by MLC Marlins head coach John Bladon
The MLC Marlins Swim Team Inc. comprised of 22 swimmers, two coaches, and 2 team managers. The team was sponsored by engine eye wear.
Melanie Tan (Relay), Simone Piper (Relay), Samantha El Safty (Relay), Stephanie Purcell, Kate Laxton, Kailah Elliott, Laura Mooney, Ebony Dawking, Olivia Allan, Sylwia Pasieczny, Naomi Witt, Hannah Luck, Ian Sarno, Luke Woolfe, John Took, Jordan Kelly, William Messervy, Joshua Chang, Ellis Louie, Andrew Reis, Graham Purcell & Tim Antalfy.
Coaching Team: John Bladon & John Thompson
Managers: Steve Messervy & Alison Purcell
Engine supplied each swimmer with two named caps, a shirt and a pair of goggles. I wish to thank engine for their second year of support at National Open and National Age.
www.engineeyewear.com or www.planetengine.com.au
I wish to thank the Team managers and Warren Schafer for their efforts in organising the team. I wish to thank every member of the MLC School Aquatic Centre Team. Without their enthusiasm and support the coaching staff would not have the platform to coach at the level achieved this year.
Lastly I wish to thank the MLC School . The use of the School bus was a great help and saved the club a great deal of money. In addition the school's ongoing support is the basis of the team's success.
Due to hard work, professionalism and team work the club has established itself as one of the most competitive and organised in the country. Two of the MLC Marlin's most competitive swimmers Ian Sarno and Sylwia Pasieczny swam unattached (not scoring points for MLC). When their points are calculated into the score the MLC Marlins would have finished top 20 for the third consecutive year.
The team of 22 swimmers was the largest, youngest and most inexperienced I have taken to a Championship. The team finished their last training session on Saturday with a breakfast. The bulk of the team arrived on Sunday, John Bladon drove the MLC bus to Brisbane on Saturday.
The Team stayed at the Oaks Lexicon apartments Cnr Ann & Wharf Streets in the city centre. The accommodation was excellent. I wish to thank Warren Schafer for all the work he put in to organise the accommodation.
The team conducted one session on Sunday afternoon at the Chandler Aquatic Centre. On Monday the Team trained in the morning at the Chandler Aquatic Centre and at the Centennial Pool in the afternoon. The Centennial pool is an outdoor 50m pool located in the city. The pool reduced its lane hire fee for our group. I wish to thank the pool for providing two lanes at the reduced price.
Tuesday the team trained once at the Chandler pool and rested for competition.
DAY 1 - Wednesday
The results from day one were excellent. Every swimmer swam their best and all results went our way.
Male 14-14 200 Breast
Sarno, Ian won in a personal best time, a NSW Sharks team qualifying time 2:26.32. In an exciting race Ian came from behind to win by 0.04 second.
Female 13 & Under 100 Breast
Laxton, Kate swam 1:19.40 a little outside her best (1:18.87) to finish 19 th .
Female 17-18 400 Free
Pasieczny, Sylwia finished 9 th 4:23.35 in the fastest time she has swam this year, qualifying for the NSW Sharks Team.
Female 16-16 100 Back
Allan, Olivia swam 27 th , close to her personal best time.
Male 15-15 200 IM
Took, John swam 6 th in a very fast final swimming a personal best time.
Messervy, William swam 12 th in a personal best time.
Female 13 & Under 100 Free
Elliott, Kailah won a bronze medal swimming a personal best time.
Female 18 & Under 200 Free Relay
Finished 21 st : MOONEY, Laura 28.67, ALLAN, Olivia 28.48, DAWKING, Ebony 29.02, TAN, Melanie, 29.03
Male 18 & Under 200 Free Relay A MLCM
Finished 18 th: 1:41.80: ANTALFY, Tim 25.24, PURCELL, Graham 25.79, REIS, Andrew, 25.58, KELLY, Jordan 25.19
DAY 2 - Thursday
The results were a little disappointing, the team appeared tired and the swimmers appeared to lose some focus. The excitement of the previous nights finals performances appeared to affect the next days swims. We only had one finalist.
