Results Week 1

It was yet another beautiful day at Drummoyne Pool — sunny and warm with only a cheeky chance of a shower later on.

Welcome back to the 2025/26 season, folks! First Saturday of the summer run and the cobwebs were loudly dislodged: a few bright new faces popped in, the old timers dusted off their goggles and the kids remembered how much better the pool is than Zoom. A medium chance of afternoon showers didn’t stop anyone from racing like the sun was on their tail.

Standouts & season-opening heroes

• Archie Sullivan — Hat-trick hero. Archie went 3-for-3 across the day and leads his age group with a perfect 12 points. Nice and tidy start to the season, Archie — keep that streak warm for the long haul.
• Alena Finn — Matching Archie’s perfection: 12 points and three wins. Looks like someone’s been practising over winter — excellent job, Alena.
• Jude Wilson — A proper opener with 11 points. Jude’s power off the start and bike-like turnover made him hard to catch.
• Skye Lewis — Top of her division with 10 points. Skye’s back from the break and already looking comfortable in the water.
• Jessica Pacey — Another 10‑point week — spritely, determined and having fun. Personal goal was “Have fun” — nailed it.

Close battles and rivalries

• Under 8 girls saw Christina Tripolitsiotis narrowly hold off Georgina Aitken — 10 to 8 points. Two fast youngsters trading elbows and smiles; this one’ll be spicy all season.
• Under 10 boys is tight: Oscar Sullivan (7) leads Harry Finn (6). Expect these two to duel for every centimetre — family bragging rights at stake.
• In the Seniors it’s already a tussle: Jaxon Lewis sits on 9 with Denver Pelly breathing down his neck on 8. Denver’s quick in the longer stuff (watch that 200m time trial), while Jaxon’s explosive in the sprints — perfect recipe for a season-long scrap.
• The old familiar triangle of Duncan Lyon, Gerry Tibbertsma and Phil Hayward was in evidence — Duncan got the better of Gerry today in the breaststroke heat, Phil somehow did a few jobs and still managed to swim — and the banter afterwards was Olympic‑level. Rose Tunstall confessed her season goal is to “beat Gerry and Phil” — she’s given them a nudge already and will be hunting them all summer.

Personal goals — wins, near-misses and funny objectives

• Lincoln van Loo
• Jaxon Lewis
• Thomas Pacey
• Michael Hayward
• Plenty of very modest goals (some delightfully irreverent) were met: “Wake up on time” (Alena Finn) — alarm clocks and medals both successful today.

Notable swims & gutsy efforts

• Christian Taylor
• Denver Pelly
• Suzie Aitken
• Young guns like Luke Sellars, Skye Lewis and Alena Finn all had eye-catching sprints — plenty to make the coaches smile (and the parents beam).

Family, schools and club spirit

There were stacks of family pairings — the Pacey clan (Thomas, Emma and three littlies Arthur, Edward and Jessica), the Lewis crew (Adam, Kristy, Skye and Jaxon), the Allan twins Elizabeth and Charlotte helping as junior computer techs while still racing, and the Parkers (David and Cara) popping in from London for a guest appearance. A reminder that school affiliations noted in the entries (Saint Ignatius’, Rosebank, Russell Lea, etc.) are just that — these swimmers are racing for DASC, not their school colours. Club first, school spirit second, but plenty of friendly inter‑school bragging on the pool deck all the same.

New joiners, returnees & club veterans

• Nice to see new faces like Emilie Krog and Margaret Joy joining the Saturday circus — welcome aboard. We hope the coffee is strong enough for you.
• Longstanding stalwarts were out in force — Phil Hayward, Gerry Tibbertsma, Matthew O’Connor and David Parker (our timing equipment wizard) making sure the meet ran like clockwork. We salute our life members and volunteers for another smooth start to the season.
• Cara Parker (paramedic now working in London) made a guest appearance — always lovely when globetrotting members drop by to sweat on the starter’s call.

The oddities (timing gremlins & DNS)

We had a few “No times recorded”/DNSs in some heats — a reminder that volunteers do the heavy lifting and that timing lanes need human love. A couple of the little ones (and their lanes) just didn’t want to play fair today; referees recorded placings where the clock failed and everyone stayed good‑humoured about it. If your result shows VOID/NT, the referee had your back and points were awarded based on placings.

Looking ahead

Families away for school holidays meant a slightly pared turnout, but next week should see everyone back and the races will get thicker and faster. Keep an eye on the Under 12/Under 14 divisions — some serious pointscore chases have already started. Remember: the season is a marathon, not a sprint — unless you’re in a sprint, in which case put your head down and go.

Great start to the season, Drummoyne — bring your towels, your banter and your best race faces next Saturday. See you at 7:30 sharp — and don’t forget sunscreen (UV is very high, so slather up before your warm‑ups).