Issue 1, 2024/2025 by Graham Edwards - 11th October, 2024

Download

Welcome to Season 2024-2025

And so, another season of club races commences. Welcome back to Merrylands Swimming Centre and a special welcome to new members joining our club. With the swimming centre opening during September, we have had a taste of racing already, but the point score and Championship program of races commence today.

A big thank you to everyone who helped over the two weeks of the Spring Racing Carnival. It was great to see so many people helping to setup and taking on new roles. A high benchmark has been set for the rest of the season!

Committee 2024/2025

The AGM of the club was held in June. The Executive and Committee elected for 2024/2025 are:

Executive Members

Committee Members

If you have questions about the club, please speak to any of the above Executive and Committee Members.

School Holiday Activities

The Social Committee was busy organising activities over the school holiday period. A big thank you to the Social Committee as the events have been a big hit. Some photos from these events are included at the end of this issue.

Keep an eye out for future social events, they are a great way to get together outside the pool.

Metro South West LC Championships

The Metro South West LC Championships will be held on Saturday 26^th & Sunday 27^th October at SOPAC.

Entries close this Wednesday 16^th October.

The program of events and qualifying times are available here.

Club Uniforms

We have a great range of club uniforms in stock available for sale. These can be purchased through the club’s online shop club shop . Some items may require a special order to be placed with our suppliers, so planning orders ahead of time will allow for the items to be delivered.

If you have any questions about club uniforms please talk to the Property Officer, Margaret Edwards.

Learn to Swim – Club offer

Our Learn to Swim program starts next Saturday, 19^th October 2024, at 9.15am.

Lessons will run in two blocks:

• Saturday, 19^th October to Saturday, 14^th December, 2024
• Saturday, 1^st February to Saturday, 22^nd March, 2025*

* there will be no lesson on 15^th February, due to the SwimFest meet being held that day.

Lesson times are:

• Child Lessons start at 9:15am and finish at 9:45am.
• Adult Lessons start at 9:30am and finish at 10:15am.

More information can be found on the club website.

Normal Pool Entry applies to participants and spectators when attending lessons.

Learn to Swim – Council offer

Council is offering learn to swim lessons at Merrylands Swimming Centre this season. To find out more visit the Council website at https://www.cumberland.nsw.gov.au/learn-swim-school or ask the pool staff.

NSW Masters SC State Championships

The NSW Masters Short Course State Championships are being held this weekend in Canberra.

We have two members representing our club at these Championships. Good luck to Alison Sakurovs & Varant Jambazian, who are both competing in 5 events each. May the Whale be with you both

Club Captains

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains are open and close at 9.30am on week 4 (2^nd November). Financial first claim members aged 14 years and over as at 1 October can be elected to the position of male and female captain.

Information about the duties and responsibilities of Club Captains can be found on the club website in the By-Laws.

All financial first claim members can vote for these positions on week 6 (9^th November).

Nominate a member

Parramatta Inter-Club Cup

We will take on Parramatta City and McCredie Park at Wentworthville Swimming Centre on Saturday, 9^th November in this year’s Inter-Club Cup. This is a great event for all our members with events from 7yrs & Under through to 50yrs & Over, and we need everyone’s help to win the cup back.

Swimming NSW Rule Changes

A number of changes have been made across a range of areas, including SNSW meet eligibility and qualification (pool & Open Water competition) and to reflect updates to World Aquatics rules, wordings and interpretations.

Emails were sent by SNSW to all members at the start of October, however we want to provide information on a couple of changes that are more likely to directly affect our members in races.

Breaststroke (SW7.6)

At each turn and at the finish of the race, the touch shall be made with both hands separated* and simultaneously at, above, or below the water level. At the last stroke before the turn and at the finish an arm stroke not followed by a leg kick is permitted. The head may be submerged after the last arm pull prior to the touch, provided it breaks the surface of the water at some point during the last complete or incomplete cycle preceding the touch. (WA SW7.6)

* Separated means that the hands cannot be stacked one on top of the other. It is not necessary to see space between the hands. Incidental contact at the fingers is not a concern.

What does this mean?

You must use a two-hand touch at the wall at a turn or the finish of the breaststroke (or breaststroke section of a medley) race. You cannot have one hand on top of the other.

Medley Events – Freestyle Portion (SW9.2)

In Freestyle the swimmer must be on the breast except when executing a turn. The swimmer must return to the breast before any kick or stroke. Leaving the wall on the back during the freestyle portion is permissible but no kicking action is permitted until the swimmer has returned past the vertical to the breast at which point kicking, including a butterfly kick(s) may commence. (WA SW9.2).

What does this mean?

You cannot kick or execute a stroke when you leave the wall after a turn in the Freestyle portion of a Medley event until you are on your breast (i.e. not on your back).

To view all of the current rules visit the SNSW website at https://nsw.swimming.org.au/about-us/policies-procedures-nsw

Help Required

As we mentioned earlier it was great to see so many people help during the Spring Racing Carnival, with some taking on new roles they had not undertaken before.

To run club races within the 2-hour timeframe there are many tasks that need to be undertaken, from setup, running races and pack up.

Detailed information about the setup and pack up are attached and any help you can provide is greatly appreciated and helps us have races start on time and the pool cleared at the end of races.

