100 metre Backstroke Championship Postponed
As you are aware we have taken the tough decision to postpone this week’s Backstroke Championship races. This is disappointing for everyone, however we believe it was the most sensible decision to make given the delay with the starting blocks installation. I’m sure all of our backstroke swimmers will appreciate the decision, as we have all struggled with starting these races as the pool is currently presented.
I am glad to report that installation is progressing. As you can see the pebblecrete repairs have been removed and replaced with tiling. This provides the best base for the installation of the starting blocks and these are due to be installed before next week’s club races.
Notice of the postponement was provided to club members and thus they have had the opportunity to enter a 3rd event today if they had only entered 2 events (per the club by-laws).
We will work to identify the most appropriate date to hold the 100 metre Backstroke Championship races and entries submitted by the closing date this week will be carried over to the new date. No new or late entries will be accepted.
Club Captains
Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains are still open and close at 9.30am next Saturday (27th October, 2018). All financial first claim members can vote for these positions at week 6 (10th November, 2018). Details of the responsibilities and activities of the Club Captains can be found in the By-Laws (copy available on the noticeboard and also on the club website). I encourage all of our eligible members to nominate for these positions. See Graham to nominate.
Swimming Results
Congratulations to Helen Macpherson & Summer Shrestha who competed at the NSW Achiever Squad meet last Saturday, representing our club and Metro South West Area. Both Helen & Summer swam 4 new personal best times from their 4 events and to top it off, Helen also qualified for the NSW Metropolitan Championships for the first time.
8 swimmers also competed last weekend at the NSW State Masters SC Championships. The team took home 24 medals (5 gold, 13 silver, 6 bronze) and finished in 2nd place in Division 2, with all 8 swimmers taking home at least 1 medal. Congratulations to the whole team on their results.
InterClub Cup
The InterClub Cup will be held at Granville Pool on Saturday 24th November, 2018 and this is a short meet where every swimmer (young and not so young) from our club competes. If you need to purchase club uniform items before this meet please see the club Property Officer (Margaret Edwards) & the club website to place an order.
Fundraising
We have a chocolate fundraising activity underway. We still have some boxes available, so if you are yet to take a box or would like to take more or return funds, please see Vicki & Hayley Baker.
50th Anniversary
Our first event celebrating the club’s 50th anniversary swimming season will be
Back To Merrylands Day & pool party on Saturday 10th November, 2018. Emails have been sent to former and life members this week and we had a short article in The Daily Telegraph last Monday advertising the day. If you know any of our former-members please let them know about the day and encourage them to come down to club races that morning. They will have the opportunity to join in club races and relive past glories, as well as some of the older “activities” they undertook.
We will be holding a celebration dinner at the end of the season and this is booked for Saturday 6th April, 2019 at the Holroyd Centre. More details on the
50th Anniversary page.
Did you know?
The anti-wave lane ropes stored in the club room were purchased by the club in 2000 (costing approximately $800 per rope at the time). Prior to this, the pool only had old orange polyethylene ropes with foam floats, as seen in the photo below from our 25th Anniversary carnival in 1993. (The council later purchased their own set of lane ropes, which are the ones used by the general public.) The club's lane ropes are carefully maintained so we can provide the best equipment possible for our members. Over the October long weekend we replaced damaged floats and two tensioners, costing just over $300 in parts. Thanks to Ian Johnston, Peter Johnston & Graham Edwards for performing this maintenance.
The old orange ropes used to be removed from the pool after each club morning and training session. Club members would coil the ropes into washing baskets, before they were transported up to the old clubroom for storage. There was often a bit of competition to see who could remove their rope the fastest, but still keep it tidy in the basket.
There are a few familiar faces in this photo, see if you can spot them. Oh and remember the old blocks?
Whales Tales Online
Do you want the weekly Whales Tales delivered straight to your inbox?
