Autumn Racing Carnival Closes Today

This morning concludes our Autumn Racing Carnival for 2025. We finish off with an all age handicap as well as 400m, 800m & 1500m distance races.

Thankyou to everyone who has arrived at 7.00am over the weeks of the Autumn races to help with set up and stayed to help pack up after the races.

Masters National Championships

Our team of Alison Johnston, Varant Jambazian, Leanne Tovkach & Kylee Murray swam at their peak during the Masters National Championships earlier this month. Collectively they achieved a staggering 20 PB’s & 16 Season Best times between them. Alison Johnston won 3 medals (the perfect set of 1 gold, 1 silver & 1 bronze) and Varant Jambazian won a silver medal.

To cap it all off the team won the Life Members Trophy point score (awarded to the highest average point scoring club with 5 to 20 members) and finished 39th overall out of 118 clubs.

An outstanding team effort all around and one we are very proud of

Annual Presentation & Club AGM

Our next big events are the Annual Presentation and Club AGM.

For more information about these events see:

Annual Presentation

https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/presentation/

Club AGM

https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/about/agm.aspx

Anzac Day 2025

Our club participated in the Cumberland Anzac Day Dawn Service yesterday and it was great to see so many club members attend this commemoration.

Thankyou to Denise Assi for organising the event attendance and purchasing the wreath, which was laid by four of our club representatives, Joseph Assi, Coralie Havea, Grace Brancatisano & Gabriella Assi.

We look forward to attending the Anzac Service in 2026 and invite all of our club members to join in representing our club at this important community commemoration.

Squad Training Moves

As Merrylands Swimming Centre closes tomorrow squad training moves to Wentworthville pool from Monday 28^th April and will return to Merrylands when it re-opens in September 2025.

School Holiday Activities

This weekend also sees the conclusion of school holidays. No doubt some will celebrate and others will just have to get on with it 😊

Thankyou to Sylvia Chan who organised some activities to keep the kids engaged during the holidays. A large group attended the Dive Clinic at SOPAC and had a great morning together.

The support crew also enjoyed the morning 😊

A few movie buffs are developing and had a great day at the Minecraft movie and lunch after.

Merrylands' team has finished the 2025 Australian Masters Championships with 4 medals, 20 personal best times and 16 season-best times and also winning the Life Member's trophy point score.

Varant Jambazian took home a silver medal and swam 11 personal best times. Kylee Murray swam 8 new personal best times and 5 season-best times. Leanne Tovkach swam 1 personal best time and 6 season-best times. Alison Johnston won 3 medals at the meet, taking home 1 of each colour. Alison also swam 5 season-best times.

As a team, our club finished 1st in the Life Member's trophy point score (awarded to the highest average point scoring club with 5 to 20 members) and finished 39th overall out of 118 clubs.

Personal Best Times

Medallists

Medal Tally

Congratulations to our team on their results!

We are so proud of our swimmers' performances, both in the pool and the amazing attitude our team had throughout the week, lifting each other and staying focused.

Thank you to Alison for coaching the team over the last 6 months and peaking our swimmers at the right time. Thank you to Peter Johnston for his work with this team over the last few years.

Enjoy your rest Whales, and onto Brisbane 2026!

See Also

• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 5
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 4
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 3
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 2
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 1
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Live Stream
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Entries and Results
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Team

Merrylands finished on a high for the last day of competition at the Australian Masters Championships as the team finished the day with 4 personal best times and 5 season best times. For Varant and Kylee this was their 5th day of competition and the 4th for Leanne and Alison.

The 200m Freestyle was the first event and Leanne had a speedy start and achieved a season best time. Leanne was just outside her all-time personal best and has goals to further reduce her time in the new season.

Kylee had a gutsy swim and made the hard decision to remove her goggles at the 100m mark. Kylee hung on her back 100m to achieve an all-time personal best and cracked the 3-minute barrier for the first time. Kylee came 7th in her age group.

Varant's strong kick powered him home for another personal best time, taking 4 seconds off his previous best and celebrating his heat win with a fist pump. The crowd was impressed with his efforts as he finished in 7th place.

Alison achieved a season best time for her 200m, beating her state time from last weekend and coming 6th.

The 100m Butterfly was next and Kylee put in a strong effort and ended up being just half a second outside her all-time personal best set 9 years ago. Kylee came 4th in her event, her highest ranking of the meet.

Alison was 0.1 outside her time from State last week and also finished 4th.

In the 50m Breaststroke, Leanne swam her final event of the meet and achieved her 3rd fastest swim ever. This was a fantastic result after a big week for Leanne, having missed training for the weeks before the meet due to being unwell.

Varant reduced his best time again, taking 0.2 off his best set a year ago and came 6th.

The final event was the 200m Individual Medley. Kylee had a strong swim, and was happy to swim her last lap of fly for the meet! Kylee swam her fastest time in 2 years in this event.

Varant was our last swimmer to compete and finished with a bang. While the first 3 laps matched his splits from his best, he reduced his Freestyle leg by a chunk and had an overall 3-second personal best, finishing in 5th.

Well done to our team on their performances on the final day and across the whole meet.

See Also

• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 4
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 3
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 2
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 1
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Live Stream
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Entries and Results
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Team

Our team continued to shine on Day 4 of the Australian Masters Championships with 6 new personal best times and 2 season bests.

