Issue 5, 2026/2027 by Graham Edwards - 30th October, 2026

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Setup Help Needed in the Morning

We have the 100m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke in the morning and as we are installing the touchpads for the morning’s races, we ask that you arrive early (6.30am) to help us with the additional setup needed. This will assist us in starting races on time at 7.00am.

Whales Challenge Result

Last week saw the first of our Club Championship races run in conjunction with the first of our season’s Whales Challenges. What a great start to these events, with the Whales Challenge competition coming down to the relays to decide the team taking a 1-0 lead in the competition. The final pointscore was:

Congratulations to the White team

The Skins event was exciting, with Joseph Assi finishing ahead of Tomas Dlesk in the final. Congratulations to both Joseph & Tomas on making the final in a hotly contested event.

The 2^nd Whales Challenge will be held on Saturday 21^st November, so a chance for the Maroon team to even the ledger.

Championship Results

Congratulations to everyone who qualified for and swam in the 200m Individual Medley Championships last week.

We celebrated the first new club record for the season, with Tomas Dlesk setting a new record of 2.50:48 in the 13 Year Boys event, breaking he previous record of 2.53:05 set by Matthew Vicic in 2020. Congratulations Tomas

Age results were:

Open results were:

Club Captain Nominations

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains closed last week. Congratulations to the following swimmers who have been nominated for these important roles:

Male Captain

Joseph Assi

Maximilian Okorovik

Jokubas Urbonas

Female Captain

Grace Brancatisano

Gabriella Assi

Scarlett Hannan

Lisa Shrestha

We invite all swimmers accepting their nomination to provide a bio and photo to be included in the online voting system. All financial first claim members will be invited to submit their online vote in Week 6.

MSW Open Water Championships

Good luck to Tomas Dlesk who is swimming in the MSW Open Water Championships tomorrow at the Sydney International Regatta Centre. Tomas is swimming in the 5klm event. May the whale be with youalthough we hope you don’t bump into any whales in the regatta centre 😊

Learn the timing system

As we mentioned last week, we're looking for a volunteer to learn and assist with operating the club's timing system and race computer on Saturday mornings.

The role requires regular attendance at club races, including setup and pack-up, attention to detail, and either a good understanding of swimming competition or a willingness to learn.

Training and support will be provided.

Interested? Please speak to Peter Johnston to learn more about the role and what's involved.

Guessing Competition

Today is the day, who will walk away with all the goodies?

Last minute guesses? See Sylvia

Hang around after races today to find out!

Learn to Swim Assistants 🏊‍♂️🏊‍♀️

Thank you to all of our eager assistants who are participating in the Learn to Swim sessions. It is great to see so many of our junior members stepping up to help and develop their knowledge and skills. Your help is greatly appreciated.

The Spring Learn to Swim program runs until Saturday 12 December 2026. Assistants are required from 9:15am to 9:45am.

Become a Qualified Timekeeper

Thank you to our parents who attended the Timekeeper training session last Saturday after club races. It was great to see so many attend and take the next step by undertaking the online test. Denise Assi organised a great morning tea as a thank you.

Our parents who attended the training session were:

In addition, Johnson Chan, Kylee Murray & Michael Condon subsequently viewed the video and successfully undertook the online test.

Missed out on the session? Don’t fret, you can still undertake the course online. Ages from secondary school up are able to become a technical official in NSW, so we encourage our younger members to also undertake this training.

Use this link to visit the Swimming Australia course information:

https://totraining.swimming.org.au/courses/timekeeper

You can complete the training at home and if you have any questions, please ask Denise (Chief Timekeeper) or Graham.

Swimmer Spotlight – Margaret Edwards

It’s time to delve into the club’s archives and learn more about one of our original club members and someone who does a lot of work behind the scenes.

Tell us about your swimming journey

My swimming story started back in primary school at Parramatta Pools. I distinctly remember crushing my "4 yards" certificate in Learn to Swim, which sounds a lot grander until you realise it's a very impressive 3.6 meters!

