The results for Saturday 13 December 2025, including the 50m Butterfly Championships and Week 2 of the 100m Freestyle Special Events, have been published here.
It was yet another beautiful day at Drummoyne Pool!
What a ripper morning of racing — fifty-metre butterflies, big 100s, and heats of the George Russell 400m Handicap to boot. The crowd (and the timing gremlins) kept us entertained: Phil Hayward was testing out his new Ray-Ban Meta glasses for photo finishes, which looked very official even when the timing system decided to take a nap. A few VOID/DNS results today reminded us that even our beloved pool likes to be dramatic now and then.
Club Championship highlights
- Open Men 50m Butterfly — Alberto Rapisarda edged out Paul Martin in a thriller at the wall. Paul thought he had it, but Alberto dug in and pipped him — classic old‑school finish. Alberto takes the points today; Paul scored plenty too and stays very much in the hunt.
- Open Women 50m Butterfly — Alena Finn showed great form, taking the win in the open and topping the women’s chart for the day. Jenny Gaskin and Frances Christodoulou battled hard and filled the minor placings — nice consistency from both.
- Age‑group champs — plenty of bright young things: Max Thompson (U/8 boys) continued to boss his age group with another win; Christina Tripolitsiotis (U/8 girls), Edward Pacey (U/9 boys), Lara Hartley (U/9 girls), Rex Wilson (U/12 boys), Hannah Aitken (U/10 girls) and Hugo Beresford‑Harvey (U/14 boys) all put in top efforts and collected championship points.
- Senior winners — Paul Martin picked up a Senior Mens championship win in his age division today too; a fine day for the older brigade proving they still know how to turn over the strokes.
George Russell 400m Handicap — heats today; final on 17 Jan 2026
Heats for the George Russell 400m were run today and we saw gutsy swims from across the board. Duncan Lyon stole the show in Heat 1, taking the heat win and showing the form that keeps him near the top of the Seniors point score. Neave Murdoch and Luke Sellars also clocked big finishes in other heats.
Two special mentions: Lincoln van Loo and Rex Wilson both unofficially knocked a few seconds off their age‑group club records in this handicap format — excellent swims, lads. The winners from today’s heats have punched their tickets to the final on 17 January, so mark your calendars — plenty of room for upsets when the finalists line up.
Handicap point score — the battles worth watching
Plenty of leaderboard drama across age groups — here are the juicy bits:
- Under 10 Boys: Edward Pacey leads the charge on 64 points, with Oscar Sullivan (50) and Harry Finn (48) nipping at his heels. That’s a proper three‑way tussle — a couple of strong weeks from any of them and the top spot could flip.
- Under 10 Girls: Jessica Pacey is piling on the points (73) and looks tough to catch, but there are still four rounds left in the Molly Wark / Les Henry 100m series so it’s not over — keep racing, Jess! Cara Thompson and Hannah Aitken are the consistent challengers who could destabilise the lead with big mornings to come.
- Under 12 Girls: Neave Murdoch is running hot on 73 points — she’s been racking up placings like it’s a hobby. Pia Passarelli and Alena Finn are close enough that one great meet could change everything.
- Under 8 & Under 14 juniors: Georgina Aitken (U/8 girls) and Alex Sellars (U/14 boys) have both been showing fantastic season‑long consistency. Georgina’s on 68 and looking very solid; Christina T. (33) is the name to watch for a late surge.
- Seniors — Men: Duncan Lyon is out in front on 52 points after some strong long swims today (including that 400). Thomas Pacey and Christian Taylor are not far behind — expect the Phil/Duncan/Gerry cat‑and‑mouse to continue. Duncan’s personal goals of beating Gerry and Phil? Today’s 400m heat win certainly helped his case.
- Seniors — Women: Jenny Gaskin (54) and Margaret Joy (52) are neck and neck in the senior women’s ladder. Suzie Aitken is also right there on 52 — a proper veteran vs new‑to‑the‑ranks battle with laughs at the end of every heat.
Trophies & series notes
- George Russell 400m — qualifiers from today go through to the final on 17 Jan 2026. Plenty of swimmers made the most of the relaxed 400m entry criteria and we’ll have to see who can repeat those unofficial record attempts when it matters.
- 100m Freestyle Special Events (Under 10 & 35+): this was Week 2 of 6 — so four rounds to go. Loads of points still up for grabs; leaders have strong cushions but not untouchable. Keep your swims coming if you want to chase those series trophies.
- Handicap finals and Perpetuals: winners of heats today have qualified for upcoming finals in a few handicap trophies. If you got a heat win, well done — enjoy the smugness and start practicing your fake surprise face for the final.
Personal goals, progress and good yarns
- Lincoln van Loo and Rex Wilson — big congrats for unofficially shaving seconds off club age‑group marks in the 400m heats. That’s the kind of thing you tell your grandkids, or at least your mates after a few flat whites.
- Max Thompson doubled down with another championship win in the Under‑8s and keeps topping his age group point score — the young fella’s ambition to “NA” might as well read “eat the competition”.
- Duncan Lyon — wanted to win his George Russell heat, and he did. Mission accomplished. Phil and Gerry (and anyone who enjoys a rivalry) will be plotting their comeback already.
- Phil Hayward — our referee extraordinaire — was in referee mode and experimenting with his new glasses. If the timing system misbehaves next week, we’ll blame the glasses rather than the pool.
- Jessica Pacey — dominating the Under‑10 girls point score (73) and stacking consistent results. Tough target to knock off, but we know there are some hungry competitors gunning for her.
- Personal‑goal shoutouts — we noticed a few cheeky goals on profiles (Thomas Pacey’s plan not to clip the lane rope in the 100m backstroke — solid target), and plenty of youngsters whose goal is simply “have fun” — mission achieved for most today.
Club veterans, new faces and family fun
Lovely to see families out in force: the Pacey clan (Thomas, Edward, Arthur, Jessica) putting in solid appearances; the Rapisardas (Alberto, Lyndal, Alessandro, Anna) mixing open wins and family cheers; the Thompsons, Taylors and Sellars families supplying both podiums and plenty of banter. Newer swimmers and juniors keep popping up in placings and that’s exactly what keeps a club alive — welcome to all the fresh faces and well done to the junior technicians who keep the meet ticking.
Looking ahead
- Next key date: George Russell 400m Final on 17 Jan 2026 — qualifiers, rest up, hydrate and practise those turns.
- The 100m Special Event Series has four rounds remaining — still time for comebacks and for late contenders to climb the leaderboard.
- Championships continue through the season — plenty more age‑group and Open championship events to chase points. Don’t be surprised if some of today’s close finishes turn into full‑blown rivalries by March.
So — congrats to everyone who raced: PBs, big swims, nail‑biting finishes and the odd DNS/VOID that gave the announcer something to comment on. Whether you came for the thrill, the family time, the chocolate biscuits or the Geribo Cup dreams, you made the morning a hoot. See you next Saturday — same pool, same chaos, probably windier but always sunny in spirit.
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.