Author: Adrian Bell

This Saturday we have our final Saturday morning meet of the calendar year before we take a short holiday season break.

We’re having a Christmas extravaganza with Santa flying in from the North Pole and a BBQ breakfast. Feel free to bring a friend or two to join us for the festivities.

So far as racing goes, this week we continue our championship races with the 50M Breaststroke race. Championship races are off scratch – so no handicaps. As usual we’ll have age group races and then an open final for the fastest qualifiers – young and old – to see who is the fastest in the club.

The 50M Breaststroke event will be followed by the 50m Freestyle event and then by our long distance event, which this week is 200M Freestyle. As always there will be shorter races for youngsters.

Monday and Wednesday Squads – older kids welcome

In order to cater better for our youth swimmers, we’re opening up our Monday and Wednesday squads to club swimmers aged 12 and above.

So, if you’re older kids are looking to improve for competitions or get in some extra fitness while having fun, we’d encourage you to bring them along on a Monday and/or Wednesday.

We have dedicated coaching on deck, to provide guidance, motivation, and a friendly push to help swimmers achieve their goals. Our adults squad members will also provide support and motivation.

We’ll see how this goes up to the Christmas break and evaluate the program from there.

Season calendar

As noted above, the season calendar has been published so you can now check out the racing schedule. But here are some key dates to keep an eye on:

Date	Activity
Now running…	Adult Squads have commenced – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 6:00 to 7:00 Lanes 1 and 2 Now open for older kids (12 +)
Now running…	Junior Squads commenced – Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:00 to 7:00 Lanes 1 and 2
21 December 2024	Last Saturday before the holiday break
18 January 2024	First Saturday after the holiday break
22 March 2024	Last Saturday morning races of the season. End of Season lunch at Grill’d!

Swimming NSW is offering the 2025 Referee Course, and we are inviting club members to express their interest in participating. This course is an excellent opportunity to enhance your skills and knowledge, and, it is completely free.

We have been lucky to have Phil and Lynette and a couple of others act as our race referees, but it would be good to get some additional people signed up and trained up.

Our goal is to help you feel confident and prepared to officiate at our local meets and other competitions across the state, if you would like to do so.

Please contact Adrian Bell on 0424 561 831 if you would like to be nominated to undertake the course.

Click Here for the Course Schedule

‘Free AFL all girls Development Clinic’ 

The Canada Bay Cannons AFL club would like to pass on an invitation to join them at their Youth Girls AFL Development Clinic in the January school holidays.

Held for 6 sessions over 3 weeks, the program is free, so sign up for just 1 or all 6 sessions. No experience necessary. Come and try AFL with other girls in a fun welcoming environment and bring a friend.

There will be giveaways and visits from AFLW players. More details in the Flyer and sign up through the link below 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1aCHmI_REBnNG3lKtjp13A9ONqpg2CYuMI5-2evHjHkY/edit

Last week we had a club record and a couple of close attempts. Most impressively, Harry Thompson took out the U10 50M Freestyle championship race in a new club record time of 35:42. Harry knocked off the time posted by Denver Pelly, whose record stood for 8 years.

Technically, Christian Taylor – on a break from university in the US – set a new club record in the Open 50M Freestyle event with his split second victory over older brother Will. Unfortunately, that record probably won’t stand because this was Christian’s first meet for the year. Swimmers need to attend 3 meets before they can officially participate in Championship events.

Newcomer Danielle Johston was a fraction off Lily Borozan’s 30.56 from 2022 with Danielle storming home in 30:90. Lily’s record will be in real jeopardy next season.

The other highlight last weekend was Neave Murdoch for taking our the Rotary Club of Five Dock 200M Medley race.

This week we continue our championship races with the 50M Butterfly race. Championship races are off scratch – so no handicaps. As usual we’ll have age group races and then an open final for the fastest qualifiers – young and old – to see who is the fastest in the club.

The 50M butterfly event will be followed by the 100m Freestyle event and then by our long distance event, which this week is 400M / 200M Freestyle. As always there will be shorter races for youngsters.

Monday and Wednesday Squads – older kids welcome

In order to cater better for our youth swimmers, we’re opening up our Monday and Wednesday squads to club swimmers aged 12 and above.

So, if you’re older kids are looking to improve for competitions or get in some extra fitness while having fun, we’d encourage you to bring them along on a Monday and/or Wednesday.

We have dedicated coaching on deck, to provide guidance, motivation, and a friendly push to help swimmers achieve their goals. Our adults squad members will also provide support and motivation.

