Summer
I’m sure summer is somewhere nearby, we just need to look a bit harder for it. A wet and cool start to the season seems to be continuing but we had a good number of swimmers and learn to swim participants for our first week of races & grading last week. Let’s hope the sun arrives soon.
Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains are open and close at 9.30am on week 4 (27th October, 2018). All financial first claim members can vote for these positions on 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.
Our first event celebrating the club’s 50th anniversary swimming season will be Back To Merrylands Day & pool party on Saturday 10th November, 2018. 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. There will be a range of activities throughout the day, as the club and council celebrate the original opening of the pool which was on 9th November 1968. More information is available on the
Back to Merrylands page.
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 will be available on the
50th Anniversary page.
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.
The Masters meet and annual Merrylands SwimFest will be held back-to-back on Saturday 23rd February, 2019. We will need your assistance at both of these meets, as hosting meets is the major fund raising activity for our club.
Our club website is a key information source, so save this to your favourites and keep up-to-date with the latest news and information throughout the season. The 2018/2019 Program is available on the club website. Please review this to plan your swims, especially to ensure that you qualify for upcoming championships, as these commence on 20th October, 2018.
Good luck to our Masters swimmers who are competing this weekend at the NSW Masters Short Course Championships on the Central Coast. May the whale be with you all.
Vale Jim Earl
We were saddened to hear during the week that one of the club’s first coaches, Jim Earl, passed away in August. Jim, together with Harry Vella, were the first swimming coaches of the club, running morning and afternoon sessions. They ran a tight ship ensuring swimmers worked hard and improved their skills. A few of our current members were in the squads Jim coached and have fond memories of these sessions.
Jim moved to live on the Central Coast when he retired and was the patron of the NSW Super Senior Golf Association, having been a co-founder of the NSW Super Senior Pennants competition.
Important Information for Club Age Championships this season
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.
Check the
Championships page for more information.
Important Information about Race Entries
Entries for races can be lodged either on manual race cards or online. There are cut-off dates for all race entries and these deadlines will be adhered to. So to make sure you have entries for races on the following Saturday please ensure:
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Manual Card Entries
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These must be placed in the maroon entry box by 6pm Wednesday. Cards (including from a family) should be bound together with an elastic band.
To ensure that you have entries in we suggest you purchase the cards on the Saturday prior and place them in the maroon box before you leave on that day.
Manual race cards will not be sold during the week at training etc
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Online Entries
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These can be submitted on the club website and need to be entered by 8pm Thursday
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If you need to change a race entry already lodged please email race.secretary@merrylandsasc.asn.au 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).
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 on Sunday 21st October 2018 at Revesby Workers Club. This forum is free and 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. So if you are interested in attending this forum please see Graham for more details.
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Member Profile
We are re-introducing the member profile and we would like to provide a profile of our members throughout the season. See Graham to provide your profile information for inclusion in future editions of the Whales Tales. First cab off the rank is:
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Name:
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William Johnston
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Age:
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4
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Year Joined:
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2014
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Positions held: (if relevant)
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Parent co-ordinator
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Favourite Stroke:
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Butterfly wings
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Favourite thing about swimming:
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I got to break my record
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Favourite food:
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Bacon
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Favourite TV show:
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Extreme Railway Journeys
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When I grow up I want to be:
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Train Driver
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Favourite Swimmer:
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Mummy and Daddy
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Did you know?
Your $82 swimming membership fee is distributed to 4 different organisations. Only 8% of the $82 goes to the club.
Upcoming Events
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MEET NAME
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MEET DATE
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ENTRY CLOSING DATE
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MASC 100metre Backstroke
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Saturday 20th October
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Wednesday 17th October
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MASC 100metre Breaststroke
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Saturday 27th October
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Wednesday 24th 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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Wednesday 31st October
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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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Wednesday 7th 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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Wednesday 21st November
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Whales Challenge
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Saturday 24th November
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Wednesday 21st 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
With the 100 metre Backstroke championship next week here are some key things to remember:
- You must swim on your back throughout the race, except when executing a turn when you may turn onto the breast (see points below for more details of the turn);
- You can be completely submerged for a distance of no more than 15 metres after the start and each turn, but by that point your head must have broken the surface of the water and some part of your body must break the surface of the water throughout the race, except when executing a turn;
- When executing a turn:
- you must touch the wall with some part of your body in your own lane;
- during the turn your shoulders may be turned over the vertical to the breast after which an immediate continuous single arm pull or simultaneous double arm pull may be used to initiate the turn;
- you must have returned to the position on your back upon leaving the wall;
- To finish the race you must touch the wall while on your back in your own lane and you cannot be completely submerged before or at the finish.
I'm sure we already have at least one of these!
Guess what's in the boxes?
