fill them. You just need to be a club member 18yrs of age or older.

Social Committee Member

Role: Helps organising or running social activities e.g. BBQs, Raffles, etc.
Time Commitment: On average, 30 minutes on a Saturday morning during Club Races selling Raffle Tickets
Attend Committee Meetings: No
Questions: Ask Tricia Johnston what is involved
Can you help?: Email secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au to volunteer

Learn to Swim Committee Member

Role: Helps with the administration of Learn to Swim on a Saturday morning – marking off names, handling enquiries
Time Commitment: 30-45 minutes on a Saturday morning while learn to swim is running
Attend Committee Meetings: No
Questions: Ask Leanne Tovkach what is involved
Can you help?: Email secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au to volunteer

Assistant Treasurer

Role: Assists collecting payments on a Saturday morning when the Treasurer is unavailable
Time Commitment: 20-30 minutes on a Saturday morning, following Club Races, when the Treasurer is unavailable
Attend Committee Meetings: No
Questions: Ask Ian Johnston what is involved
Can you help?: Email secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au to volunteer

Chief Timekeeper

Role: Organising Timekeepers on a Saturday morning
Time Commitment: Duration of Club Races
Qualifications: Ideally will hold the Chief Timekeeper Technical Official Accreditation
Attend Committee Meetings: No
Questions: Ask Graham Edwards what is involved
Can you help?: Email secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au to volunteer

All these positions have a very small time commitment, but are vital to the smooth running of the club. Thank you to Emily Lim who has answered the call to volunteer to assist the club.

Member Profile

We will again provide the member profile in the Whales Tales and we would like to provide a profile of our members throughout the season. See Graham to provide your profile information for inclusion in future editions of the Whales Tales.

Metro South West Long Course Senior Championships

We have a team of 4 swimmers competing at the Area LC Championships this weekend at SOPAC. Good luck to Laurabelle Casey, Brendan Kirkpatrick, Alison Sakurovs and Sophia Vicic, may the Whale be with you all.

Timekeepers Course

Thank you, we have seven members who have completed the online component of the course already. We encourage anyone still considering to undertake the course to do so as soon as possible, as we plan to arrange the practical assessment for a Saturday morning at club races. Remember the minimum age is high school student, so we also encourage our Junior members to also obtain their accreditation.

To access the online video and test:

1. Visit https://nswtraining.swimming.org.au/courses/timekeeper/
2. Click the green “Take this Course” button at the bottom of the page
3. Register for an account on the site
4. Once logged in, you can watch the video again, or scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Timekeeper Theory Test”
5. Once you have successfully completed the test, email a copy of your certificate to technical@merrylandsasc.asn.au and we will organise the practical assessment.

Club Championship Races

Today is the commencement of club championship races and there are championship events on most club mornings for the rest of the season. A couple of reminders about these events:

• Club races commence at 7.00am, with the championship event the first event of the morning;
• Make sure you are at the pool prior to 7.00am, as you do not want to miss your race;
• If you arrive after your event has marshalled and commenced you will not be able to swim in the event.

To be eligible to enter championships the swimmer must be financial in this season. The swimmer must have swum the same stroke and same distance during the current season (check the program and plan your swims carefully).

If there is a championship for your age (whether you are swimming in it or not) you can swim:

• your Age championship
• the Open championship (subject to having swum in your age championship)
• 2 other events
• Senior Handicap (if 17 and over)
• Relay (if there is one on the program for the day)

If there is NO championship for your age you can swim:

• 3 events
• Senior Handicap (if 17 and over)
• Relay (if there is one on the program for the day)

If you enter too many events your entries for the extra event/s will be withdrawn when the program is prepared for the day. The 2019/2020 season program can be downloaded at https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/clubraces/

Youth Week 2020

Each year for Youth Week Cumberland Council supports young people to organise, plan and run Youth Week events. The young people in council’s Youth Week Planning group have come up with some ideas but they want to hear from all young people (12-25 years) living in Cumberland.

To have your say visit https://haveyoursay.cumberland.nsw.gov.au/youth-week-2020. The survey closes Wednesday 6th November, 2019.

Upcoming Events

Whales Tales Online

Do you want the weekly Whales Tales delivered straight to your inbox? Simply sign-up online, and never miss the latest news.

Sponsors

We again thank our major sponsors who provide fantastic support to our club. If you know of a business or organisation who may be interested in providing sponsorship or support to our club please let Graham know.

Club Championship Races

Today is the commencement of club championship races and there are championship events on most club mornings for the rest of the season. A couple of reminders about these events:

• Club races commence at 7.00am, with the championship event the first event of the morning;
• Make sure you are at the pool prior to 7.00am, as you do not want to miss your race;
• If you arrive after your event has marshalled and commenced you will not be able to swim in the event.

To be eligible to enter championships the swimmer must be financial in this season. The swimmer must have swum the same stroke and same distance during the current season (check the program and plan your swims carefully).

If there is a championship for your age (whether you are swimming in it or not) you can swim:

• your Age championship
• the Open championship (subject to having swum in your age championship)
• 2 other events
• Senior Handicap (if 17 and over)
• Relay (if there is one on the program for the day)

If there is NO championship for your age you can swim:

• 3 events
• Senior Handicap (if 17 and over)
• Relay (if there is one on the program for the day)

If you enter too many events your entries for the extra event/s will be withdrawn when the program is prepared for the day. The 2019/2020 season program can be downloaded at https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/clubraces/

Upcoming Club Events

We will be hosting three swimming meets at Merrylands Swimming Centre this season. The Inter-Club Cup will be held at Merrylands Pool on Saturday 9th November, 2019 and this is a short meet where every swimmer (young and not so young) from our club competes. The program for this meet is on the club noticeboard. Team members will be selected over the next week, with all members in consideration for this meet.

