Issue 6, 2026/2027 by Graham Edwards - 6th November, 2026

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Setup & Packup Help

Thank you to our helpers who arrived early last Saturday morning to help with setup, including installing the touchpads for the morning’s races and the packup of everything after races finished. Your help is greatly appreciated 😊

Cumberland Inter-Club Cup Cancelled

You may have noticed that we have not promoted entries for this meet, which had been planned for this afternoon. The meet is not being held this season, so enjoy your afternoon of leisure.

Championship Results

Last Saturday saw two Club Championships swum, 100m Freestyle and 100m Breaststroke. It was great to see so many of our swimmers enter these events, with 4 heats in each Championship.

For the 2^nd week running we were excited to celebrate a new club record being established. Congratulations to Jay Shrestha who set a new record of 1.04:76 in the 13 Year Boys 100m Freestyle event, breaking the previous record of 1.05:15 set by Troy Tomkinson in 2001. Congratulations Jay

100m Freestyle Age results were:

Open results were:

100m Breaststroke Age results were:

Open results were:

Club Captain Nominations

Congratulations to the following swimmers who have been nominated for the important roles of Male and Female Club Captain:

We invite all of these swimmers 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

Congratulations to Tomas Dlesk who swam his first 5km Open Water event at the MSW Open Water Championships held last Sunday at the Sydney International Regatta Centre. Tomas also achieved a State Open Water QT!!

Committee Vacancy

We are sad to see Denise Assi step down from her role on the Club Committee and as the Social Secretary. Denise has held this role for 5 years and together with the Social Committee has played a big role in bringing a range of fun activities to our club and being a key player in the great fundraising efforts for the club. Thankyou Denise, we appreciate all your tireless work in these roles.

Sylvia Chan has kindly agreed to step into the role of Social Secretary for the remainder of the season, and we warmly welcome Sylvia into this role.

This does mean we have a vacancy on the Club Committee and on the Social Committee. We are looking for someone to join in and help Sylvia and Kylee in the Social Committee role.

If you are interested, or have questions about what this entails, please speak to Sylvia or Graham.

Christmas & SwimFest Raffles

The Social Committee is busy planning a couple of big events coming up over the next few months, our raffles for Christmas and the Merrylands SwimFest.

If you would like to make a donation of prizes for these events, please speak to Sylvia.

Guessing Competition

Thank you to everyone who participated in the M&M Lolly Jar guessing competition. Over $230 was raised from 140 guesses. Congratulations to our winner Jack Condon, with the closest guess of 1,376 M&Ms, only 8 off the actual number of 1,384

Swimmer Spotlight – Mandy Smart

Another blast from the past, with Mandy Smart being in the Swimmer Spotlight this week.

Tell us about your swimming journey

I learnt to swim at Merrylands Amateur Swimming Club (MASC) during the “Learn to Swim” free campaign in 1970. I received a Certificate of Proficiency for swimming 25 yards which was signed by Jock Tallon (Chris Leipen’s father).

I started to swim competitively with the Club in October 1970.

I was the Senior Swim Champion in 1975 with Ringrose Public School. I competed at the Holroyd Family Festival which was originally held at Guildford Swim Centre and won medals at that competition. This carnival was renamed in 2004 to the Merrylands SwimFest.

I was a “Learn to Swim” instructor over many years at the Club.

I was made a “Life Member” in 2003.

Although I do not compete in the Saturday races anymore, I still timekeep almost every Saturday.

Favourite stroke

My favourite stroke is backstroke as I feel like I get into a good rhythm whilst swimming. My best stroke, however, is breaststroke as I feel most comfortable and use all my body muscles.

Favourite thing about the Club

I enjoy the social side of the Club, I enjoy seeing the kids develop their swimming skills from beginners to advanced and some even compete at State level.

Interesting thing about myself

I love to travel & have been to 35 countries. I enjoy reading especially murder mysteries – “Who Done It’s”.

In my spare time I love doing puzzles, especially Sudoku.

I have supported the Eels since I was a child and have followed them through the good times and the bad!!

