Issue 13, 2019/2020 by Graham Edwards - 18th January, 2020

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Air Quality Conditions

As we all know the air quality in Sydney has been varied over the bushfire period so far. This has impacted on squad training sessions and also led to the late cancellation of club races last Saturday morning.

Swimming NSW has recently provided best practice guidelines for clubs in smoke-affected areas. These guidelines are sourced from the AIS and utilise the Air Quality Index to assist clubs in considering what activities may be impacted by air quality changes. The Committee will be discussing these recently provided guidelines to establish our club’s practices during these periods of time.

Check the club website for updates on whether squad training sessions are on, before leaving for the pool each day. If sessions are cancelled, an update will be posted on the club website by 3:30pm on that day.

Member Contact Information

To assist the club in providing you with timely information, such as cancellations, it is important that your contact information in Swim Central is up-to-date. Contact details, such as mobile phone numbers are used to forward urgent sms alerts to members and we noticed last Saturday morning that many members contact details are not up-to-date in Swim Central.

Please take the time to check your details in Swim Central and update them if they are missing or have changed since you last provided them.

Whales Challenge #2

Today we are holding the 2nd Whales Challenge. Maroon came back late to win Round 1. Can White even the score? Even the Melbourne Renegades have won a game, so there is no reason why White cannot win this week. Teams remain the same throughout the season, so make sure you wear your team cap to score points for your team. Maroon silicon caps are available for purchase through the club shop: https://shop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/

Speedo Sprint Series – Metro South West Heats

Entries for the Speedo Sprint Series close on Tuesday, 21st January at 5pm. We already have a good number of swimmers from our club entered but we would like to see all of our swimmers aged 8-13yrs who can swim 50m enter this meet. Speak to your coach if you are unsure whether you should enter. Entries are completed online. See the website for details.

Merrylands SwimFest & Masters Meets – Saturday 22nd February, 2020

Our biggest event this summer and we need all hands on deck either as swimmers and/or helpers.

Today’s featured job: Set up and pack up – club members have displayed a “well oiled machine” approach to setting up and packing up in the past, so we plan to achieve this again. We will need to carry out activities such as lane rope & backstroke flag changeovers, erecting gazebos, installing touch pads, setting up the bbq as well as a bunch of other jobs. We look forward to everyone helping with these tasks. Speak to Graham to put your name down.

Our Masters Meet is open to all swimmers 18yrs & Over. You don’t need to be a member of Masters Swimming to enter, so if you think you would like to try competing, give it a go! The SwimFest is open to all swimmers and is great practice for school carnivals. See the website for details on how to enter.

Junior, Development and Age Squad Skills & Drills Workshops

These workshops will be held on Thursday mornings during January from 7am to 8:15am. The first one was held last week and we are looking forward to seeing the work done on starts put into practice this morning. There is one workshop left - register on the website if you would like to attend: https://squadshop.merrylandsasc.asn.au/

Fun Facts

• There is enough water in Olympic-sized pools to take 9400 baths;
• Swimming dates back to 2500BCE and can be seen in ancient Egyptian drawings. Breaststroke goes back to the Stone Ages, but it wasn’t until 1904 when it was swum competitively at the Olympics;
• The first recorded version of swimming goggles was during the 14th century in Persia. It wasn’t until the 1930s when rubber goggles were created;
• Swimming is one of the most intense sports out there. The reason is because swimming is a full body exercise. You name the muscle, swimming uses it. Swimming burns almost 30% more calories than running per hour;
• Elephants swim an average of 32 kilometres a day, so why are they so big then???

Australia Swims

Now in its third year, the initiative encourages all Australians to celebrate their love of the water and commit the distance they plan to swim in January – whether it’s 50 metres or 50 kilometres – to a nationwide challenge. Whilst we are now halfway through January there is still time for you to register and participate in this event. For more details see https://australiaswims.com.au/

Whales Tales Online

To play our part in waste reduction we are considering moving the weekly Whales Tales to online content only. Do you want the weekly Whales Tales delivered straight to your inbox? Simply sign-up online, and never miss the latest news.

Upcoming Events

Sponsors

We again thank our major sponsors who provide fantastic support to our club. If you know of a business or organisation who may be interested in providing sponsorship or support to our club please let Graham know.