We will be holding the Masters Sprint Meet and Merrylands SwimFest meets on Saturday 22nd February, 2020. We will need your assistance at both of these meets, as hosting meets is the major fund raising activity for our club.

Club Captains

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains are open and close at 9.30am on week 4 (2nd November, 2019). All financial first claim members can vote for these positions on week 6 (16th November, 2019).

We need your help!

We have a few vacant positions following the Club’s Annual General Meeting in May and we need your help to fill them. You just need to be a club member 18yrs of age or older.

Social Committee Member

Role: Helps organising or running social activities e.g. BBQs, Raffles, etc.
Time Commitment: On average, 30 minutes on a Saturday morning during Club Races selling Raffle Tickets
Attend Committee Meetings: No
Questions: Ask Tricia Johnston what is involved
Can you help?: Email secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au to volunteer

Learn to Swim Committee Member

Role: Helps with the administration of Learn to Swim on a Saturday morning – marking off names, handling enquiries
Time Commitment: 30-45 minutes on a Saturday morning while learn to swim is running
Attend Committee Meetings: No
Questions: Ask Leanne Tovkach what is involved
Can you help?: Email secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au to volunteer

Assistant Treasurer

Role: Assists collecting payments on a Saturday morning when the Treasurer is unavailable
Time Commitment: 20-30 minutes on a Saturday morning, following Club Races, when the Treasurer is unavailable
Attend Committee Meetings: No
Questions: Ask Ian Johnston what is involved
Can you help?: Email secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au to volunteer

Chief Timekeeper

Role: Organising Timekeepers on a Saturday morning
Time Commitment: Duration of Club Races
Qualifications: Ideally will hold the Chief Timekeeper Technical Official Accreditation
Attend Committee Meetings: No
Questions: Ask Graham Edwards what is involved
Can you help?: Email secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au to volunteer

All these positions have a very small time commitment, but are vital to the smooth running of the club.

Timekeepers Course – Today

Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend the Timekeepers course video presentation over the last two weeks. We encourage you to now complete the online test and we will then arrange the practical assessment to help you obtain your accreditation.

If you weren’t able to attend either of the sessions you can view the video and undertake the test online in your own time. We encourage all of our members (from secondary school age and above) to become a technical official. Timekeeping is a great introductory accreditation and is a very important aspect of swimming races, as every swimmer deserves an accurate time.

To access the online video and test:

1. Visit https://nswtraining.swimming.org.au/courses/timekeeper/
2. Click the green “Take this Course” button at the bottom of the page
3. Register for an account on the site
4. Once logged in, you can watch the video again, or scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Timekeeper Theory Test”
5. Once you have successfully completed the test, email a copy of your certificate to technical@merrylandsasc.asn.au and we will organise the practical assessment.

Swim Central – Don’t Shoot the Messenger

A number of members are experiencing difficulty with Swim Central for membership and online entries. Please remember this system is provided by Swimming Australia & Swimming NSW. If you have complaints or feedback we recommend you provide this to Swimming Australia & Swimming NSW by completing the following surveys:

Membership Survey: https://bit.ly/2IBk2hp 
Meet Entries Survey: https://bit.ly/2ARsjtk 

Remember: Please do not leave your meet entries until the last minute. Our Race Committee are able to help you if you are having difficulties, but don’t leave it until Thursday afternoon to ask for help (or after entries have closed).

Online Entries – Check Your Events Carefully

In the new online entries system, the descriptions of the events cannot be changed e.g. Senior Handicap instead of 50m Freestyle, or 100m Backstroke Championship instead of 100m Backstroke. Please check your event selections carefully before you pay.

Club Uniform

We have a great range of club uniform items available for sale. These can be sourced through our online shop (https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/). Please see our Property Officer (Margaret Edwards) if you need assistance or have questions about the club uniform items.

Relay Competition

Remember to organise your team if you have not done so yet (maximum of 6 team members, with any 4 of the team swimming each week). Time trials conclude today and the competition commences on Saturday 9th November, 2019. The competition is held over 10 weeks and concludes on Saturday 21st March, 2020.

Learn to Swim – Commences Today

The LTS program offered by the club commences today. Thankyou to everyone who helped with grading last week. Please make welcome our LTS participants.

Member Profile

We will again provide the member profile in the Whales Tales and we would like to provide a profile of our members throughout the season. See Graham to provide your profile information for inclusion in future editions of the Whales Tales.

Chocolate Fundraising

We are running the chocolate fundraising activity again this season. We have boxes of yummy healthy treats available, so please see Trish Johnston to take a box or two. Monies can be returned to Trish as well and we plan to complete this activity by the end of November 2019

Sponsors

We again thank our major sponsors who provide fantastic support to our club. If you know of a business or organisation who may be interested in providing sponsorship or support to our club please let Graham know.

Upcoming Events

Whales Tales Online

Do you want the weekly Whales Tales delivered straight to your inbox? Simply sign-up online, and never miss the latest news.

Welcome to the 2019/2020 Season

So the 2019/2020 season is underway, hopefully warmer days are ahead to enjoy the outdoor fun to be had at Merrylands Swimming Centre on a Saturday morning. Where else would you rather be!

The Executive and Committee Members elected at the AGM for the 2019/2020 season are:

Executive Members

Committee Members

We do have some Vacant Committee Member positions and we would welcome members volunteering to join the Committee and participate in the ongoing management of the club.

Club Events

We will be hosting three swimming meets at Merrylands Swimming Centre this season. The Inter-Club Cup will be held at Merrylands Pool on Saturday 9th November, 2019 and this is a short meet where every swimmer (young and not so young) from our club competes. The program for this meet is on the club noticeboard. Team members will be selected over the next week, with all members in consideration for this meet.

