01/03/2026
At our carnival yesterday we awarded club president Mark McDonald his Unsung Heroes award.
Mark joined our club as a 22 year old in 2009 and before becoming our president in 2020, he served on our committee as Club Captain and Race Secretary. Mark is also the current Vice President of and in 2025 completed his Masters swimming referee qualification.
If you’re looking for Mark on a weekend, chances are you will find him in the pool competing in a carnival or completing a swim as part of the MSA E1000 program - he will talk your ear off about how ‘enjoyable’ and ‘not that hard’ an 800 butterfly is!
Mark is also an avid swimming traveller and has competed in Nationals in almost every state, and is looking forward to his 10th Nationals in Brisbane in a couple of months! If all goes to plan, Worlds in Budapest next year will be his first foray into international swimming 🌍 🏊♂️
His enthusiasm and leadership of Blacktown has seen Blacktown become a big presence at MSNSW and MSA carnivals, with our club proudly winning the Visitors trophy at the last 3 Nationals carnivals, and winning the MSNSW Relay meet for the past 4 years in a row.
We were very happy to be able to have the chance to acknowledge all the hours marks has put into our sport at a club, state and national level. Congratulations!