Sport
1 August, 2025
Swim Club celebrates 2024/25 season
The Maryborough Swim Club held its 2024/25 Annual General Meeting (AGM) last week recognising the contributions of the club’s young swimmers as well as its coaches, parents and volunteers.
The Maryborough Swim Club held its 2024/25 Annual General Meeting (AGM) last week at the Bull and Mouth Hotel, reflecting on a strong year of swimming and looking forward to a new season with momentum despite ongoing challenges.
The evening recognised the contributions of the club’s young swimmers as well as its coaches, parents and volunteers.
The club celebrated the success of its 2025 annual swim meet, held in Bendigo, which attracted 160 swimmers across 56 events.
Nearly 100 races were held on the day, with eleven Maryborough swimmers taking to the blocks.
“It’s been great to see the enthusiasm from our swimmers, particularly those who worked so hard and seeing the results in achieving PBs at meets around central Victoria,” club president Duncan Bates said.
While membership numbers remain stable, the club continues to face hurdles. Chief among them is the lack of access to a 50-metre pool and diving block facilities for competitive training — an issue the club hopes will be addressed with the proposed future re-opening of the Maryborough Olympic Pool.
The club, alongside the pool’s community advocacy group, looks to advocate for the community and work with council on this project.
Coaches Randall Edwards and Joy Jones were warmly thanked for their dedication, giving up their time to run training sessions.
Randall focuses on the senior swimmers with his technical strength, while Joy provides a fun transition from junior to competitive senior swimming.
Gratitude was also extended to last year’s outgoing committee members and the many parents who support the club and its often stretched volunteers.
Bates welcomes any Maryborough Swimming Club alumni and those wanting to volunteer in a community group to reach out and contribute to the club’s stability in the 2025/2026 season.
“We want to share our love of swimming and make it accessible for everyone,” he said.
“The more swimmers we have, the more fun the training and the higher the bar is set for competing. We always welcome new members while keeping our membership fees as low as we can.”
The AGM also saw multiple season awards presented to swimmers, with Elijah Ratcliffe winning the Russell Eastwood President’s Award for dedication and enthusiasm and Edwards collecting the Harry Eley Award for club volunteer of the year.
The Aggregates Points Trophy was presented to Poppy Smith on 47 points, with Harry Smith finishing in second with 36 points and Olivia Jardine and Alex Willman sharing third place with 18 points.
Smith was also recognised for her multiple achievements in the pool through her hard work and dedication, which include the senior Coaches Award and involvement in Swimming Australia’s Pho3nix Junior Excellence program.
The date is set and pool booked for the 2026 annual club meet and potential collaboration with Castlemaine for a joint Club Championships, missed this year through lack of access to a 50 m pool.
The Maryborough Swimming Club trains on Tuesday and Thursday at 6 pm. To learn more about joining the club or how to get involved, visit the Maryborough Swim Club website or Facebook page.