We will be holding the Masters Sprint Meet and Merrylands SwimFest meets on Saturday 22nd February, 2020. We will need your assistance at both of these meets, as hosting meets is the major fund raising activity for our club.

Timekeepers Course – Today

If you weren’t able to attend the session last Saturday morning, we have another session on today. We encourage all of our members (from secondary school age and above) to become a technical official. Timekeeping is a great introductory accreditation and is accessed via an online video and course.

Timekeeping is a very important aspect of swimming races, as swimmers require their time to be recorded accurately. We will be hosting a session this morning after club races in the Club Room and encourage everyone who is a member to undertake the course. We will be available to assist you during this time.

Club Captains

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains are open and close at 9.30am on week 4 (2nd November, 2019). All financial first claim members can vote for these positions on week 6 (16th November, 2019).

Club Uniform

We have a great range of club uniform items available for sale. These can be sourced through our online shop (https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/). Please see our Property Officer (Margaret Edwards) if you need assistance or have questions about the club uniform items.

Race Entries & Championship Events

Entries for all club races are through Swim Central and you need to have renewed your club membership before you can enter events (see page 4 for information on how to do this). Club race entries need to be submitted by 8.00pm on Thursday night as NO LATE ENTRIES will be accepted. Championships commence next Saturday, 26th October, 2019 so make sure you check out the season program and plan your swims ahead of time to ensure you qualify for all championships you want to compete in.

To be eligible to enter championships the swimmer must be financial in this season. The swimmer must have swum the same stroke and same distance during the current season.

Race entry enquiries can be emailed to race.secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au 

With the ongoing split of Area, Metropolitan & State Age Championship meets there will be Saturdays when club championship events are swum for restricted age groups. Check the season program for these dates.

The 2019/2020 season program can be downloaded at https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/clubraces/ 

Relay Competition

The team relay will again be hotly contested this season, with The Grumpy Old Men still basking in their success last season. So, what do you have to do to turn them grumpy again?

Simples, you just need to organise a team (maximum of 6 team members, with any 4 of the team swimming each week). Time trials conclude next Saturday 26th October, 2019 and the competition commences on Saturday 9th November, 2019. The competition is held over 10 weeks and concludes on Saturday 21st March, 2020. Ok it is maybe not that simple given the extreme talent in the GOM team!!

State Masters Short Course Championships

Last weekend saw the State Masters SC Championships swum at Woy Woy. We had a team of 5 swimmers representing our club. Congratulations to Kylee Murray, Leanne Tovkach, Peter Johnston, Alison Sakurovs & Brendan Kirkpatrick on your swims. Medals were won in a number of events, so a bigger safe is needed for storage of all the bling brought home.

NSW Junior Area Representative Meet

Last Saturday Matthew Vicic, Niushka Shrestha & Summer Shrestha represented MSW Area in the NSW Junior Area Representative Meet at SOPAC. They all achieved great times and PB’s were again swum. Congratulations to each of you and your coaches, as we know the hard work you have been putting in at training throughout the year.

Learn to Swim – Grading Today

The LTS program offered by the club has received many registrations and will commence on Saturday 26th October, 2019.

Grading for the program will be held this morning from 9.15am, so please welcome our LTS participants.

Member Profile

We will again provide the member profile in the Whales Tales and we would like to provide a profile of our members throughout the season. See Graham to provide your profile information for inclusion in future editions of the Whales Tales.

Chocolate Fundraising

We are running the chocolate fundraising activity again this season. We have boxes of yummy healthy treats available, so please see Trish Johnston to take a box or two. Monies can be returned to Trish as well and we plan to complete this activity by the end of November 2019

Sponsors

We again thank our major sponsors who provide fantastic support to our club. If you know of a business or organisation who may be interested in providing sponsorship or support to our club please let Graham know.

Upcoming Events

Whales Tales Online

Do you want the weekly Whales Tales delivered straight to your inbox? Simply sign-up online, and never miss the latest news.

Membership Renewal

It is important to complete your membership for the season asap. A new membership system, Swim Central, has been introduced and memberships need to be completed online in this system. Access to Swim Central is via https://swimcentral.swimming.org.au/

If you are having trouble with your membership renewal then Peter Johnston is available to answer your questions. Please leave these questions until after club races, as Peter has numerous tasks that need to be performed during club races.

Swimming NSW is interested in members feedback and has a couple of short (3 question) surveys in relation to membership and meet entries. If you would like to participate in these surveys please visit:

Membership Survey: https://bit.ly/2IBk2hp
Meet Entries Survey: https://bit.ly/2ARsjtk

We have requested membership cards from Swimming NSW, as these assist you in purchasing club member discount pool entry and they need to be shown to Cumberland Council staff. As soon as these arrive we will distribute them to our members. In the interim if you need to show current membership information you can access a Virtual Membership Card by following these instructions:

1. In Swim Central, click “My Memberships”
   
   
   
2. Click your Swimming Club Membership
   
   
   
3. Take a screenshot of your membership card:
   

Welcome to the 2019/2020 Season

Welcome to the 2019/2020 Season, the club’s 52nd swimming season. Thank you to everyone who helped us celebrate the 50th Anniversary season during 2018/2019.

We welcome back our existing members and new members joining us for the first time. We hope you enjoy your time with our family oriented club. We welcome swimmers of all capabilities and ages. If you have any questions please see any of our friendly Committee Members.

The Executive and Committee Members elected at the AGM for the 2019/2020 season are:

Executive Members

Committee Members

We do have some Vacant Committee Member positions and we would welcome members volunteering to join the Committee and participate in the ongoing management of the club.

