Issue 2, 2025/2026 by Matthew Vicic - 10th October, 2025

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As the 2025/2026 season commences for its second week!!

A reminder that races start at 7:00AM, so please be there early to help set up. All the help is always appreciated.

The Metro Southwest Championships will be held on the 25th and 26th of October, and all swimmers in the Development Squad and above are expected to attend. Entries close on the 15th of October, so be sure to get yours in on time, and if you have any questions about which events to enter, please speak with your coach. 🐋

Calling All Awesome Bakers!

We’re gearing up for the Interclub Cup and need some fin-tastic volunteers to help with our fundraising! If you love to bake cakes, cupcakes, slices, or other treats, we’d love your support. Please reach out to Denise, Kylee, or Sylvia by 31st October to let us know what you can bring! Let’s make a splash, and some sweet treats too, to support our club! 🌊💙

Club Captains – Nominations Now Open!

Nominations for the positions of Male and Female Club Captains are now open and will close at 9:30am on Week 4 (Friday, 25th October).

Eligibility: Financial first claim members aged 14 years and over as of the 1st of October are eligible to be nominated for these positions. Kids, ask your parents, parents, ask Graham. Once found enter the nominee here: https://forms.office.com/r/qSuYfheZ6g

 Information about the duties and responsibilities of Club Captains can be found on the club website under the By-Laws section. Once nominations close, we’ll confirm acceptance from nominees and invite them to submit a bio and photo to be included in the online voting system.

📅 Voting:

All financial first claim members can cast their vote in Week 6 (Friday, 8th November). A link to the online voting system will be provided closer to the date.

Let’s celebrate leadership, team spirit, and the whale way! 🐳💪

Making a splash at the Cumberland Inter-Club Cup!

It’s our turn to host the Cumberland Inter-Club Cup, happening on Saturday 15th November at Merrylands Swimming Centre. This is no small fish — it’s one of the highlights of the season, and we’re ready to whale-come everyone for an afternoon of fantastic racing.

We’ll also be rolling out our set of touch pads for the meet, so here’s your early reminder: this event is a WHOLE POD effort. We’ll need all fins on deck, helping on the day. It will be truly appreciated! 🐋👏

Entries are open, so enter fast. EVERYONE IN EVERY RACE, lets aim to win that trophy once again this year!! FOR THE WHALE!!! 🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋

Mr Whaley Walters Whispers

🐋 “Theres talks of two young swimmers competing this week so good luck to Varant Jambazian and Alison Johnston, who are diving into action at the State Masters Short Course Championships in Woy Woy this weekend — we’re cheering you on!

-Oh, also hopefully no one forgot but in case you did the Walk to Defeat MND is on the 2^nd of Nov. That's just around the corner! You can still register to join the Walk to Defeat MND on 2 November 2025. Want to donate? Just swim on over to this channel:

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

That's all from me this week, make sure you read next week to find out all the hot goss”  🐋

🎟️ Lucky Draws – Fat Jak’s Vouchers

Last week we had, for the first time EVER, 2 lucky VOLUNTEERS, who won $20 vouchers to spend at FATJAKS. Congratulations to the hard-working Glenda and David!!

As you hopefully now know, the Fat Jak’s vouchers will go to monthly graded point score winners, Swim for Your School winners, and more throughout the season.

P.S if you still for some reason have not collected the 10% loyalty card from Syliva, PLEASE DO SO. It’s literally cheaper food.

Mid Read Joke of the day:

Q: What did the coach say to the whale after practice?

A: “You’re really making waves out there!” 🌊

🏊‍♀️ Chase Those PBs!

 We’re cheering on all swimmers to push for new personal bests this month! To keep things exciting, we’ll be awarding $20 FatJaks vouchers to our monthly Graded Point Score winners. So, dive in, give it your all, and you could swim your way to a tasty reward! 💪🍔 

Now you are probably asking yourself “but Matthew how do I collect points”, don’t worry I have got you covered;

Saturday Morning Point Score Competitions

There are three competitions run each Saturday morning that can gain you points.

🏅 Graded Races:

Swimmers are grouped by entry times and earn points based on how well they swim against their own time.

🎯 Championships:

Swimmers race within their age group (as at 1st October), with an Open Championship also available for all ages who meet the qualifying criteria

💪 Senior Handicap:

A fun event for swimmers 17 years and over.

For more information see here: https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/clubraces/

Learn to Swim – Making Waves This Season!

Our Learn to Swim program kicks off on Saturday, 18 October 2025. Full details, terms, and the process are available on our website:

https://merrylandsasc.asn.au/learntoswim/

Before you can enrol, all new swimmers must complete an evaluation session. Evaluation Day: Saturday, 18 October, at 9:15am Bookings Close: Friday, 16 October (or earlier if spaces fill up – and they whale-y do fast!) 🐳

So don’t drift – get your spot locked in before the tide goes out.

 🏊 Enrolments close Friday, 16 October, unless we reach capacity sooner. Remember, spaces are limited – so book early to secure your place in the pod! 🐬

 🙋 Questions?

 See or contact Kylee Murray if you have any questions – she’s your go-to guide for smooth sailing.

Planning Your Championship Races

Our Club Championship races kick off in Week 5 with the 200m Individual Medley! To compete, you must have already swum that event successfully during this season.

To make sure you don’t miss out on qualifying for other Championship events, it’s important to plan your swims well ahead.

💡Here are some quick tips to help you qualify:

1. Check the Season Program to see when each Championship event is scheduled.
2. Plan your qualifying swim at least two weeks before the Championship — this gives you time to recover if you miss a week or get disqualified.
3. Stay consistent and track your progress — every swim gets you closer to championship readiness!

So, start planning, keep training hard, and let’s see those fins making waves come Championship time! 🌊🐳

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.

Social Butterflies Making a Splash!

This week our younger members had another chance to get involved with a Club Merrylands–sponsored Minifit Program on Tuesday, 7th October! They were also treated with the surprise of meeting Anthony Minichiello, former NRL Roosters Captain!

It was fantastic to see so many smiling faces and energetic swimmers joining in. 💪💦

A huge thank you to our amazing Social Committee for organising everything, and to our long-time sponsor, Club Merrylands, for their continued support. 🙌

Let’s show our appreciation by supporting Club Merrylands — they help keep our pod swimming strong! 🐳💙

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

Seen a Problem? Get it Fixed

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

Donations

Our partnership with the Australian Sports Foundation allows supporters to make tax-deductible donations to the club. Funds raised help us upgrade and maintain our equipment and systems, providing better facilities for you, our members.

We appreciate the great support our members have provided since the partnership commenced. Donations can be made here.

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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