The results for Saturday 20 December 2025, including the 50m Breaststroke Championships, have been published here.
It was yet another beautiful day at Drummoyne Pool — warm, mostly sunny and absolutely begging for a Zooper Dooper (thanks Santa), so the weather got full marks for enthusiasm.
What a ripper last Saturday before Christmas! Santa did a quick fly-by and handed out lollies while the boom-box pumped festive bangers. Big thanks to Elizabeth and Charlotte Allan for moonlighting as Santa’s helpers (and reportedly sacrificing race points in the noble cause of candy distribution). Adam Lewis and Adrian Bell stepped up as Race Referees for the morning while Phil Hayward was off doing important things (like not being here).
Club Championship highlights
- Open Men’s 50m Breaststroke — Denver Pelly: champion. Denver smashed his season target (and his personal goal of “Win 50 breaststroke champ”) with a slick swim to take the Open and the Seniors title — absolute legend. Christian Taylor chased hard (2nd) and Paul Martin rounded out the podium — plenty of tasty racing there.
- Open Women’s 50m Breaststroke — Skye Lewis: top of the tree. Skye backed up her Under‑14 dominance by taking the Open win. Alena Finn and Claresta Hartley were right in the mix — great racing across the ages.
- Under‑8 Boys 30m Breaststroke — Max Thompson: fearless little ripper. Max not only won the race but continues to pile up Club Championship points (three straight wins now) and has dropped a stack off his recent best — from 52.96 to 42.18 on the day. That’s a proper cannonball of improvement.
- Under‑9 & Under‑10 age groups had plenty of PB-type swims — Harry Finn, Yiqian Jia and Lara Hartley all turned in times better than their recent bests. Beautiful stuff from the juniors.
- Special mention: Thomas Pacey — coming back from injury and ticking the box of “getting back in the pool”. Thomas swam strongly in the Open 50m Breaststroke (4th in the Open and solid time, nudging better than his recent best) — steady as she goes, and great to see him back in action.
Handicap point-score theatre — who’s leading the charge?
Handicap racing never fails to thrill, and Saturday delivered the usual blend of heroic handicaps, timing gremlins and small-statured superstars.
- Under‑8 Boys: Max Thompson continues to lead the Point Score and Club Championship stacks — he’s the one to catch. Ellis Buchanan remains a persistent challenger and the pair have produced some cracking tussles this season.
- Under‑10 Boys and Girls: The Pacey kids are making Dad proud — Edward Pacey is top of the Under‑10 boys Point Score leader board and Jessica Pacey is smashing the Under‑10 girls leaderboard (Jessica sits well out in front). The Pacey family are having themselves a season — Dad Thomas back from injury, kids ploughing ahead; family reunion now counts as swim training, apparently.
- Under‑12s & Under‑14s: Aodhan Perkins and Archie Sullivan are slugging it out at the top of Under‑12 boys; Aodhan currently leads but Archie is breathing down his neck. In Under‑14s Alex Sellars and Lincoln van Loo have been racking up points — look for some final‑season fireworks.
- Seniors (Men): It’s as tight as a lane rope between Ian Allan and Duncan Lyon — Ian leads by a whisker (56 to 55). Duncan’s on a mission (his stated goal: “Beat Gerry Tibbertsma and Phil Hayward! Get into the 50m Breaststroke Open final.”) and with plenty of meets to go that rivalry could flip faster than a false start.
- Seniors (Women): Margaret Joy has nudged ahead, but Jenny Gaskin and Renee Carroll are in the hunt — the senior women’s table is stacked and should make for some spicy matchups after Christmas.
Notable swims and little wins
- Max Thompson — huge improvement in his 30m Breaststroke championship time (see above). If he keeps this up we’ll have to start calling him “Max‑imum.” Good on ya, champ.
- Harry Finn — cracking the 1:00 barrier for 50m Breaststroke (56.03) and improving on his recent best. Brotherly rivalry (with Alena and the rest of the Finn clan) clearly doing its job.
- Yiqian Jia (Under‑9) — took the 50m Breaststroke with a nice improvement on his recent best. Great effort from our young pocket‑rocket.
- Anna Rapisarda and Astrid Carroll — delightful swims in the sprints; Anna keeps piling up those Under‑6 points like a tiny dynamo.
- Christian Taylor — still lightning in sprints; his handicap finish of 25.10 in the 50m freestyle heat was a crowd pleaser.
- Several “too good to be true” results were actually timing/attendance glitches (DNS/VOID entries recorded). Our officials adjudicated placings where the timing system shivered — thanks to the referee team for keeping things fair and friendly.
Rivalries, family drama and club colour
- Family feats: The Allans (Elizabeth & Charlotte and their Mum & Dad gang) delivered both lollies and swims. The Pacey clan were out in force — Dad Thomas back on deck and the kids, Edward, Arthur and Jessica, doing the family name proud.
- School ties: Plenty of kids from local schools (Russell Lea, Rosebank, St Mark’s etc.) bringing the noise and the next generation of DASC legends.
- Old foes and best mates: The “Duncan vs Gerry vs Phil” comedy triangle continues — Duncan’s chasing bragging rights, Gerry’s being a charming old Dutch foxer at the starter’s block, and Phil (even when absent) is still plotting better effort from Rosie and Gerry. Classic clubhouse banter.
Point score flash — who to watch in 2026
- Seniors men: Ian Allan vs Duncan Lyon — one point between them. Expect fireworks early in the New Year; every heat will count.
- Seniors women: Margaret, Jenny and Renee — tight top three. The next few championship events could reshuffle the podium.
- Under‑10s and Under‑12s: some categories have clear leaders (Jessica, Edward, Neave) but there’s still plenty of season left — a couple of big handicap evenings and the tables can flip.
Housekeeping, cheeky notes and next steps
- Santa and sweets: this was the last meet before Christmas — huge smiles, lollies and a free raffle ticket for everyone. If you left with a sugar rush and no regrets, that means the morning was a success.
- Timing gremlins & officiating: a handful of VOID/DNS results were handled as per rules; thanks to Race Referees Adam Lewis and Adrian Bell and Chief Race Marshall Matthew O’Connor for keeping the chaos under control.
- New joiners & juniors: lovely to see new names on the sheets — welcome aboard. Junior techs, veteran helpers and the committee all deserve a beer (or a soft drink) for keeping things running.
- Next meet: we reconvene in the New Year — first meet back on the programme is 17 Jan 2026 (with finals for the George Russell 400m coming up later in January). Plenty of opportunities to earn more points and to overturn the narrow leads we’re seeing now.
So: congratulations to everyone who swam, cheered, handed out lollies or picked up a clipboard. Whether you clocked a PB, nailed a personal goal, or simply showed up and finished with a grin — that’s what this club is about. Have a brilliant Christmas, rest the shoulders, polish the goggles, and we’ll see you back at the pool in January to pick up the competition where we left off.
Good on ya, Drummoyne — great morning of swimming, sunshine, and suspiciously tasty chocolate trophies (we’re looking at you, Geribo Cup prospects).
Note: The above meet report was automatically generated using an artificial intelligence tool. While care is taken to ensure that the information in this report appears reasonable, please contact racesecretary@drummoyneswimclub.com.au if you would like to provide any feedback on this content.
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