Life Member Award

At the 2019 AGM a new Life Member was elected and it is our great pleasure to advise that Alison Johnston was awarded life membership of the club. Alison is the 24th Life Member of our club and is thoroughly deserving of this award. Since joining the club Alison has participated in the management and day-to-day running of the club. Congratulations Alison, we have you for life now!

Club Events

We will be hosting three swimming meets at Merrylands Swimming Centre this season. The Inter-Club Cup will be held at Merrylands Pool on Saturday 9th November, 2019 and this is a short meet where every swimmer (young and not so young) from our club competes. The program for this meet is on the club noticeboard. Team members will be selected over the next week, with all members in consideration for this meet.

We will be holding the Masters Sprint Meet and Merrylands SwimFest meets on Saturday 22nd February, 2020. We will need your assistance at both of these meets, as hosting meets is the major fund raising activity for our club.

Timekeepers Course – Today & Next Saturday

We encourage all of our members (from secondary school age and above) to become a technical official. Timekeeping is a great introductory accreditation and is accessed via an online video and course.

Timekeeping is a very important aspect of swimming races, as swimmers require their time to be recorded accurately. We will be hosting a session this morning after club races (at approx. 8.15am) in the Club Room and encourage everyone who is a member to undertake the course. We will be available to assist you during this time.

Membership Renewal

It is important to complete your membership for the season asap. A new membership system, Swim Central, has been introduced and memberships need to be completed online in this system. Access to Swim Central is via https://swimcentral.swimming.org.au/

If you are having trouble with your membership renewal then Peter Johnston is available to answer your questions. Please leave these questions until after club races, as Peter has numerous tasks that need to be performed during club races.

Swimming NSW is interested in members feedback and has a couple of short (3 question) surveys in relation to membership and meet entries. If you would like to participate in these surveys please visit:

Membership Survey: https://bit.ly/2IBk2hp
Meet Entries Survey: https://bit.ly/2ARsjtk

We have requested membership cards from Swimming NSW, as these assist you in purchasing club member discount pool entry and they need to be shown to Cumberland Council staff. As soon as these arrive we will distribute them to our members. In the interim if you need to show current membership information you can access a Virtual Membership Card by following these instructions:

1. In Swim Central, click “My Memberships”
   
   
   
2. Click your Swimming Club Membership
   
   
   
3. Take a screenshot of your membership card:
   

Club Uniform

We have a great range of club uniform items available for sale. These can be sourced through our online shop (https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/). Please see our Property Officer (Margaret Edwards) if you need assistance or have questions about the club uniform items.

A piece of club uniform was left behind at Granville Swimming Centre after squad training. If you have lost a club uniform item during this time please see Margaret.

Club Captains

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains are open and close at 9.30am on week 4 (2nd November, 2019). All financial first claim members can vote for these positions on week 6 (16th November, 2019).

Close of the season

Today is the last club race day of our 50th anniversary season and I hope you have enjoyed another great season. We have celebrated our 50th anniversary with a number of events throughout the season and these will culminate with our Anniversary Dinner on Saturday 6th April.

The season had a few hiccups along the way, with the delay in the installation of the new starting blocks. I hope you have enjoyed using them and they have helped improve your race starts. The storm in February caused the closure of the pool for 2 weeks, meaning we lost one week of races and had to transfer another week over the Wentworthville Swimming Centre.

The implementation of split age groups from National Championship level down has meant a greater volume of championship meets at Area and State level and this created an impact on when we could hold our club championship events, with these being spread over more weekends as well.

Thank you to our committee, officials, parents & swimmers for your support of the club during the season. In particular I would like to acknowledge a number of people:

• Peter & Alison for their tireless work behind the scenes to keep the club ticking over weekly;
• Ian & Ben who arrive early every week to set up ready for club races;
• Dominic & Danielle who have organised and delivered great bbq’s throughout the season;
• Our club captains, Charlie-Rose and Michael who organised the weekly raffles and Whales Challenge relay teams among a number of other tasks.

Thank you to our Learn to Swim instructors and helpers. Learn to Swim is a key offering of our club and it introduces future swimming members to our club. We will have 3 additional instructors next season, with Trish, Hayley & Margaret all undertaking training and obtaining accreditation.

We will be taking the club photo today, so make sure you stay around after races. There is also a bbq to celebrate the close of the season.

For those who will continue to train we will see you at Granville Swimming Centre and I hope to see everyone at the Annual Presentation, to be held on Saturday 1st June, 2019 at Club Merrylands.

Swimming NSW State Junior Championships

We have 5 of our club members competing at the Swimming NSW State Junior Championships this weekend at SOPAC. This is a great achievement & first time experience for Matthew Vicic, Helen Macpherson, Nevah Shrestha, Niushka Shrestha & Summer Shrestha. The girls will also compete in two relay events. We are very proud of each one of you and wish you the best of luck with your swims. May the whale be with you all.

Masters National Championships

Well our team of 5 competitors have returned from the Masters National Championships and they needed to pay for excess baggage on their return flights, with a tally of 18 medals (5 gold, 10 silver & 3 bronze). In addition there were 11 PB’s also swum. The team also won the Life Member’s trophy for the club for their efforts over the championships. Congratulations to Alison Johnston, Steven Nguyen, Kylee Murray (who won her first National medal at the meet), Melissa Cohen & Ian Wilson.

Metro South West Area Long Course Sprint Meet

Last Saturday saw 20 of our junior members compete at the Metro South West Area Long Course Sprint Meet at Blacktown Aquatic Centre. Again our junior members flew the flag taking home 10 medals and 32 PB’s. Congratulations to our whole team on their performances and thank you to our parents who assisted with the hosting duties at the meet.

Winter Swimming

McCredie Park Aquatics Swimming Club run club races on a Friday night at Guildford Pool (races start at 6.30pm) and this is an opportunity to stay fit and practice for short course events. Their winter season commences on Friday 5th April and concludes in September. There are breaks over the school holiday periods in April & July. Let Graham know if you are interested in attending these races.