Simply sign-up online, and never miss the latest newsImportant Information for Age Championships
With changes this season to the Swimming NSW calendar some of our club Age Championships will be held on different dates, depending on the age group. The season program details the date for all championships, so check this carefully to ensure you know which dates your events are being held on.
In particular Boys aged 13 years and Girls aged 12 years on 1st October, 2018 and who age up (have a birthday) before the MSW Area Championships on 17th November, 2018 may be affected with a clash in dates for the Age 200 metres Individual Medley championship (being held on 17th November, 2018). If this is the case you may apply to have your Age Championship race moved to another date. This must be done before the closing date (Tuesday 6th November, 2018) of the MSW Area Championships.
Important Information about Race Entries
Entries for races can be lodged
online up to 8.00pm on the Thursday before Saturday races.
To be eligible to enter championships the swimmer must be financial in this season. The swimmer must have swum the same stroke and same distance during the current season (check the program and plan your swims carefully).
Remember there are limits to the number of swims you can do on a Saturday.
If there is a championship for your age (whether you are swimming in it or not) you can swim:
- your Age championship
- the Open championship (subject to having swum in your age championship)
- 2 other events
- Senior Handicap (if 17 and over)
- Relay (if there is one on the program for the day)
If there is NO championship for your age you can swim:
- 3 events
- Senior Handicap (if 17 and over)
- Relay (if there is one on the program for the day)
If you enter too many events your entries for the extra event/s will be withdrawn when the program is prepared for the day.
Technical Officials
Would you like to obtain a technical accreditation? Most roles are now available with an online module. Details can be found at
https://nsw.swimming.org.au/page.php?id=217. Age is from secondary school student up. Best of all these modules are free to members of Swimming NSW. Please see Graham for more information.
Swimming Metro South West are holding a Technical Official Forum tomorrow (Sunday 21st October, 2018) at Revesby Workers Club. This forum is open to any technical official, as well as anyone interested in becoming a technical official, or anyone interested in learning more about what technical officials do. See Graham for more details.
Upcoming Events
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MEET NAME
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MEET DATE
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ONLINE ENTRY CLOSING
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MASC 100metre Backstroke
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TBA
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Closed
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MASC 100metre Breaststroke
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Saturday 27th October
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Thursday 25th October
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Nominations for Club Captains Close
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Saturday 27th October
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MASC 100metre Freestyle
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Saturday 3rd November
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Thursday 1st November
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Back to Merrylands Day
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Saturday 10th November
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MASC 100metre Butterfly
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Saturday 10th November
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Thursday 8th November
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MSW West Area Open Water C/ships
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Sunday 11th November
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Tuesday 6th November
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MSW Area LC C/ships (12 Yrs & Over)
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Sat 17th & Sun 18th November
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Tuesday 6th November
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MASC 200metre Ind Medley (Open)
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Saturday 24th November
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Thursday 22nd November
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Whales Challenge
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Saturday 24th November
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Thursday 22nd November
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Parramatta Inter-Club Cup
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Saturday 24th November
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Masters Long Distance C/ship
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Sunday 25th November
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Friday 16th November
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Tech Talk
Breaststroke – simultaneous and separated hands at turns and finishes:
Member Profile
Here is our 2nd member profile and this is one of our club’s original members:
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Name:
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Glenda Wood
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Age:
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22+
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Year Joined:
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1968 (that’s 50 years this season)
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Positions held: (if relevant)
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Marshall/Check Starter & child minder
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Favourite Stroke:
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Freestyle, in my younger days it was Butterfly
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Favourite thing about swimming:
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Exercise and social
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Favourite food:
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Anything I shouldn’t eat
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Favourite TV show:
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Home & Away
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When I grow up I want to be:
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CBA Banker
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Favourite Swimmer:
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Shane Gould, I even raced her in our heydays
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See Graham to provide your profile information for inclusion in future editions of the Whales Tales as we would like to provide a profile of our members throughout the season.