Issue 3, 2021/2022 by Graham Edwards - 13th November, 2021

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Season Program – Club Championships

Club Championships begin on Saturday, 27th November. The first events will be as follows:

27th November

• 100m Freestyle (Open & Age)
• 100m Breaststroke (Open & Age)

4th December

• 100m Backstroke (Open & Age)
• 100m Butterfly (Open & Age)

11th December

• 400m Individual Medley (Open)

Due to the late start to the championships, and a reduced number of weeks available to run championships, the events will run a bit differently this year.

For the 100m events, swimmers will enter their Age Championship. All swimmers will swim together in an Open event to determine the results for the Open Championship, with the results split into ages to determine the Age Championship results.

So, using the 100m Freestyle as an example, all swimmers who enter the championship will swim a single 100m Freestyle race, with swimmers seeded in heats based on their entry time, not their age group. The times swum in the race will be used to determine the places for both the Age 100m Freestyle Championship and Open 100m Freestyle Championship, with points allocated in each competition, plus the Graded Point Score. Males and Females will be seeded separately.

We will still provide graded club races on these mornings, but they will be a limited program to provide the opportunity for members who are not competing in championship events to have swims and to also allow qualification for upcoming championship events.

We also plan to recommence championship presentation after club races, so we can recognise and celebrate the performances in these events.

Key points to remember are:

• Only Financial First Claim Members are eligible to compete in Championships;
• Entrants must have swum that stroke and that distance in the current season.

The full season program is now available and this can be found on the club website at https://www.merrylandsasc.asn.au/clubraces.

Club Captains

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains are open and close at 9.30am today. Financial first claim member aged 14 years and over are eligible to nominate to be a club captain. To nominate yourself or to nominate someone else please go to https://forms.office.com/r/qSuYfheZ6g.

In summary the roles and responsibilities include:

• Club races – assisting with marshalling, organising the 25m rope for these races, organising Whales Challenge relay teams, sale of raffle tickets & preparing the awards for championship presentation;
• Learn to Swim – set up and pack up of equipment & assisting in lessons;
• Swim Meets – acting as team captains, supervising teams members throughout the meet, ensuring swimmers attend marshalling for their races;
• Club Presentation – assisting with the event;
• General – mentoring new members and other activities as determined by the Committee

All financial first claim members can vote for these positions on week 6 (27^th November, 2021).

Whales Challenge #1

The first of the 3 Whales Challenges this season was swum and won last week.

A close contest all morning, with the lead swapping and tied at one stage. The final results came down to the 15m races with the White”Emery” team scoring 823 points and edging out the Maroon “Turner” team who scored 806 points.

Plenty of PB’s & QT’s during the morning, so congratulations to everyone who swam for their teams.

The Maroon team don’t have too long to wait to try and outscore the White team, with the Whales Challenge #2 being swum next Saturday (20^th November). Don’t forget to bring your team swim cap and wear it during your races next week.

Timekeepers

Thank you to all of our timekeepers who help each Saturday morning at club races. Every swimmer appreciates your efforts in recording their great swim times. For many swimmers the race is on to achieve those PB’s and QT’s for upcoming meets & championships, so accuracy is important to them.

If you arrive after races have started we still ask for your help. To assist in filling lanes please see Rabin Shrestha (Chief Timekeeper) before taking a watch, as he will fill vacancies from the middle lanes out, as this is how heats are seeded and the middle lanes have swimmers in every heat (apart from the 15, 25 & 33 metre races).

Club Uniforms

We have a great range of club uniforms available for sale. These can be purchased through the club’s online shop.

Some items require special orders to be placed, so minimum numbers may be required before orders for these items can be placed with the supplier.

If you have any questions about club uniforms please talk to the Property Officer (Margaret Edwards).

https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/club-uniforms

COVID-19 Safety Protocols

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All attendees (swimmers, spectators, volunteers) must sign-in, and out, when they attend the swimming centre, using the Service NSW app, and show proof of vaccination to council staff when asked.

💉

All swimmers, volunteers, coaches and spectators over the age of 16 must be fully vaccinated to attend club races. Children under the age of 16 must be either fully vaccinated, or accompanied by a member of their household who is fully vaccinated.

Information & Conditions for Attendees also found at https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/clubraces/entryconditions

Relay Competition

The second team relay time trial is being swum this morning. An additional time trial will be swum next Saturday morning (20^th November). The first competition relay race will be held on Saturday 27^th November. So start getting your teams together (maximum of 6 team members per team) to take on all the other contenders. The team entry form and swimmer nomination forms can be found at https://www.merrylandsasc.asn.au/clubraces/relay

Upcoming Meet Calendar

Sponsors

We receive great support from our club sponsors and we thank them for this support.