Male 15-15 100 Fly: The day started well with 3 personal best times.
Took, John 11 th , Kelly , Jordan Chang 29 th , Joshua 12 th ,
Male 14-14 100 Breast
Sarno, Ian excited from the 200m win failed to make the final.
Male 15-15 50 Free
Kelly , Jordan and Took, John a touch over their best times
Female 13 & Under 200 Free
Elliott, Kailah a tired and emotional Kailah swam over her best time finishing 31 st . Kailah was still recovering from her bronze medal performance the night before.
Female 17-18 200 Free
Pasieczny, Sylwia swam her fastest time in a year to finish 8 th .
Female 16-16 200 Back
Mooney, Laura swam over her best to finish 22 nd .
Male 15-15 100 Breast
Messervy, William swan the fastest time for a while to finish 18 th , only a touch over his personal best time.
Female 13 & Under 200 Breast
Elliott, Kailah finished 24 th well over her best, Purcell, Stephanie finished 22 nd , Laxton, Kate finished 19 th , a touch over her best.
Female 14 & Under 200 Medley Relay A MLCM
The team finished 6 th and qualified for the final but was disqualified for leaving early in a change over. The girls were very disappointed, however the pressure cooker of the National Age Championships was experienced and all
DAY 3 - Friday
Day 3 the focus returned (a little). Laura Mooney did a great job in making the final, as did the boys relay team. Kailah Elliott represented the State 14 & under relay team and won a gold. These results turned the mood of the team in days 4 & 5. Took's tips were taken very well by the Junior swimmers.
Female 17-18 100 Breast
Witt, Naomi swam well finishing 25 th , only a small amount over her entry time. Considering her disrupted preparation this was a great result.
Female 16-16 100 Fly
Mooney, Laura 14 th , a touch over her best, Allan, Olivia 16 th , a personal best time, Dawking, Ebony a good swim considering her disrupted preparation.
Male 16-16 100 Fly
Louie, Ellis did well not to be disqualified for false starting, however was distracted by the fact he had to race and swam over his best finishing 33 rd .
Male 15-15 100 Free
Kelly , Jordan finished 27 th , a touch over his best time.
Male 17-18 50 Free
Antalfy, Tim finished 43 rd swimming over his best.
Female 16-16 200 IM
Mooney, Laura swam a great time (personal best) in the heats to make the final, finishing 8 th Australian.
Male 15-15 200 Breast
Took, John 22 nd , & Messervy, William 24 th swam over their best times.
Female 13 & Under 200 IM
Elliott, Kailah still calming down emotionally swam over her best to miss the final.
Male 17-18 100 Fly
Antalfy, Tim swam over his best to finish 38 th .
Purcell, Graham swam 0.01 over his best to finish 31 st .
Female 18 & Under 200 Medley Relay A MLCM 2:05.30L
Finished 30th, 2:10.89: LUCK, Hannah 33.02, PURCELL, Stephanie 38.00, DAWKING, Ebony 30.84, ALLAN, Olivia, 29.03
Male 18 & Under 200 Medley Relay A MLCM 1:50.90L
A young team swam very well to make the final and finish 5 th.
1:49.32: TOOK, John 28.51, REIS, Andrew 30.68, ANTALFY, Tim 25.32, KELLY, Jordan 24.81.
DAY 4 - Saturday
Good results, 3 finals. Tim Antalfy was selected for the 18 years and under State Medley Relay Team. The team one Gold. Graham's grumblings went down well with swimmers.
Female 17-18 200 Breast
LUCK, Hannah 17 th 2:48.99, Witt, Naomi 23 rd 2:53.2. Both were reasonable swims considering the disrupted training program this year.