50th Anniversary Dinner

The 50th Anniversary Dinner being held at The Holroyd Centre next Saturday 6th April, 2019. The welcome commences in the ground floor foyer at 6.00pm and main course being served from 7.00pm.

We look forward to joining with you at this event to celebrate this milestone for our club. Mr Chris Fydler OAM, President of Swimming NSW, is attending and has graciously agreed to speak about his experiences as an Olympic swimmer and now as a parent of competitive swimmers.

Squad Training & Enrolment

Remember training moves to Granville Swimming Centre next Monday 1st April 2019. If you intend to continue training you need to enrol before attending training session as the coaches need to ensure the squad you join has space. Enrol at https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/coaching/enrol/

Trophy Return

If you still have any perpetual trophy’s to return from last season please let us know as we will need to make arrangements to collect the trophy prior to the annual presentation.

Annual Presentation & AGM

The Annual Presentation will be held on Saturday 1st June, 2019 at Club Merrylands. The presentation is booked from 6.00pm, with the presentation of trophies to commence at 6.30pm.

The club’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 3rd June, 2019 commencing at 7.30pm in the club room at Merrylands Swimming Centre. All financial members of the club are entitled to nominate for positions on the committee and to vote at the AGM.

The dates for nominations for committee positions and club awards are:

• Service Excellence Award – closes 31st March, 2019
• Life Member nomination – 60 days before the AGM (Thursday 4th April, 2019)
• Committee nomination – 30 days before the AGM (Saturday 4th May, 2019)

See the club website for more information about these and how to submit a nomination. If you would like more information or have a question please see any of our current committee members.

Thank you to our sponsors for their support of our club

Swimming NSW State Open Championships

Congratulations to Alison Sakurovs and Reece Tomkinson who swam at the NSW State Open Championships held at SOPAC last weekend. Reece swam a PB in his 50m Butterfly and season best times in the 50m Backstroke & 50m Freestyle. Alison swam a season best in the 50m Freestyle. Well done to you both on the results you achieved at this meet. We had a number of families also attend the Finals session on the Saturday night and we hope you had a good time and came away inspired to compete at these championships.

Masters National Championships

At the time of writing this week’s edition we have results for the first 3 days of competition. A great result so far, with a total of 14 medals (4 gold, 8 silver & 2 bronze). In addition there have been 8 PB’s also swum. We look forward to hearing all the tales of the week away (things that happen on tour don’t stay on tour!).

Metro South West Area Long Course Sprint Meet – Saturday 23rd March, 2019

Good luck to all of our swimmers who are competing in the Metro South West Area Long Course Sprint Meet at Blacktown Aquatic Centre today. Our club is also rostered for hosting duties at this meet. Leanne Tovkach will be organising this help on the day so please provide her with assistance for these duties during the meet. Whilst our club is not rostered for timekeeping a lane, we would appreciate if you are also able to help if required with this role.

Club Photo – Saturday 30th March, 2019

The club photo will be taken on Saturday 30th March, 2019 (the last morning of club races). Please wear or bring your club polo shirt on the day for the photo. If you need to purchase a new polo shirt for this please see the Property Officer (Margaret) today.

50th Anniversary Celebrations – Order Your tickets TODAY

Tickets for the 50th Anniversary Dinner being held at The Holroyd Centre on Saturday 6th April, 2019 are available online. If you haven’t yet purchased your tickets please do so TODAY. This will help us finalise the booking for the venue. We look forward to seeing all of our members (14 years and older) attending the dinner. If you know a past member please pass on the information to them also.

Mr Chris Fydler OAM, President of Swimming NSW, will be attending and has graciously agreed to speak about his experiences as an Olympic swimmer and now as a parent of a competitive swimmer. Tickets are $50 (subsidised amount) and includes welcome finger food, main course and dessert. The welcome commences in the ground floor foyer at 6.00pm with the main course being served from 7.00pm. For more details & tickets visit the 50th Anniversary page. Ticket sales close on Saturday 23rd March, 2019, so order your tickets now if you haven’t done so yet.

Club Uniform

To place an order for all club uniform apparel visit https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/club-uniforms.

Squad Enrolment Training moves to Granville Swimming Centre on Monday 1st April 2019.

If you intend to continue training and haven’t yet re-enrolled please do so ASAP as Peter needs to know numbers training to determine squad sizes and time of sessions. Enrol online.

Swimming Australia Membership System Change

The new membership system (Swim Central) has been implemented for our Area. As a member you will receive an email from Swimming NSW advising you when you can access the new system. This system replaces ClubLANE which you may have accessed in the past.

Please ensure you keep your contact details on your membership records up to date as we can't contact you about pool closures, changes to club or training if your contact details aren't correct.

Annual Presentation & AGM

The Annual Presentation will be held on Saturday 1st June, 2019 at Club Merrylands. The presentation is booked from 6.00pm, with the presentation of trophies to commence at 6.30pm. You may wish to arrive at the club earlier to have dinner before presentation starts, or you may want to have dinner after the presentation of trophies has concluded. It is a great opportunity for us to support one of our club’s major sponsors.

The club’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 3rd June, 2019 commencing at 7.30pm in the club room at Merrylands Swimming Centre. All financial members of the club are entitled to nominate for positions on the committee and to vote at the AGM. So please consider nominating for a position, as we would love to see new members join the committee. Even if you do not wish to nominate for a position you are most welcome to attend the AGM.

The dates for nominations for committee positions and club awards are:

• Service Excellence Award – closes 31st March, 2019
• Life Member nomination – 60 days before the AGM (Thursday 4th April, 2019)
• Committee nomination – 30 days before the AGM (Saturday 4th May, 2019)

See the club website for more information about these and how to submit a nomination. If you would like more information or have a question please see any of our current committee members.