In the 400m Freestyle, Kylee swam her second PB of the meet in this event, having swam a new personal best time for the 400m split of the 800m Freestyle on the first day of competition and came 7th in her age group.

Varant achieved another personal best time, taking over 8 seconds off his previous best and finishing in 5th place.

Alison swam her fastest time in 4 years and came 6th.

The 50m Backstroke was up next and Leanne achieved a season best time after a big morning touring the MCG!

Kylee achieved a new personal best, beating her time from last year.

Varant continued his big improvements in his backstroke over the last twelve months with a new best and a 10th place finish.

Last up was the 100m Breaststroke where Leanne achieved a new personal best time, taking 6 seconds off her previous best.

Varant swam his second 100m Breaststroke PB of the meet, taking more time off his 100m split from the 200m Breaststroke from Day 2 to finish 7th in his age group.

Day 5 tomorrow - the last day of competition - has the 200m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 50m Breaststroke and 200m Individual Medley.

See Also

• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 3
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 2
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 1
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Live Stream
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Entries and Results
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Team

Autumn Racing Carnival

Welcome to week two of our Autumn Racing Carnival for 2025.

Thankyou to everyone who arrived at 7.00am last week to help with set up and stayed to help pack up after the races.

This week we have the 100m Mystery Medley and a BBQ to finish the morning.

Metro South West 5 to 8 Meet

Congratulations to our team of Marcus Chan, Anna Johnston, Eden Johnston, Nina Okorovik, Ella Palise & Lily Palise who competed at the MSW 5 to 8 Meet last Saturday at Campbelltown. Great results were achieved by our swimmers.

Masters National Championships

Our team of Alison Johnston, Varant Jambazian, Leanne Tovkach & Kylee Murray have been busy this week representing our club at the Masters National Championships (commenced on the 8^th April and concludes today). They have excelled with a number of big PB’s and medals to bring back over the border.

To see the full details of the daily results and video of each swim visit our club website and Facebook page.

Annual Presentation & Club AGM

The dates are locked in for the Annual Presentation and Club AGM. So make sure you have these dates in your calendar:

With the AGM coming up it’s time to consider nominating for a role on the Committee.

Squad Training After April 2025

Squad training moves to Wentworthville pool from Monday 28^th April and will return to Merrylands pool when it re-opens in September 2025.

Anzac Day 2025

Our club is participating in the Cumberland Anzac Day Dawn Service again this year.

Date: 25^th April 2025

Venue: Merrylands RSL Club and then to Charles Mance Reserve, 6 Newman St, Merrylands

Times:

5.00am - March formation at Merrylands RSL entrance in Miller Street

5.15am - March will commence

5.30am - Dawn Service will commence

5.57am - Wreath Laying will commence

6.30am - Dawn Service Concludes

Club representatives will be laying a wreath on behalf of our club and members. If you are interested in attending or would like more information please see Denise Assi.

School Holiday Activities

There are a range of Easter school holiday activities available to keep the kids engaged:

DIVE CLINIC @ SOPAC Wednesday 16^th April

The session is booked out, so if anyone else is interested you will need to wait for cancellations or book into another session. Sessions & information can be found at https://www.sydneyolympicpark.nsw.gov.au/things-to-see-and-do/diving-clinic

MOVIE AND LUNCH – Thursday 17^th April

A Minecraft movie and lunch date is being planned for Thursday 17^th April. If you are interested please see Sylvia Chan (or contact her on 0435 178 628) for more information.

CLUB MERRYLANDS ACTIVITIES

The school holidays are a great opportunity to support one of our club sponsors, with a range of activities available at Club Merrylands. More details here.

If you are interested in any of these activities please see Sylvia Chan, as she can provide more information and will assist with bookings etc.

Make a Donation

If you would like to make a donation, or know someone who would like to then click on the link below.

Thank you to everyone who has made a donation during the season, your kind help is greatly appreciated and helps us purchase equipment for our member’s benefit.

Make a donation

Merrylands continued their fantastic run on Day 3 at the Australian Masters Championships with 2 medals, 4 new personal best times and 3 season bests.

Varant kicked off the day with a fantastic 400m Individual Medley in which all strokes improved to take over 20 seconds off his previous best time. Varant earned himself a silver medal in his age group for his performance.

The next event was the splash and dash with our swimmers all bringing the speed in the 50m Freestyle. Leanne swam her fastest time in 2 years.

Kylee took almost a second off her personal best time, which she had set in 2019, finishing in 8th place.

Varant swam his second fastest time, and was 0.05 outside the PB that he set last weekend, while Alison came 6th in her age group.

In the 200m Backstroke, Kylee continued her strong form and achieved a new personal best time, taking over 2 seconds off her best, which was set 2 years ago.

Alison swam a perfectly split race for a season best and a gold medal.

 
Last up was the 50 Butterfly where Kylee set another personal best, winding back the clock and beating her previous best from 2019!

Varant had a strong start in his 50 Butterfly and while the last 10m was tough, still managed to swim his 3rd fastest time.

Alison swam a season-best time and had a top 10 finish.

Day 4 tomorrow with our team taking to the pool in the 400m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke and 100m Breaststroke.

See Also

• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 2
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Day 1
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Live Stream
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Entries and Results
• 2025 Australian Masters Championships - Team