Issue 8, 2025/2026 by Matthew Vicic - 21st November, 2025

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Saturday Races:

Welcome back to Championship week 3!! This week we have swimmers competing in the 100 fly and 100 backstroke this week! Good luck to everyone.

Please arrive at 6:45 to help us set up! See if you can be nominated for a lion's club award!!

Club Race Videos Now Live!

You can now watch our club race videos online. Head to: https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/clubraces/

A big thankyou to Syliva, and Johnston for organising and creating the video!!

Club Captains! 🏆

We’re excited to announce the Club Captains for the 2025 season! 

💙 Male Club Captain:

• Matthew Vicic

💙 Female Club Captain:

• Lisa Shrestha 

Cumberland Inter-Club Cup – A Whale of a Meet!

Well, what a Saturday afternoon for an outdoor swimming meet! Even though the weather wasn’t on our side, it certainly didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of our swimmers, families, volunteers and supporters. We managed to complete the full program — minus the relays — due to the pool’s 7:00pm closing time.

A Massive Thank You to the Pod

A very big thank you to everyone involved in the planning, preparation, set-up, delivery and pack-up. It was fantastic to see so many members pitch in to ensure we were ready for a 3:30pm start, and the pack-up crew made sure we were out before dark.

Our Social Committee did an amazing job providing catering and raffles, and a special thank you to those who baked cakes and goodies — what an incredible (and delicious!) spread we had. At this rate, we might need to rename ourselves the Merrylands Swimming & Baking Club! 😄🍰🐋

In the Water

Our swimmers and coaches delivered outstanding performances, with PBs flowing everywhere — “PB” was definitely the word of the day!  Coach's Report can be found here. 

Final Point Score

Despite being outnumbered nearly 2 to 1, our mighty Whales put up a tremendous fight:

• Parramatta City – 1,042 points
• Merrylands – 833 points
• McCredie Park – 233 points

Congratulations to Parramatta City on the win this year.
Next season, we take our pod to Granville Swimming Centre, ready to swim even harder and reclaim the Cup! 🏆🐳

Unclaimed Raffle Prize!

One of the raffle prizes from the Inter-Club Cup is still unclaimed. If you purchased tickets, please check your numbers on the Club Noticeboard — the winning ticket is posted there. Don’t miss out… your prize may still be waiting for you!

Inter-Club Cup 2025 Feedback Survey

We’d love to hear your thoughts on this year’s Inter-Club Cup. Your feedback helps us improve and make next year’s event even better! Please take a moment to complete the survey here:

https://forms.microsoft.com/r/atHKnWEBD6

Thank you for helping our pod grow stronger each season! 🐋💙

This Week’s Spotlight: Xaiver Ou (Junior squad)

Each week we dive beneath the surface to get to know one of our amazing young Whales. This week we had a chat with Xavier, who was more than happy to share his swimming story — sneezes and all!

Q1. Tell us about your swimming journey to our Club.

A: I was doing the Council's Learn to Swim at Wentworthville Pools and got up to the Turtle level. I was finding it too easy and my friend, Daniel B recommended the Merrylands Club because “it's good and I can swim good.”

 Q2. What do you like about the Club?

A: I like the people — they are kind and donate stuff. And I have fun with friends.

Q3. What’s your favourite stroke?

A: Freestyle — it's easy and I can go fast. My least favourite is backstroke because I drown when I do it.

Q4. What’s your swimming goal for next year?

A: To beat Daniel in 50m free.

Training Activities:

This week, for backstroke training, the coaches decided to test their groups head positioning...with cups on their heads!! See for yourself!

While completing backstroke drills swimmers had to balance cups on their foreheads. This helps them train their heads to be nice and still. A drill that's always a lot of fun for both swimmers, coaches and parents watching.

Christmas Raffles & BBQ

As we close in on Christmas (and the halfway point of the season) make sure you have Saturday 20th December locked in your calendar, as this is the last morning of club races and we will have a range of events including raffles, bbq and novelty events. The Social Committee are already working hard on plans for the morning, so if you have any ideas or would like to help them, please let them know.

Club Merrylands Christmas Events

At Club Merrylands

Toy Raffle - Monday 8 December from 7.30pm (tickets on sale at 5.30pm)

FREE santa photos on Monday 8 December from 6pm -7.30pm

Ham and Pork Raffle - Monday 1st and 15th December from 7.30pm (tickets on sale at 5.30pm)

Seafood voucher Raffle -Monday 22 December from 7.30pm (tickets on sale at 5.30pm)

At Guildford Bowling Club

Toy Raffle - Saturday 6 December from 7pm (tickets on sale at 5pm)

Ham and Seafood voucher Raffle - Saturday 20 December from 7pm (tickets on sale at 5pm)  

Saturday Morning Point Score Competitions🐋

There are three competitions run each Saturday morning that can gain you points.

🏅 Graded Races:

Swimmers are grouped by entry times and earn points based on how well they swim against their own time.

🎯 Championships:

Swimmers race within their age group (as of 1st October), with an Open Championship also available for all ages who meet the qualifying criteria.

💪 Senior Handicap:

A fun event for swimmers 17 years and over.

For more information see here: https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/clubraces/

Planning Your Championship Races

To compete in any upcoming champion races, you must have already swum the event successfully during this season before the day of the event.

To make sure you don’t miss out on qualifying for Championship events, it’s important to plan your swims well ahead.

💡Here are some quick tips to help you qualify:

1. Check the Season Program to see when each Championship event is scheduled.
2. Plan your qualifying swim at least two weeks before the Championship — this gives you time to recover if you miss a week or get disqualified.
3. Stay consistent and track your progress — every swim gets you closer to championship readiness!

So, start planning, keep training hard, and let’s see those fins making waves come Championship time! 🌊🐳

Club Uniforms

We have a great range of club uniforms in stock available for sale. These can be purchased through the club’s online shop club shop . Some items may require a special order to be placed with our suppliers, so planning orders ahead of time will allow for the items to be delivered.

Lions Club Award

Seen someone that deserves recognition for their efforts in helping? Nominate them for the Lions Club Award, our peak award to recognise our volunteers over the season.

Nominate a volunteer

P-Plate Award

As the season rolls along keep an eye out for someone making a silly mistake. We like to recognise and reward all efforts during the season, and the P-Plate award is the perfect way to do this.

Nominate a silly mistake

Seen a Problem? Get it Fixed

If you see something that needs fixing you can elevate this directly with Council by logging the issue here.

Donations

Our partnership with the Australian Sports Foundation allows supporters to make tax-deductible donations to the club. Funds raised help us upgrade and maintain our equipment and systems, providing better facilities for you, our members. 

We appreciate the great support our members have provided since the partnership commenced. Donations can be made here. 

Upcoming Meet Calendar

Check the website for the full list of upcoming meets, closing dates, programs and qualifying times.