Help during races is also vital, as there are many roles to be performed. We ask that at least one parent of each swimmer assist with roles such as timekeeping (our Marshalls can work with your child/children to ensure they do not miss their races).

We need 2 timekeepers per lane so please step forward to help on the morning. Timekeepers should report to the Chief Timekeeper (Denise Assi) before races commence so we can assign you to a lane and determine which additional lanes we need to fill.

If you are interested in learning more about officiating, or learning about some of the other roles around the pool, please see Graham, as we can provide a range of information and assistance to help you achieve accreditations for these roles.

To find more information about officiating you can also see the Swimming NSW website here.

Swimming Centres update

You may be aware that Guildford Swimming Centre is closed and has been demolished ready for the redevelopment of the new centre. It is likely the new swimming centre will not be open until 2025 or 2026. This means we will see more patronage (including the Council run Learn to Swim program) over this period at Merrylands Swimming Centre.

We have been active in meeting with Council over the winter period to discuss Merrylands Swimming Centre (including some quick improvements as well as the Modernisation project). As part of our representations Council agreed to extend the opening months of Merrylands Swimming Centre from mid-September to the end of April. This allowed us to hold the short Spring Racing Carnival and we will look at again providing a short race carnival during April next year.

Council has committed to the modernisation of Merrylands Swimming Centre; however, this will not occur until after Guildford Swimming Centre is completed and opened. At present Council is working on concept plans for Merrylands Swimming Centre and we will be involved in that work as plans are further developed, so that the needs of our club are addressed.

In the interim period we are seeking State Government grant funding to improve the current change rooms and install new shade coverings to the 50m pool. Stay tuned as we work towards obtaining these funds.

Seen a Problem? Get it Fixed

Whilst we wait for the modernisation of the swimming centre there will be issues we see that need addressing. Regular cleaning of the changerooms is one of the things we have again raised with Council and we have seen an improvement in this in the past couple of weeks.

However, if you see something that needs fixing you can also elevate this directly with Council by logging the issue here.

Lions Club Award

Seen someone that deserves recognition for their efforts in helping out? Nominate them for the Lions Club Award, our peak award to recognise our volunteers over the season.

Nominate a volunteer

Our wonderful September nominees were:

Thank you to all of you for your help

P-Plate Award

With the start of the season keep an eye out for someone making a silly mistake. We like to recognise and reward all efforts during the season and the P-Plate award is the perfect way to do this.

Nominate a silly mistake

Make a Donation

We have partnered with the Australian Sports Foundation to allow supporters to make tax-deductible donations to the club.

Funds raised will go towards upgrading and maintaining our timing equipment and results systems, providing better facilities for you, our members.

Of course, we will also continue to seek grants and sponsorship to help fund these purchases, but any donation you make will help us to reach our goals faster.

Make a donation

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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

Set Up & Pack Up on Saturday Mornings

There is a lot to do in set up and pack up on Saturday mornings – thank you to the members who have been arriving early and/or staying back to help.

These are some of the things that need to be done, with an emphasis commencing on time: -

Priority Items

• Shelter and side shade for the recorders on the lane 1 start side of the pool – lives in the clubroom near the side door.

• Plastic table and 4 (grey) chairs for the recorders. Table lives in the shed. Grey chairs from the club room.

• Wireless Router to be fitted to the time clock pole at the start end, plugged in and switched on.

• Starter podium and witches’ hats (to remind people not to walk in front of the Starter and Referee) – lives in the shed, front left corner.

• Power cables for computers to be connected to same power point as Router on pole.

• Speaker etc for starting device – lives in plastic box on Starter's podium. Place speaker on lane 8 side securely next to pole of backstroke flags and roll cable along pool deck coping to lane 1 side. Cover exposed cable with cable guards (see below).

• Starting device tripod – lives in the clubroom near the side door (same place as shelter and side shade)

• Starting device – will be on charge in the clubroom on kitchen bench

• Cable guards (6 yellow) for the Recorders & speaker for the Starter – these live in the shed.

Important Items

• Stopwatches and clipboards – black case lives in the locker in the clubroom and needs to be set up on a folding table from the shed. Turn them on.

• 15m (false start) rope (in box with Starter’s podium) and poles (in ‘old club room’). You will need someone to show you how this works and you will be so proud of yourself when you master it!

• 25m rope (for 25m, 33m & 15m races). Lives in the shed in a wire trolley and needs to be rolled out along the end (preferably 50m end) of the pool.

Final items

• Block covers removed and put out of the way under the blue shelter.

• Chairs setup for Timekeepers at both ends of the pool. Chairs live in the shed and there is a trolley to move them.

• Presentation dais (only for Championship days) – lives in the clubroom under the trophy cabinet right side as you enter.

• Umbrellas if it is raining – found in a black plastic drum trolly in the Shed – good luck wheeling this one 😊 Including the beach umbrella for the Starter.

Pack up; return everything to the location it is stored and please be careful in handling cables and ropes so as not to tangle. Sometimes the blocks get a wash if we can find a working hose.

On rainy days, placement of the recording table and all associated equipment including router will be on the veranda of the Clubhouse.  No need for shelter and tables.