2005/2006 Season Review - Features | Merrylands A.S.C. Inc.

2005/2006 marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club. The appointment of a new coach and a revamped training program, the break through of some new swimmers to our representative teams and an increase in club members were just some of the events in another successful season.

The 2005/2006 season was preceded by the search for, and appointment of a new coach, following the resignation of long-time coach Kristen Sunner. With some big shoes to fill, one of the club's former assistant coaches, Peter Johnston, was eventually appointed to the position, closely followed by the appointment of 3 new assistant coaches.

The new season began with some brilliant October weather, attracting new members to the club for both the weekly Saturday morning races and weekday training sessions.

The club's Learn to Swim program continued to increase in popularity and numbers. The highlight of the season being the addition of 5 new Austswim Qualified Instructors (Nathan Cause, Todd Jenkin, Sarah Johnston, Meaghan Legge and Rhys Legge) to our Instructor ranks.

The 2005/2006 season also saw the running of the Open 1500m Freestyle Championships for Men and Women for the second time. Held on a Friday night in February again, 9 swimmers battled it our over the 30 laps. Both Championship records were broken, with the Mens event won by Mitchell Emery and the Womens by Brittany Johnson.

The season's events remained largely unchanged from the previous year. Some members were able to successfully defend their titles while some events saw the emergence of new champions. Having broken Team Johnston's strangle hold on the Relay Competition last year, the Merrylands Mermaids were unable to defend their title as a new team "The Swimmers" swept all before them, convincingly winning the competition. In the Senior Handicap, it was a different story as Glen Stanford dominated the competition for a second year straight.

Brittany Johnson received the Champion of Champions Award for the third year in a row after winning both her Age and Open Championships, placing second in the Female Graded Pointscore and setting 11 club records. Brittany also represented the club at the Cumberland and Metropolitan Championships and also qualified for her first ever State Championships.
At the other end of the scale, Stephanie Ibrahim was presented with the Jack Smart Encouragement Award after steadily improving over the season.

In the Graded Pointscore, Greg Stanford, was awarded the Michael Rossek Trophy for the highest placed Junior Boy in the Graded Races Pointscore while Amber Johnson received the Ronald Exley Trophy for the highest placed Junior Girl. Amber's victory in the Graded Pointscore made her the most successful Graded Pointscore swimmer in the club's history, becoming the only swimmer to have won the competition on 4 separate occasions.

2005/2006 was also a turning point for our representative teams. After a gradual decline over the last couple of years, the number of swimmers representing our club during the season increased slightly. The moving of the Summer Metropolitan Championships to early March from its usual December date (due the Commonwealth Games) helped to boost our team numbers, giving our swimmers extra time to qualify for the meet.
During the season we had swimmers competing at all levels up to and including State Age Championships with our teams consisting of a mixture of new and experienced swimmers. Some swimmers returned to teams after not qualifying or competing in the previous year, some were rookies, qualifying for their first representative team while others added new events to their roster or qualified for new teams.
Brittany Johnson qualified for her first State Championships while Anthony Ventra qualified for the Metropolitan Championships for the first time, competing at both the Long & Short Course Championships. Brittany became our first Metropolitan Finalist since 2003, finishing 7th in the 100m Breaststroke at the Short Course Championships. Both Brittany and Anthony also won their first ever District Championship medals at the Cumberland Short Course Championships, both in the 50m Breaststroke.
Our club was also represented by relay teams at both the State Age & District Championships for the first time since 2001, with our Boys 11-12yrs 4x50m Medley Relay team winning the silver medal at the Cumberland Championships.
Five of our swimmer's performances at District meets over the summer were recognised with selection in the 2006 Cumberland District Development Squads.
Our representative teams would have been even larger without the removal of the 50m events from the Short Course programs for the Metropolitan & State Age Championships. The changes to the programs meant that 3 swimmers missed out on competing at these meets.

In the Club Championships, the Senior Mens Age Championship was the most hotly contested with 9 swimmers competing in the age group. The 12yrs Boys Age Championship was also well contested with 6 swimmers competing and two swimmers finishing equal first. 19 Championship records were broken over the season, the same number as the previous season.

Rachel Johnston
	Senior Womens 50m Backstroke	(Karen Pender, Kristy Smith, 1997/98)
Todd Jenkin
	Senior Mens 100m Freestyle	(Robert Griffey, 2001/02)
	Senior Mens 50m Breaststroke	(Peter Johnston, 2001/02)
	Senior Mens 100m Breaststroke	(Peter Johnston, 2001/02)
	Open Mens 100m Breaststroke	(Todd Jenkin, 2003/04)
	Open Mens 200m Breaststroke	(Todd Jenkin, 2003/04)
Brittany Johnson
	15yrs Girls 50m Freestyle	(P. Walters, 1976/77)
	15yrs Girls 200m Freestyle	(Samantha Anderson, 2003/04)
	15yrs Girls 400m Freestyle	(D. Fielder, 1972/73)
	15yrs Girls 50m Backstroke	(S. Lee, 1982/83)
	15yrs Girls 100m Backstroke	(N. Fenton, 1973/74)
	15yrs Girls 50m Breaststroke	(Natalie Green, 1998/99)
	15yrs Girls 100m Breaststroke	(C. Ellen, 1972/73)
	15yrs Girls 50m Butterfly	(P. Walters, 1982/83)
	15yrs Girls 100m Butterfly	(L. Childs, 1980/81)
	15yrs Girls 200m Individual Medley	(A. Exley, 1983/84)
	Open Womens 1500m Freestyle	(Brittany Johnson, 2004/05)
Mitchell Emery
	Open Mens 1500m Freestyle	(Todd Jenkin, 2004/05)
David Wang
	12yrs Boys 200m Individual Medley	(D. Turner, 1978/79)

2005/2006 saw the running of our annual swimming meet, the Merrylands SwimFest, at Merrylands for the fourth time. The weather was outstanding with the meet beginning in brilliant sunshine and running very smoothly. The meet again featured the use of AOE & SAT timing equipment and entries were the third highest in the last 8 years. Our club had 43 swimmers competing. Our members won 49 medals and our club also topped the club pointscore.

Our club also hosted the Cumberland Sprint Meet at Merrylands Swimming Centre for the first time. Again held in brilliant sunshine, our members performed well both in and out of the water, winning a number of medals but also instrumental in the running of the meet.

Finally, our Winter Competition was held for the third time and despite low numbers the competition was again very tight. Peter Johnston won the male competition and Glenda Wood the female competition.

See Also

2005/2006 Rankings

New Coach Appointed

2005/2006 Presentation Evening

NSW State Age Distance Championships - Team

NSW State Age Distance Championships - Results

NSW State Age 9-12yrs Championships - Team

NSW State Age 9-12yrs Championships - Results

Cumberland Open & Age Championships - Team

Cumberland Open & Age Championships - Results

NSW Metropolitan Championships - Team

NSW Metropolitan Championships - Results

Cumberland Sprint Meet Results