Results Week 19

It was yet another beautiful day at Drummoyne Pool — a few showers couldn’t dampen the smiles or the splashes.

What a ripper of a Saturday. The medley championships turned into a highlight reel: Harry Thompson blew the old Under‑12 boys record out of the water with a barnstorming 2:56.26 (old mark 3:05.60) — absolute legend! Christian Taylor then shaved a huge chunk off the Men’s Open record with a 2:31.06 (previously 2:36.60) and Emilie Krog smashed the Women’s Open mark with 2:42.52. If anyone needed proof that DASC still produces fireworks, there you go.

Club Championship roundup

• Under‑8 Boys — Max Thompson: another win (4 points) and a cracking improvement (3:12.22 vs recent best 3:40.55). Max is on a roll — watch Ellis Buchanan (still nipping at his heels) for the season finish.
• Under‑8 Girls — Georgina Aitken: won her medley today, adding to her poise in the pool. Christina Tripolitsiotis remains the series leader — Georgina’s chasing hard.
• Under‑9s — Edward Pacey and Cara Thompson both topped the boys/girls medleys respectively; Edward was right on his recent best and Cara sliced a chunk off hers (3:10.48 from 3:49.87) — huge PB that’ll have the family proud.
• Under‑10s — Harry Finn won the boys medley and continues to pile points up; Hannah Aitken kept her strong streak in the girls’ event.
• Under‑12 Boys — Harry Thompson’s record swim (2:56.26) doubled as the heat and the headline. Rex Wilson and Archie Sullivan battled well for placings.
• Under‑12 Girls — Alena Finn took the medley home and Neave Murdoch sits comfortably in the chase for the series.
• Under‑14 & Under‑16 — Jude Wilson, Luke Sellars (Luke’s domination in Under‑16 is getting ridiculous — 40 championship points and counting), Elizabeth Allan and her twin Charlotte continuing their family affair at the top of the girls’ tables.
• Open / Seniors — Christian Taylor (Open Men) and Emilie Krog (Open Women) claimed the big ones today — Christian putting his elite background on display and Emilie reminding everyone she’s back in town and keen. Note: a couple of DNS/no‑times in the Open medley (Paul Martin and Thomas Pacey had to cheer from the deck this time) — nobody’s perfect, and it gives them more ammo for next week.

Handicap sprints & form events — meet action

Sprint lane was chaos in the best possible way. Heats of the 50m freestyle produced heat winners across the ages — Max, Jasper, Archie, Alex, Luke, Rex, Jude and others — plenty of tight finishes and cheeky handicaps making for entertainments galore. Archie Sullivan topped the Fred Congdon 50m Butterfly handicap final — proud moment for the Sullivan clan (mum Jenny in the stands must be used to it by now!).

Handicap point score battles — who’s leading the scrum

As we head into the final stretch there are some fierce scrapings for the point score trophies:

• Under‑8 Boys: Max Thompson (81) just ahead of Ellis Buchanan (78) — two points in it, and both swam well today. Expect fireworks.
• Under‑10 Boys: Edward Pacey is running hot on 108 points — he’s the man to catch.
• Under‑10 Girls: Jessica Pacey leads on 109 — the Pacey siblings are doing the family proud.
• Seniors (Men): tie at the top! Ian Allan and Thomas Pacey are locked on 97 apiece — a proper old‑school rivalry brewing. With just a couple of club meets left, every heat counts; one silly handicap or a missed start and the trophy could flip.
• Seniors (Women): Renee Carroll leads at 105 with Margaret Joy and Suzie Aitken nibbling behind — veterans showing the youngsters how to keep scoring steadily.

Big picture: there are two club Saturdays still to go before Relay Fun Day (and the Geribo Cup on the last day). That means only a few more point‑scoring chances — plenty left for last‑minute heroics and tactical swims. If you’re within a handful of points of the leader, bring your flippers and your competitive snarl.

Personal goals & notable progress

• Thomas Pacey (Committee, 2025 Senior men’s point score winner) — “put Lynette’s coaching into practice”: he showed he’s trying, scoring in the Fred Congdon final (3rd) and generally plugging away. Keep it up, Tom — the coaching’s paying off.
• Thomas Pearson — finally arrived on time and actually swam! (And gave us a cheeky false start to keep the refs amused.) Welcome to punctuality, mate.
• Max, Harry (Thompson), Cara, Alena and Luke — all posted strong improvements vs recent bests. Those PB‑style swims will turn heads at the club and at Battle on the Bay tomorrow.
• Newer/young swimmers — Astrid Carroll, Anna Rapisarda and the littlies from Drummoyne and St Mark’s are collecting points and smiles. Keep showing up; the improvements stack up fast.

Family feuds & school bragging rights

Sibling rivalries and family teams were everywhere: the Pacey clan (Thomas, Jessica, Arthur, Edward) keeping each other honest; the Taylors (Christian and William) trading fast swims; the Allans (Elizabeth, Charlotte, Audrey) running their twin show; the Lewises (Jaxon and Skye) still both dangerous. School affiliations keep the friendly banter alive — St. Mark’s, Russell Lea, Rosebank and the Riverview crew made their presence felt — just fun to remind everyone they swim for DASC, not the school (but sure, sneak a bit of school pride in at the BBQ).

Glitches, DQs and other drama

As always, the timing gremlins and the odd DNS/DQ kept life interesting. A couple of heats had no times recorded so placings were decided on the referee’s call — thanks to the volunteers who sorted the paperwork while the rest of us supped coffee. There were a few false starts (looking at you, overly eager sprinters) and a DQ or two in butterfly/time trials — nothing the club can’t laugh about and learn from.

Raffle and off‑pool news

Cath Thompson pocketed a lovely bottle of wine from Wine Simple — enjoy, Cath — and Neave Murdoch won the Clean Swim voucher, so expect her to smell like new‑pool shampoo next week. Also: everyone was conserving energy for Battle on the Bay at Leichhardt Pool tomorrow — go smash it, DASC!

Fixtures & projections

• Only a couple of club Saturdays remain before Relay Fun Day (and the Geribo Cup) on the last day of the season — every point still matters. Seniors’ point scores (Ian vs Tom) could go down to the wire.
• Look out for the remaining championship races (100m backstroke, 800m freestyle and the big relay shindigs) — records set today mean a target on certain swimmers’ backs next week.

Final thoughts

Brilliant effort all round: veterans keeping the spirit, juniors piling up PBs, new joiners making waves and families out in force. We set records, we cheered the small victories (and the large ones), and we’ll be back next week to do it all again — hopefully with fewer showers but just as much banter. See you at Leichhardt tomorrow for Battle on the Bay — bring your best goggles and your loudest cheering voice.

Race Secretary sign‑off (with tongue firmly in cheek): keep swimming, keep smiling, and if you’re chasing points — do your starts properly. We’ve still got a title or two with your name on it.