Female 16-16 100 Free
ALLAN, Olivia 20 th , 1:01.37: A disappointing swim for Olivia in her best event. Achieving a personal best time in a swimmers main event in the most important carnival of the year is a difficult skill that requires experience. It is easy to put to much or too little pressure on oneself. Mooney, Laura 24 th , 1:02.12 over her best.
Male 15-15 200 Free
Kelly , Jordan swam a personal best time to finish 21 st .
Male 14-14 200 IM
Sarno, Ian swam close to a personal best time to finish 19th.
Female 13 & Under 50 Free
Elliott, Kailah swam a personal best time, breaking the State record to finish 2 nd in the final.
Female 17-18 100 Free
Pasieczny, Sylwia swam slightly over her best time to finish 11 th .
Male 16-16 100 Breast
Reis, Andrew swam over his best but still managed to finish 7 th with breathing difficulties.
Male 15-15 200 Back
Took, John swam a personal best time and a NSW Sharks qualifying time to finish 4 th in one of the fastest races of the championships.
Kelly , Jordan had a chance of making a final by swimming over his best and finishing 14 th .
Female 14 & Under 200 Free Relay A MLCM 1:58.40L
The team finished 21 st , 1:57.21 a good result. Kaliah Elliott 28.33, SAFTY, Samantha 29.64, PIPER, Simone 30.16, LAXTON, Kate 29.08
DAY 5 - Sunday
Good results, 4 finals. Reis's rantings were a popular addition to the team talk.
Female 16-16 200 Fly
Mooney, Laura 14 th , swam over her best time.
Male 16-16 200 Fly
Louie, Ellis swam over best time 27 th , 2.20.41.
Male 15-15 400 Free
Kelly, Jordan 15 th , personal best time 4.17.04
Female 17-18 200 IM
Luck, Hannah swam over best time (29 th ) 2.31.83.
Male 17-18 200 IM
Purcell, Graham swam over best time 2.17.24 (32 nd ).
Female 16-16 50 Free
Allan, Olivia swam over her best time 29.21 finishing 34 th .
Mooney, Laura swam slightly over best time 28.55 finishing 21 st ..
Male 15-15 100 Back
Took, John swam slightly over best time to finish 5 th , keeping a little is reserve for 400m IM final.
Kelly , Jordan swam slightly over his best to finish 21 st 1.04.73.
Female 13 & Under 100 Fly
Elliott, Kailah 1.08.95 swam slightly over her best to finish 25 th .
Male 13 & Under 100 Fly
Woolfe, Luke 21 st , swam a very good race to record a sizable personal best 1.06.62
Male 17-18 200 Fly
Purcell, Graham swam over personal best time, 2.14.88.
Male 16-16 200 Breast
Reis, Andrew made final but swam over best 2.33.06 to finish 9 th with breathing difficulties.
Female 16-18 800 Free
Pasieczny, Sylwia swam her fastest time in a year 9.00.44 to finish 9 th .
Male 15 & Under 400 IM
Took, John swam a big personal best time to finish 3 rd , leading with 100m to go the race was very exciting.
Messervy, William swam over his best 4:56.16
Sarno, Ian swam a personal best time to finish 11th 4:52.59 (4 th 14 year old) , just missing out on the final.
The MLC Marlins has had four swimmers (Ian Sarno, Sylwia Pasieczny, Kaliah Elliott and John Took) selected on the NSW Sharks team and one Ian Sarno on the Fisher & Paykel National Youth Team.
I believe that this year was a great learning experience for the coaches, managers and younger swimmers. Next year I believe the Marlins can use this experience to provide information so that the team can perform at its best.
The team next year will be the strongest in the club's history. The club will have a number of swimmers ready to step up and a number of experienced swimmers moving forward again. I am confident that a top ten position is achievable.
Open Water
Kailah Elliott 2 nd (13 years), Kate Laxton 12 th (13 years), Gabby Chang 14 th (13 years), Luke Woolfe 10 th (13 years), Laura Mooney 14 th (16 years), Naomi Witt 9 th (17-18 years).
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