Issue 13, 2023/2024 by Graham Edwards - 5th January, 2024

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Welcome to 2024

We hope you have enjoyed a great Christmas with your family and friends and we wish you a safe and healthy New Year.

Congratulations to everyone who won a prize in the Christmas raffle and we hope you enjoyed the breakfast BBQ on the last morning in 2023. Thank you to everyone who helped with this, Denise Assi for organising the raffle and prizes, Kylee Murray who donated a number of prizes for the raffle, Danielle Vicic and Uma Shrestha for the great feed from the BBQ, Sylvia Chan for the cookies and the Abdelraheem family for the homemade cupcakes (yum) and the M&M jar for the guessing competition. We wonder if any of the 3,000-odd M&M’s are still to be eaten?

But it’s time to hit the water for the first time in 2024 and we have the Merrylands 50’s this morning. Good luck to everyone who has entered the event and the winner will celebrate after 3 gruelling rounds of Preliminaries, Semi-Finals and Final.

Photos from the Christmas novelty events

Merrylands SwimFest

Only just over a month now to our big event of the season. Entries for the 2024 Merrylands SwimFest are open and are filling fast. Our members get a 25% discount off their entries, so make sure you click the correct button to get your club member rate. Entries close on 3^rd February, 2024.

See the SwimFest section of our website for all the details.

Oh, and as always, we need helpers too! Nominate for a position here.

Speedo Sprint Heats

The Metro South-West Speedo Sprint Heats will be held at SOPAC on Saturday 10^th February 2024, commencing at 12.00pm.

This is a great meet for swimmers aged 8 -13 and provides races in each stroke over 50 metres.

We encourage all of our swimmers in these age groups to enter. Entries close Wednesday 31^st January 2024.

Diving Clinic @ SOPAC

Looking for a fun activity during the holidays? Some of the kids from the Junior and Novice squads are attending a fun Diving Clinic at SOPAC on Friday, 19^th January at 10:30am.

Are you interested in attending? If so, book a place on the Aquatic Centre website here. The clinic covers basic acrobatics and stretching, goes through how to safely dive into the water, and different positioning when entering the water. Participants will practice off the edge of the pool before progressing to the 1m platform and then 3m platform depending on their skill and ability. The cost is $37 per person.

Any questions, speak to Denise Assi.

Helping on Saturday Mornings

Thank you for the help on Saturday mornings at club races. We need help every week, so please:

• Arrive before 6:50am to help setup
• Pickup a stopwatch to time keep – we need 16 timekeepers to provide accurate timing – please don’t make us come and ask.
• Help pack up before you leave

Don’t know what needs to be done? Ask a member of the Committee and they can point you in the right direction.

Bring a Friend

Do you have a friend that is looking for something to do during the school holidays? Setting a New Year’s resolution? Wants to get ready for School Swimming Carnivals?

Why not invite them to club races during January? They can get a free 4-week trial membership and just have to pay for their race entries and pool entry. All the details are here.

Swimming Australia National Integrity Framework

Swimming Australia’s new National Integrity Framework came into force on 1^st January 2024.

Further details can be found on the Swimming Australia website.

P-Plate Award

Have you seen something this season that deserves a nomination for the P-Plate award? I am sure we have some early contenders already but are always looking for more nominations. To nominate the person click here.

Lions Club Award

Recognise the contribution one of your fellow members has made. Nominate them for the Lions Club Award online here.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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