In 1969 (just one year after the Merrylands pool officially opened and MASC was formed) my mum signed me up for squads. I remember my coaches, Mr Vella and Mr Earl, and the dreaded 1,500m sets we had to face every single Wednesday morning! Friday night club races were just as intense; I had eight incredibly strong swimmers in my age group, so it was very challenging for me. I was a Club Captain at one stage.

When Graham & I started dating he join the Club. After we married, he decided that he had impressed his in-laws and hung up his cozzie for a period of time. In more recent times we also joined squads and he inspired me to also do Masters swimming.

Favourite stroke

Freestyle, because it's the easiest stroke! My goal is to make it to the end of the pool and continue swimming for general health and fitness.

What do you like about the Club

I love how family-oriented it is. Merrylands Club has been a massive part of my life, and I’ve been involved in just about every way possible - from swimming, instructing Learn to Swim, to looking after the gear as Property Officer, and conducting very important Technical Official duties for Area meets and championships. I also regularly assist other clubs at their meets. I have been on the Club Committee for many years now and am also the Junior Vice President.

Our family history runs deep here. Back in the day, my Dad was on the pool deck timekeeping. Later, my eldest son Matthew swam here, and we always claimed our own little family spot against the brick wall to cheer everyone on.

These days, I love watching our younger swimmers improve and helping them succeed. Though, for the record, I still don't mind diving in and racing against them!

Tell us something interesting about yourself

When I'm not at the pool, I love spending time with my grandchildren, working in the garden, going to musicals and enjoying Graham's company. I enjoy going to the AFL games, barracking for the Giants, which raises some family banter as we all barrack for different teams. I also have an interesting and relaxing passion for jigsaw puzzles.

Swimmer Spotlight

We like to spend time learning about our members, as everyone has interesting backgrounds and interests that we may have not heard about. If you haven’t been involved yet and would like to be part of our Swimmer Spotlight (also open to Members who do not swim!) let Sylvia Chan know, she would love to hear from you.

Lions Club Award

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

Nominate a volunteer

P-Plate Award

As the season rolls along 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

Walk to defeat MND

The Sydney Walk to Defeat MND is next week, so you still have time to register, participate and fundraise for the day. If you are unable to make the walk event, there is also the opportunity to make a donation and help with the fundraising effort. So far, we have raised over $4,300, so we are closing in on our goal of $5,000

When: Sunday, 8^th November 2026

Time: Walk starts 9:00 am

Distance: Approx 5 km

Location: Blaxland Riverside Park, Sydney Olympic Park

Join the MASC team here:

https://www.walktodefeatmnd.org.au/fundraisers/merrylandsamateurswimmingclub

Event details:

https://www.walktodefeatmnd.org.au/sydney26

Please note: You'll need to register your vehicle to access two hours of free parking.

Club Uniforms

Need to purchase uniforms or equipment? They can be ordered and purchased through the club’s online shop, visit club shop. We have a new supply of club polo shirts in stock now!

Swimming National Integrity Framework

We continue providing information about the Swimming Australia National Integrity Framework.

The 4th of the 6 policies is the Competition Manipulation & Sports Gambling Policy

The purpose of this Policy is to protect the integrity of Swimming through the prevention, detection, and enforcement of rules relating to the manipulation of Swimming’s sports competitions and associated illicit sports betting activity. Through this Policy, Swimming Australia aims to ensure that its core values, good reputation and positive behaviours and attitudes are maintained.

The policy prohibits the following:

1. Participate (whether by act or omission) in improperly altering the result or the course of an Activity;
2. Place, or facilitate or assist with the making of, a bet, or enter into any other form of financial speculation, on any Activity;
3. Disclosure of Inside Information or Use of Inside Information;
4. Accept, request, seek, offer, or provide a Benefit to incite, cause or contribute to any breach of this Policy.

Allegations of Prohibited Conduct under this Policy should be submitted to Swimming Australia.

Initial concerns and advice can be raised with our club’s MPIO (Graham Edwards).

For more detailed information about the Swimming National Integrity Framework and each of the individual policies you can visit the following sites: https://www.swimming.org.au/resources/swimming-national-integrity-framework  https://nsw.swimming.org.au/integrity/

See a problem? Get if fixed

If you see something that needs fixing at the swimming centre, you can elevate this directly with Council by logging the issue here.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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