Some club history

Margaret (my sister) & I joined in the 2^nd year of the Club in 1969/1970. The Club has travelled to country locations for competitions such as Orange & Parkes where we slept in the school halls. My father John Smart who was also a life member (dec.) made the metal plate lane signage numbers which are still in use today, especially at SwimFest.

Learn the timing system

We are still looking for a volunteer to learn and assist with operating the club's timing system and race computer on Saturday mornings. Thank you to Matthew Vicic who has stepped in to help when Johnson Chan has not been available.

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.

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!

Become a Qualified Timekeeper

Access to the online course is available at any time. 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 Graham.

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 on tomorrow morning:

Time: Walk starts 9:00 am

Distance: Approx 5 km

Location: Blaxland Riverside Park, Sydney Olympic Park

• Dogs can join the walk too!
• Need to register your car plate at the parking meters on site for 2 hrs free parking. $5 charge per hr after.
• Merchandise available for purchase prior to the walk which starts at 9am - we'll do a Club photo.
• Disabled parking available, email fundraising@mndnsw.org.au
• Free sausage sizzle for walkers afterwards, organised by Strathfield Rotary Club.

You can still register to participate and fundraise for the day. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the fundraising effort, you have helped our club exceed our goal of $5,000

For event details and to join the MASC team use the QR code below:

Lions Club Award

We received an extensive list of nominations for our volunteers in October, 23 people in fact . Thank you to everyone who helped during the month, even if you were not nominated your help is greatly appreciated. The full list of everyone nominated in October can be found later in Whales Tales.

If you see someone who deserves recognition for their efforts in helping, please nominate them for the Lions Club Award. Click on the link below to submit your nomination.

Nominate a volunteer

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.

Swimming National Integrity Framework

This week we include information about the 5^th policy that forms part of the Swimming Australia National Integrity Framework. These policies are:

Complaints, Disputes & Discipline Policy (CDDP)

This Policy and its procedures are designed to ensure that allegations of Prohibited Conduct are managed through an effective, consistent, and timely process, which is fair and transparent.

Responsibility for Managing Complaints or Reports

• A Complaint or Report may be submitted to Sport Integrity Australia where it relates to alleged Prohibited Conduct under the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy or allegations of Discrimination under the Member Protection Policy;
• Complaints relating to matters such as personal grievances, issues related to employment, governance, eligibility and selection disputes, and competition-related rules will not be managed by Sport Integrity Australia;
• Allegations relating to Intentional Misrepresentation under the Competition Manipulation and Sport Gambling Policy must be submitted to either Paralympics Australia or World Para Swimming in accordance with their relevant policies and procedures, whichever has jurisdiction over the matter as set out in the Paralympics Australia Classification Policy, and will not be managed under this Policy. Any sanction imposed by Paralympics Australia or World Para Swimming in respect of a substantiated finding of Intentional Misrepresentation will be recognised by Swimming Australia in accordance with clause 7.5(c);
• A Complaint or Report may be submitted to Swimming Australia where it relates to any alleged Prohibited Conduct other than Intentional Misrepresentation;
• Where a Complaint relates to alleged Prohibited Conduct below the national level, Swimming Australia may delegate its functions and responsibilities relating to managing Complaints under this Policy to a Relevant Organisation.

Initial concerns and advice can be raised with our club’s MPIO (Graham Edwards). For more detailed information visit the following sites: https://www.swimming.org.au/resources/swimming-national-integrity-framework  https://nsw.swimming.org.au/integrity/

MSW Area Championships

Metro South West Area Long Course Championships are being held next weekend (14^th & 15^th November) at SOPAC.

Our biggest team in over 4 years will hit the Championships. This is a fantastic reflection of the quality of our coaches and squad members and rewards the amazing efforts being put in at training and club races.

Good luck to Gabriella Assi, Daniel Brancatisano, Ruth Brancatisano, Damien Chan, Marcus Chan, Tomas Dlesk, Lara Hannan, Patrick Hannan, Coralie Havea, William Johnston, Alison Johnston, Xavier Ou, Jay Shrestha and Samantha Terry.

A special mention to Daniel, Ruth, Lara and Xavier for making their debut appearance at the Championships.

We look forward to hearing about your swims at the meet.

May the whale be with you all!

Upcoming Meet Calendar

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

Lions Club Award Nominees – October 2026