This weekend, two of Merrylands' rising stars will take to the pool at the NSW Metropolitan Youth Championships, competing against some of the best young swimmers in Sydney.
Coralie Havea and Jay Shrestha have both qualified for their first Metropolitan Championships—a fantastic achievement that reflects their hard work and dedication. Coralie and Jay will represent Merrylands in three individual entries across the weekend.
Coralie Havea
- Session 1 – 50m Freestyle - approx. 11:33am Saturday
- Session 2 – 50m Butterfly - approx. 2:18pm Saturday
Jay Shrestha
- Session 4 – 50m Breaststroke - approx. 2:42pm Sunday
Head Coach Alison Johnston congratulated both swimmers, saying:
“Qualifying for the NSW Metropolitan Championships is a great achievement. I’m very proud of the progress Coralie and Jay have made, and I look forward to seeing them race.”
The Championships are being held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on 29-30 November, 2025.
Good luck Coralie and Jay and may the Whale be with you!
See Also
Our last training session for 2025 will be held on Thursday, 18th December, while our last week of club races will be held on Saturday, 20th December.
Club Races will resume on Saturday, 3rd January, 2026 with Training resuming on Monday, 5th January.
Our Christmas Party will be held on Saturday, 20th December in conjunction with the Club Races from 7am to 9:30am. All squad members are encouraged to attend the club races and novelty events. We would love to see you there. Enter online here.
Do you need to put your enrolment on hold?
if you are going to miss a full calendar month of training you can put your enrolment on hold for that month. To put your enrolment on hold for a full calendar month, submit the form below by the last day of the previous month. If the form is not submitted by then, you will be charged for the next month.
Training Break Form
If you are going to miss a small number of sessions, you can submit your absences through the Swim School System.
The Committee and Coaching Staff hope you have enjoyed the first part of the season. Have a Merry Christmas and keep training hard as school carnivals and the Merrylands SwimFest approaches.
See Also
I am so proud of our team of 42 swimmers not only their performance in the pool but also their display of camaraderie and teamwork. While we weren't able to win back the cup this year against a team of 81, there were amazing results across all age groups.
We had several new families compete for the first time and it was pleasing to see the support from our more experienced swimmers.
Thank you to our new Club Captains for 2025/26, Lisa and Matthew, with support from Niushka for assisting with the event numbering which is always an exciting way to start the meet.
Our activation went well with all our younger squad swimmers knowing their routine and it was great to see our Adult team joining in too! With a pep talk and promise of ice cream (regardless of the result!) our swimmers were ready for their pool warm up.
Majority of our squad swimmers had been practising the pre-race warm up throughout the week so went through their paces and our mini swimmers swam a shortened version. Then it was time for the meet to begin!
Freestyle was the first stroke to be swum and the clouds were getting darker. Our swimmers achieved 14 new personal best times and a new State Qualifying time by Event 5 and then the storm hit!
The swimmers handled themselves very well with the delay and I am very pleased how well they reset to continue racing. We finished with 20 new Freestyle personal bests.
During the Backstroke events it was great to see some beautiful starts being executed after our swimmers had been working on them for the last few weeks. There were 13 new personal bests in Backstroke.
Breaststroke was next and our swimmers continued to demonstrate great skills, particularly in the pull-outs. 15 new bests were achieved.
At this point some of our littlest swimmers had completed their campaign and were enjoying their well-deserved ice-cream. I would like to thank all the swimmers for listening and waiting to enjoy the ice-cream truck until after their events were completed.
With the cancellation of the relays due to the storm, Butterfly was now the last event to be swum. Our swimmers successfully achieved 9 new personal bests. 3 of those swimmers had already achieved a personal best at club races in the morning!
Throughout the meet, our swimmers cheered and supported each other. There was a good display of friendly rivalry and our swimmers celebrated each other's success regardless of their own results. Our swimmers also had some good silly fun with their inspirational tattoos and storm related frivolity!
Congratulations to all!
The wait is over! Training is back at Merrylands Swimming Centre from Monday, 8th September.
All swimmers must renew their club membership before 30th September. If you haven't been training, you must complete a new enrolment. The steps to follow are detailed below.