Trophy Return

If you still have any perpetual trophies to return from last season please bring them back to the club on a Saturday morning whilst club races are still being held.

Upcoming Events

Thank you to our sponsors for their support of our club

Speedo Sprint Series Finals

Congratulation to Unish Shrestha who swam in the 50m Breaststroke final at the Speedo Sprint Series Finals SOPAC last Saturday. Unish swam a PB and finished 16th out of 38 competitors representing all metro & country areas of NSW. A fantastic result Unish, we are all proud of you and your performance.

Swimming NSW State Open Championships

Congratulations to Alison Sakurovs and Reece Tomkinson who have qualified for the NSW State Open Championships being held at SOPAC this weekend. Alison is swimming in the 50m Freestyle (show those Campbell sisters who the boss is!), whilst Reece is swimming in the 50m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke and 200m Backstroke events. We wish you both the best of luck and may the whale be with you both.

Masters National Championships

It’s that time of year again when Masters swimmers converge for the National Championships. They are being held in Adelaide from Tuesday 19th March to Saturday 23rd March. We have 5 swimmers, Melissa Cohen, Kylee Murray, Steven Nguyen, Alison Sakurovs & Ian Wilson, competing in a total of 45 events. We wish you all the best of luck. Without the coach there make sure you hydrate and recover each day. I know those Merrylands caps will be spotted doing their warm-ups and swim downs. May the whale be with you all. Travel safe and we will see you back before the end of the season (yes you are expected back).

Metro South West Area Long Course Sprint Meet – Saturday 23rd March, 2019

Entries for this meet, to be held at Blacktown Aquatic Centre on Saturday 23rd March, 2019, close next Tuesday (19th March, 2019) at 11.00pm. Our club is also rostered for hosting duties at this meet. This will require a number of people to assist with roles such as medals, result running and refreshment delivery. Please advise Graham if you can help with the hosting roles on the day.

Club Photo – Saturday 30th March, 2019

We will be taking the club photo on Saturday 30th March, 2019 (the last morning of club races). Please wear or bring your club polo shirt on the day for the photo. If you need to purchase a new polo shirt for this please see the Property Officer (Margaret) today.

50th Anniversary Celebrations

Tickets for the 50th Anniversary Dinner (Saturday 6th April, 2019) being held at The Holroyd Centre are available online. We look forward to seeing all of our members (14 years and older) attending the dinner. If you know a past member please pass on the information to them also.

Mr Chris Fydler OAM, President of Swimming NSW, will be attending and has graciously agreed to speak about his experiences as an Olympic swimmer and now as a parent of a competitive swimmer.

Tickets are $50 (subsidised amount) and includes welcome finger food, main course and dessert. The welcome commences in the ground floor foyer at 6.00pm with the main course being served from 7.00pm. For more details & tickets visit the 50th Anniversary page. Ticket sales close on Saturday 23rd March, 2019, so order your tickets now if you haven’t done so yet.

Club Uniform

To place an order for all club uniform apparel visit https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/club-uniforms.

Swimming NSW Membership System Change

Swimming NSW is currently implementing the new membership system (Swim Central) for our Area.
We will advise you when access to this new system is open to all members.

Please ensure you keep your contact details on your membership records up to date as we can't contact you about pool closures, changes to club or training if your contact details aren't correct. Your login details are the same as the ones used for online entries.

Annual Presentation & AGM

The Annual Presentation will be held on Saturday 1st June, 2019 at Club Merrylands. The presentation is booked from 6.00pm, with the presentation of trophies to commence at 6.30pm. You may wish to arrive at the club earlier to have dinner before presentation starts, or you may want to have dinner after the presentation of trophies has concluded. It is a great opportunity for us to support one of our club’s major sponsors.

The club’s Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 3rd June, 2019 commencing at 7.30pm in the club room at Merrylands Swimming Centre. All financial members of the club are entitled to nominate for positions on the committee and to vote at the AGM. So please consider nominating for a position, as we would love to see new members join the committee. Even if you do not wish to nominate for a position you are most welcome to attend the AGM.

The dates for nominations for committee positions and awards are:

• Service Excellence Award – closes 31st March, 2019
• Life Member nomination – 60 days before the AGM (Thursday 4th April, 2019)
• Committee nomination – 30 days before the AGM (Saturday 4th May, 2019)

See the club website for more information about these and how to submit a nomination. If you would like more information or have a question please see any of our current committee members.

Trophy Return

If you still have any perpetual trophy’s to return from last season please bring them back to the club over the next few weeks of club races.

Upcoming Events

Thank you to our sponsors for their support of our club

Club Races Today

We are swimming the Freestyle & Backstroke championships this morning. The Freestyle championships will be swum first up and the Backstroke championships will be swum where Backstroke sits in the morning’s program. Please ensure you remain around the marshalling area for your races, as this will be a busy morning of races and we need to keep moving to finish by 9.00am.

Relay Nominated Time Changes - TODAY

If your relay team would like to change their nominated time, you need to provide the new time to the Race Secretary BEFORE the relay event is swum TODAY.

With the postponed race program from Saturday 9th February being swum today we have lost a week of club races from the program. This has impacted the Relay competition by reducing it to a 9 week competition. The committee considered alternatives to maintain a 10 week competition, however with external meets impacting the program for all remaining weeks of the season we are unable to do this.

Speedo Sprint Series Finals - TODAY

The finals of the Speedo Sprint Series are being held at SOPAC today. Unish Shrestha is competing in the 50m Breaststroke final and we wish Unish all the best for his swim. May the Whale be with you Unish.