We’ll see how this goes up to the Christmas break and evaluate the program from there.

Season calendar

As noted above, the season calendar has been published so you can now check out the racing schedule. But here are some key dates to keep an eye on:

Date	Activity
Now running…	Adult Squads have commenced – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 6:00 to 7:00 Lanes 1 and 2 Now open for older kids (12 +)
Now running…	Junior Squads commenced – Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:00 to 7:00 Lanes 1 and 2
14 December2024	Saturday Racing 7:30 start, arrive by 7:15 – 100M Freestyle (plus 50M, 30M and 20M events) – Butterfly Championships (50M, 30M and 20M) – 400M and 200M Freestyle plus 4x30M and 4x20M freestyle events – Time trials for new and upgraded swimmers
21 December 2024	Last Saturday before the holiday break
18 January 2024	First Saturday after the holiday break
22 March 2024	Last Saturday morning races of the season. End of Season lunch at Grill’d!

Pool entry fees

A reminder to all swimmers and spectators that pool entry fees must be paid on entry to the pool. The club’s agreement with Belgravia Leisure requires all swimmers and spectators to pay entry each time they attend a squad or Saturday morning race meet.

We appreciate that the pool receptionists have not always been consistent in being present or collecting payment.

Belgravia Leisure offer a range of multi-visit passes that reduce the cost of entry per visit. Check them out on the Drummoyne Swimming Centre website.

This week we begin our championship races with the 50M Freestyle race. Championship races are off scratch – so no handicaps.

We have age group races and then an open final for the fastest qualifiers – young and old – to see who is the fastest in the club.

This year Denver Pelly and Will Taylor will have a bit more competition in the mens and open events. We’ll see if Ned Robinson or Peter Johnston can match it with them or if any of the younger fellas are getting close.

The ladies field looks pretty open this year. We could see some new ladies on the podium.

The 50M freestyle will be followed by our form stroke – 100m Backstroke and then a Medley which includes the Five Dock Rotary 200m Medley (H’cap) trophy race.

This year’s 200M Medley finalists are:

ID	Name
1696	Harry FINN
1492	Ian ALLAN
12	Thomas PACEY
1871	Ned ROBINSON

Monday and Wednesday Squads – older kids welcome

In order to cater better for our youth swimmers, we’re opening up our Monday and Wednesday squads to club swimmers aged 12 and above.

So, if you’re older kids are looking to improve for competitions or get in some extra fitness while having fun, we’d encourage you to bring them along on a Monday and/or Wednesday.

We have dedicated coaching on deck, to provide guidance, motivation, and a friendly push to help swimmers achieve their goals. Our adults squad members will also provide support and motivation.

We’ll see how this goes up to the Christmas break and evaluate the program from there.

Season calendar

As noted above, the season calendar has been published so you can now check out the racing schedule. But here are some key dates to keep an eye on:

Date	Activity
Now running…	Adult Squads have commenced – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 6:00 to 7:00 Lanes 1 and 2 Now open for older kids (12 +)
Now running…	Junior Squads commenced – Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:00 to 7:00 Lanes 1 and 2
7 December2024	Saturday Racing 7:30 start, arrive by 7:15 – 50M Freestyle (plus 30M and 20M events) – 100M Backstroke plus 50M, 30M and 20M Backstroke events) – 200M Medley, 4x30M and 4x20M Medley events – Time trials for new and upgraded swimmers
21 December 2024	Last Saturday before the holiday break
18 January 2024	First Saturday after the holiday break
22 March 2024	Last Saturday morning races of the season. End of Season lunch at Grill’d!

Pool entry fees

A reminder to all swimmers and spectators that pool entry fees must be paid on entry to the pool. The club’s agreement with Belgravia Leisure requires all swimmers and spectators to pay entry each time they attend a squad or Saturday morning race meet.

We appreciate that the pool receptionists have not always been consistent in being present or collecting payment.

Belgravia Leisure offer a range of multi-visit passes that reduce the cost of entry per visit. Check them out on the Drummoyne Swimming Centre website.

A special thanks to Justin and the team at Grill’d for hosting our men’s social night last week. We had a very solid turn out filling the top section of the restaurant and keeping the kitchen staff busy pumping out the burgers. The fridges have never worked so hard cooling enough beverages to keep everyone cool on a balmy evening…

Healthy Burgers with Benefits…

Grill’d’s Drummoyne store is located at 207/211 Lyons Rd, Drummoyne (opposite Hampden Road) and they’re making a mark in the community by supporting a number of local organisations.