Instructions
- Complete your Club Membership renewal.
- Complete your Squad Enrolment (only if you aren't currently training or want to change your sessions)
- Purchase any new equipment you need
- Download a copy of your Membership Card
Changes this season
- New Swim School Management System for managing enrolments, bookings and payments
- A return to a monthly flat rate fee for all squad levels, regardless of the number of sessions attended, with payment in advance via direct debit.
- Update to the Conditions.
What isn't changing
- Swimmers must have renewed their club membership for the 2025/2026 season before 1st October.
- Swimmers will continue to be booked into sessions, and must be cancelled through the booking system if you can't attend.
- Pool Entry must be paid on entry to the centre.
- You may be required to show your Club Membership Card when paying pool entry or topping up a Pool Entry Card.
See Also
The Australian Masters Championships will be held in Melbourne from Tuesday 8th to Saturday 12th April 2025.
Merrylands will be represented by a team of 5 swimmers, competing in 44 individual events over the 5-day meet. Our team consists of:
- Varant Jambazian
- Ian Johnston
- Kylee Murray
- Alison Johnston
- Leanne Tovkach
Good luck to our swimmers at the meet!
See Also
We are pleased to announce that from 1st April 2025, Alison Johnston has been appointed as our new Head Coach.
Alison has been coaching since 2015 and has achieved outstanding results across the club's representative teams. She has coached finalists at the NSW Metropolitan, NSW State Age and NSW State Open Championships and has also coached swimmers to the Australian Age Championships and Australian Masters Championships.
We are excited to have Alison take on this key role. Please give her your full support and help her wherever possible.
Peter will continue to be involved in the squad program, coaching some of our junior swimmers and assisting Alison where needed.
Our last training session for 2024 will be held on Thursday, 19th December, while our last week of club races will be held on Saturday, 21st December.
Club Races start at 7am as usual, and will include Novelty Events after the regular races.
Club Races will resume on Saturday, 6th January, 2025 with Training resuming on Monday, 6th January.
Our Christmas Party will be held on Saturday, 21st December in conjunction with the Club Races from 7am to 9:30am. All squad members are encouraged to attend the club races and novelty events. We would love to see you there. Enter online here.
Are going to be away at all in December or January?
If you will be away, then please complete the form below to indicate your last day of training and your first day back.
Training Break Form
The Committee and Coaching Staff hope you have enjoyed the first part of the season. Have a Merry Christmas and keep training hard as school carnivals and the Merrylands SwimFest approaches.
See Also
Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club is seeking enthusiastic Swimming Coaches to assist with our Squad Program at Merrylands Swimming Centre (and Wentworthville Swimming Centre during the winter season).
We are looking to fill two positions:
For details or to apply, see the advertisement on Indeed.
Training moves to Wentworthville Swimming Centre from Monday, 29th April, 2024.
Sessions will be held in the 50m pool and are scheduled to return to Merrylands in October.
There will be no training from 2nd to 9th May due to the Australian Masters Championships.
What isn't changing
- Swimmers will continue to be booked into sessions, and must be cancelled through the booking system if you can't attend
- Squad Fees continue to be paid via a multi-session pass
- Pool Entry must be paid on entry to the centre
- You may be required to show your Club Membership Card when paying pool entry or topping up a Pool Entry Card
Swimmers should have already collected their training equipment from Merrylands Swimming Centre.
See Also
Our last training session for 2023 will be held on Thursday, 21st December, while our last week of club races will be held on Saturday, 23rd December.
Club Races start at 7am as usual, and will include Novelty Events after the regular races.
Training will resume on Tuesday, 2nd January, 2024, with Club Races resuming on Saturday, 6th January.
Our Christmas Party will be held on Saturday, 23rd December in conjunction with the Club Races from 7am to 9:30am. All squad members are encouraged to attend the club races and novelty events. We would love to see you there. Enter online here.
Are going to be away at all in December or January?
If you will be away, then please complete the form below to indicate your last day of training and your first day back.
Training Break Form
The Committee and Coaching Staff hope you have enjoyed the first few months back at Merrylands. Have a Merry Christmas and keep training hard as school carnivals and the Merrylands SwimFest approaches.
See Also