Swimming NSW Junior Metropolitan Championships

Congratulations to our 4 junior club members who competed at the Metropolitan Championships at SOPAC last weekend. 5 PB’s were achieved from 9 swims, with the other 4 swims achieving 2nd fastest times swum. A great achievement by all of our swimmers and we are now looking forward to the State Championships at the end of the month.

Metro South West Area Long Course Sprint Meet – Saturday 23rd March, 2019

Entries for this meet, to be held at Blacktown Aquatic Centre on Saturday 23rd March, 2019, close on Tuesday 19th March, 2019 at 11.00pm. Our club is also rostered for hosting duties at this meet. This will require a number of people to assist with roles such as medals, result running and refreshment delivery. Please advise Graham if you can help with the hosting roles on the day.

Club Uniform – Hoodie Orders

With the cooler weather coming Margaret is now taking orders for club hoodies. Visit the online shop https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/club-uniforms to place an order for all club uniform apparel.

Club Photo – Saturday 30th March, 2019

We will be taking the club photo on Saturday 30th March, 2019 (the last morning of club races). Please wear or bring your club polo shirt on the day for the photo. If you need to purchase a new polo shirt for this please see the Property Officer (Margaret) today.

50th Anniversary Celebrations

Tickets for the 50th Anniversary Dinner (Saturday 6th April, 2019) being held at The Holroyd Centre are available online. We look forward to seeing all of our members (14 years and older) attending the dinner. If you know a past member please pass on the information to them.

Tickets are $50 (subsidised amount) and includes welcome finger food, main course and dessert. The welcome commences in the ground floor foyer at 6.00pm with the main course being served from 7.00pm. For more details & tickets visit the 50th Anniversary section.

Swimming NSW Membership System Change

The new membership system (Swim Central) is being implemented by Swimming NSW for our Area on Monday 11th March, 2019. Members aged 18 & over will require a unique email address. Please log in to https://mylane.swimming.org.au/ to update your contact details.

Swim Central requires that all members under 18 be part of a linked family group, with an adult aged 18 or over set as the primary member. So what do you need to do? If an adult member of your family is a member of the club – either a swimmer, or non swimmer – you don’t need to do anything. If you don’t have an adult member of your family as a member of the club, you will need to start a membership application, but cancel it before payment. See https://nsw.swimming.org.au/news-articles/swim-central-coming for details.

Keep your contact details on your membership records up to date as we can't contact you about pool closures, changes to club or training if your contact details aren't correct. Your login details are the same as the ones used for online entries. Log in to https://mylane.swimming.org.au/ to check yours are correct.

Annual Presentation & AGM

We are planning the Annual Presentation for the end of the season and are just waiting to confirm a date with Club Merrylands for the venue availability. We plan to hold this either on the last Saturday night of May (25th) or first Saturday night in June (1st), so keep those weekends free and we will let you know as soon as we have a firm date.

The club’s Annual General Meeting will be held on the Monday night immediately following the Annual Presentation and we will advise you of this date once we confirm the date of the Annual Presentation. All financial members of the club are entitled to nominate for positions on the committee and to vote at the AGM. So please consider nominating for a position, as we would love to see new members join the committee. Even if you do not wish to nominate for a position you are most welcome to attend the AGM to hear how the club is managed and the achievements of our members over the past season.

Upcoming Events

Thank you to our sponsors for their support of our club

Merrylands SwimFest & Masters BPS Meets

Last Saturday saw Merrylands “Super Saturday” events held (why weren’t FoxSports covering these?) with club races followed by the Masters BPS & SwimFest meets. What a day! This was the first time we have thrown the dice holding both meets on the one day. I believe we achieved a great result, with positive feedback about both events and we finished almost 40 minutes ahead of schedule, despite an unplanned late start to the Masters BPS meet.

The Masters BPS Meet saw ten 1st place, three 2nd place & two 3rd place finishes in individual events. Overall Merrylands finished 5th in the Team Pointscore.

The SwimFest saw a total of 50 PB’s achieved with medals won by:

Matthew Vicic also achieved further State qualifying times in the 100m Butterfly (2 PB’s in the 1 event). Congratulations to every one of our swimmers who competed in these meets.

Did you know?

On average, swimmers receive $66 worth of awards at club championships and the presentation evening each year, but on average only pay $32 in race entry fees throughout the season. The $34 difference is made up through fund raising activities such as the SwimFest and Masters meets, which we couldn’t run without your help. Thank you to everyone who helped organise and run the meets. It was a great club effort, with the majority of our members being at the pool the whole day and into the evening by the time we had packed up. Only 356 sleeps to the next Merrylands Super Saturday!!!

Swimming NSW Junior Metropolitan Championships

We have 4 of our junior club members who qualified to compete at the Metropolitan Championships at SOPAC this weekend. We wish great swims to Matthew Vicic (100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 50m Freestyle & 50m Butterfly), Helen Macpherson (50m Freestyle & 50m Butterfly), Summer Shrestha (50m Freestyle & 50m Butterfly) and Niushka Shrestha (50m Butterfly). May the whale be with you all.

Relay Nominated Time Changes

If your relay team would like to change their nominated time, you need to provide the new time to the Race Secretary BEFORE the relay event is swum on Saturday 9th March, 2019.

50 metre & 200 metre Freestyle Championship re-schedule

The 50 metre Freestyle Age & 200 metre Freestyle Open Championships have been re-scheduled to next Saturday (9th March, 2019). The 50 metre Backstroke and 50 metre Freestyle, as well as the 200 metre Open Championships for these strokes will be swum on the same day.

Entries submitted for the Freestyle Championships will be carried over from 9th February. No late entries for the Freestyle Championships will be accepted. You will be required to enter the Backstroke Championships and any other events you want to swim (regular races, handicap etc.). See the online entries for exactly how many events you may enter and the order of events. Championship entries are $1 as usual. There will be no entry fee for the other events.