Happily, Drummoyne Swimming Club is one of the organisations that Grill’d is supporting and we are very excited to have Grill’d as a Gold Sponsor this summer.

Grill’d are providing a variety of sponsorship benefits including weekly prizes, vouchers and more.

We’ll have our end of season lunch at Grill’d on the last day of the season.

Show your thanks

Next time you are thinking about a night out, picking up some take away or ordering in via Uber Eats or the like, make sure you think of Grill’d.

When you drop in to the store make sure you say thanks to Justin and the team for their commitment to the club and local community!

Healthy food that’s healthy for the planet, and tastes as good as it feels.

You can check out all their deals and offers on the web and on the Grill’d social pages:

Grill’d on the web

Grill’d on Instagram

Grill’d on Facebook

Make sure you join up to the Grill’d rewards program RELISH.

And sign up to the Grill’d app via the Apple App Store or via Google Play.

Congratulations to Alena Finn, one of our fine young swimmers and junior squad members who this week confidently rose in Parliament to speak about our lovely community and swimming club.

Thanks Alena for representing your school and our swimming community and providing the people of NSW with information about how great our pool and environment are!

Alena Finn with our local State member and temporary house speaker Stephanie Di Pasqua.

This week we continue our trophy races with the unique George Wheaton BBB 50M trophy final. in keeping with tradition members of the Wheaton family will be joining us to present the trophy

The finalists and the strokes they’ll be swimming for the George Wheaton 50m BBB Handicap trophy race are:

ID	Name	Stroke
111	Phil HAYWARD	Backstroke
1741	Archie MURROW	Breaststroke
128	Gerry TIBBERTSMA	Backstroke
1492	Ian ALLAN	Breaststroke
1389	Hayden HOWARD	Breaststroke
1871	Ned ROBINSON	Backstroke

Good luck to all our finalists!

This week’s races are:

• 100M Freestyle (including Molly Wark & Les Henry U/10 100m Freestyle – Week 1 and 35 and Over 100m Freestyle – Week 1)
• Finals for George Wheaton 50m BBB (H’cap) and 50M Breaststroke for everyone else
• 400m Freestyle

For anyone who wants to look ahead, the weekly racing calendar is available here.

Monday and Wednesday Squads – older kids welcome

In order to cater better for our youth swimmers, we’re opening up our Monday and Wednesday squads to club swimmers aged 12 and above.

So, if you’re older kids are looking to improve for competitions or get in some extra fitness while having fun, we’d encourage you to bring them along on a Monday and/or Wednesday.

We have dedicated coaching on deck, to provide guidance, motivation, and a friendly push to help swimmers achieve their goals. Our adults squad members will also provide support and motivation.

We’ll see how this goes up to the Christmas break and evaluate the program from there.

Pool entry fees

A reminder to all swimmers and spectators that pool entry fees must be paid on entry to the pool. The club’s agreement with Belgravia Leisure requires all swimmers and spectators to pay entry each time they attend a squad or Saturday morning race meet.

We appreciate that the pool receptionists have not always been consistent in being present or collecting payment.

Belgravia Leisure offer a range of multi-visit passes that reduce the cost of entry per visit. Check them out on the Drummoyne Swimming Centre website.

Season calendar

As noted above, the season calendar has been published so you can now check out the racing schedule. But here are some key dates to keep an eye on:

Date	Activity
Now running…	Adult Squads have commenced – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 6:00 to 7:00 Lanes 1 and 2 Now open for older kids (12 +)
Now running…	Junior Squads commenced – Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:00 to 7:00 Lanes 1 and 2
30 November 2024	Saturday Racing 7:30 start, arrive by 7:15 – 10M Freestyle (plus 50M, 30M and 20M events) – 50M Breaststroke (plus 30M and 20M Backstroke events) – 400M Freestyle plus 200M, 4x30M and 4x20M Freestyle – Time trials for new and upgraded swimmers
28 November 2024	Men’s Social Night @ Grill’d
21 December 2024	Last Saturday before the holiday break
18 January 2024	First Saturday after the holiday break
22 March 2024	Last Saturday morning races of the season

Hello swimmers, mark it in your diaries… this season the Battle on the Bay will be hosted by Ashfield Swimming Club and will be held on Sunday the 9th of March at Ashfield Pool. Keep an eye out for more comms in the near future.

A reminder that trophy season has begun… so we need all the club’s trophies back.

If you have trophies at home, could you please bring them back to the club room next Saturday 30 Nov.

It would be appreciated if you could please also give your trophies a policy before bringing them back.

Please leave the trophies on the desk in the club room so they can be checked off before they are put away.