Issue 22, 2025/2026 by Matthew Vicic - 6th March, 2026

Download

Saturday Club Races

Club races start at 7:00am, but we still need our awesome helpers there by 6:45 latest to help set up.

Next week (Saturday 14^th March) is our last Championship for the season. The 1500m Freestyle culminates a terrific season of championship racing. We are likely to have 2 heats and really need everyone arriving by 6.45am to help with timekeeping and to cheer on our swimmers.

Perpetual Trophies Reminder

As the final week of club races draws closer, please ensure that any perpetual trophies currently in your possession are returned, dusted and ready to be presented to their next deserving winners.

Leo Zhu – NSW State Open Championships

Congratulations to Leo Zhu, who will be competing at the NSW State Open Championships this weekend. This is a fantastic opportunity for Leo to test himself against some of the best swimmers in the state.

We wish Leo the very best in his races and are proud to see him representing Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club at this level. Good luck Leo — the whole pod is cheering you on! 💙🐋

School Carnival Season

We are loving hearing all about your school carnival results, PBs and ribbons galore! It’s fantastic to see so many of our swimmers stepping up and racing with confidence.

So please keep sending through all your fintastic achievements! 

Merrylands/Parramatta PSSA – Results

The Merrylands/Parramatta PSSA Carnival was held on Wednesday. Congratulations to all our whales that swam and thank you to all our volunteers that took the time out of there busy schedules to assist at the event (another fundraising effort for the club). A reminder that you can nominate any financial member for the Lions Club award, which is an award that is voted by the Committee based upon volunteers and helpers. Meets like this can’t run smoothly without support from our wonderful community.

Coaching Reminders

Attendance Reminder:

If you know you will be away from training, please remember to mark your attendance online prior to the session/s. This helps our super-duper coaches plan sessions appropriately and make sure everyone gets the most out of training.

Training Session update:

Our last training session at Merrylands will be on 23rd April. Training will then take a one-week break before returning (at Wentworthville Pool) on 4th May… also known as Star Wars Day!

Enjoy the short break, and we look forward to seeing everyone back in the pool on May the Fourth. May the Force be with you! 🏊‍♂️✨ 

Swimmer Spotlight – Jack Bishop

This week we shine the spotlight on Jack Bishop, one of our newer swimmers who has quickly found his place in the Merrylands pod and is enjoying both the racing and the friendships that come with club swimming.

Tell us about your swimming journey

A: I started Learn to Swim when I was about 4 years old with Royal Life Saving at Seven Hills. I didn’t want to progress to squads there as it was a 25m pool and there seemed to be a lot of shouting from the coaches. My first swimming carnival was in Year 2, and I remember nearly passing out in the 50m freestyle — but I made it to the end! I recently joined Merrylands Club and have been loving it ever since, specially making new friends and being able to see people other than my school friends.

Favourite stroke

A: Freestyle and Breaststroke. Breaststroke is very calm for me. My least favourite stroke is Backstroke because of the sun in my eyes!

Best swimming achievement so far

A: I’ve collected about 13 swimming ribbons from school carnivals — mostly first place!

Swimming goal for this year

A: At this year’s school carnival, I didn’t do the 200IM, so I’d like to work up my training this year to do the 200IM at next year’s school carnival. First step is to work on my 50m butterfly!

Something interesting about you

A: I’m a car guy. I love looking at cars and the modifications done to them. I enjoy watching drag racing and burnout competitions — my next one might be Summernats. My favourite cars would be a Chevy or a Dodge.

What happened to your nose?

A: I was doing a 360 backflip on an airbag and got friction burn.

ANZAC Day Commemoration

Members are invited to attend the ANZAC Day service at Merrylands on Saturday, 25th April. This is a wonderful opportunity for our members to come together to represent our club and pay our respects.

We meet at Merrylands RSL Club and then participate in the march to Charles Mance Reserve, 6 Newman St, Merrylands. A wreath will be laid on behalf of the club, and attendees are also invited to return afterwards at Merrylands RSL Club for a breakfast provided by the RSL club.

We encourage members who are available to come along and support this important community event. More information will be provided closer to the event, so stay tuned.

Lions Club Award Nominees

With the recent wealth of SwimFest activities there were a bundle of nominations received for the Our Lions Club award. The nominees for February were:

Thankyou to everyone who helped during the month. Whilst you may not have received a nomination we do greatly appreciate all the help we receive every week.

P-Plate Award

We like to recognise and reward all efforts during the season, and the P-Plate award is the perfect way to recognise something silly someone has done during the season. Click on the link below to nominate someone.

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.

Club Uniforms

Need uniform items before the end of the season? Items can be purchased through the club’s online shop club shop.

Club AGM & Annual Presentation

As the season draws to a close we turn our eyes to planning the Club AGM and Annual Presentation.

We have selected the dates for these so we ask that you put these in your calendar:

We will provide more information as we get closer to these dates

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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