Metro South West Area Long Course Sprint Meet – Saturday 23rd March, 2019

Entries for this meet, to be held at Blacktown Aquatic Centre on Saturday 23rd March, 2019, close on Tuesday 19th March, 2019 at 11.00pm. Our club is also rostered for hosting duties at this meet. This will require a number of people to assist with roles such as medals, result running and refreshment delivery. Please advise Graham if you can help with the hosting roles on the day.

Club Uniform – Hoodie Orders

With the cooler weather coming Margaret is now taking orders for club hoodies. Visit the online shop to place an order for all club uniform apparel.

Swimming NSW Membership System Change

The new membership system (Swim Central) will now be implemented by Swimming NSW for our Area on Monday 11th March, 2019. Members aged 18 & over will require a unique email address. Please log in to https://mylane.swimming.org.au/ to update your contact details.

Swim Central requires that all members under 18 be part of a linked family group, with an adult aged 18 or over set as the primary member. So what do you need to do? If an adult member of your family is a member of the club – either a swimmer, or non swimmer – you don’t need to do anything. If you don’t have an adult member of your family as a member of the club, you will need to start a membership application, but cancel it before payment. See https://nsw.swimming.org.au/news-articles/swim-central-coming for details.

Keep your contact details on your membership records up to date as we can't contact you about pool closures, changes to club or training if your contact details aren't correct. Your login details are the same as the ones used for online entries. Log in to https://mylane.swimming.org.au/ to check yours are correct.

50th Anniversary Celebrations

The 50th Anniversary Dinner will be held on Saturday 6th April, 2019 at the Holroyd Centre. For more details & tickets visit https://www.merrylandsasc.asn.au/50thanniversary/

Upcoming Events

Thank you to our sponsors for their support of our club

Merrylands Swimming Centre

Welcome back to Merrylands Swimming Centre. Those who attended club races last Saturday morning enjoyed an “away game” at Wentworthville Swimming Centre, but it is great to be back home for the remainder of the season. Council has worked hard over the last week to empty, clean and fill the pool ready for use this week, so we thank them for this work.

50 metre & 200 metre Freestyle Championship re-schedule

The cancellation of club races on Saturday 9th February, 2019 has meant the 50 metre Freestyle Age & 200 metre Freestyle Open Championships have been re-scheduled to Saturday 9th March, 2019. The 50 metre Backstroke and 50 metre Freestyle, as well as the 200 metre Open Championships for these strokes will be swum on the same day.

Entries submitted for the Freestyle Championships will be carried over to the 9th March, 2019. No late entries for the Freestyle Championships will be accepted.

Swimmers will be able to enter two other events on the morning in addition to the Championship races. Keep an eye on the club website for further details of the program and order of events for the morning.

Metro South West Junior Area Championships

13 swimmers competed in the MSW Area Junior Championships at SOPAC last Saturday. Great results were achieved, with a total of 43 new PB’s. Medals were won by Unish Shrestha (50m Breaststroke - Silver), Matthew Vicic (50m Butterfly - bronze) and Summer Shrestha (50m Freestyle - bronze).

Finalists across a total of 20 events were Joab Hada (50m Breaststroke, 100m Backstroke, 50m Backstroke & 50m Freestyle), Summer Shrestha (50m Breaststroke & 50m Backstroke), Laura-Belle Casey (50m Breaststroke & 100m Breaststroke), Matthew Vicic (100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 50m Backstroke & 50m Freestyle), Unish Shrestha (50m Butterfly, 50m Backstroke & 50m Freestyle), Helen Macpherson (50m Backstroke & 50m Freestyle), Nevah Shrestha (50m Backstroke) & Niushka Shrestha (50m Freestyle & 100m Butterfly).

An outstanding effort by our Junior members as they continue to break PB’s and achieve wonderful results at meets representing our club. Thank you to our club coaches who have worked hard to have our swimmers peaking for these events and also to our parents who supported and worked as timekeepers during the afternoon session. It was a long day and we are proud of every one of our swimmers who competed on the day.

Merrylands SwimFest & Masters BPS Meets – Saturday 23rd February, 2019

Today is the day of our Masters BPS and SwimFest meets. Thank you in advance to everyone who has volunteered their time today to help with the meets. It will be a long day and I know we will again show how well Merrylands ASC can host these events.

Relay Nominated Time Changes

If your relay team would like to change their nominated time, you need to provide the new time to the Race Secretary BEFORE the relay event is swum on Saturday 9th March, 2019.

Club Uniform – Hoodie Orders

With the cooler weather coming Margaret is now taking orders for club hoodies. Visit the online shop to place an order for all club uniform apparel.

Learn to Swim

The next Learn to Swim lessons will be held on Saturday 2nd March, 2019.

Swimming NSW Membership System Change

Swimming NSW will be switching to a new membership system (Swim Central) on 25th February, 2019. As part of the change all members aged 18 & over will require a unique email address. Please log in to https://mylane.swimming.org.au/ to update your contact details.

Please remember to keep your contact details on your membership records up to date. We can't contact you about pool closures, changes to club or training if your contact details aren't correct. Log in to https://mylane.swimming.org.au/ to check yours are correct today. Your login details are the same as the ones used for online entries.

50th Anniversary Celebrations

The 50th Anniversary Dinner will be held on Saturday 6th April, 2019 at the Holroyd Centre. For more details & online booking visit the 50th Anniversary section.

Technical Officials

Would you like to obtain a technical accreditation? Most roles are now available with an online module. Details can be found at https://nsw.swimming.org.au/technical-officials-nsw. Age is from secondary school student up. Best of all these modules are free to members of Swimming NSW. Please see Graham for more information.

Upcoming Events

Thank you to our sponsors for their support of our club

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