Swimming New England and North West made the decision on Saturday morning, saying it was in the interest of work, health and safety as temperatures look set to reach 46 degrees.

One club that had already made the trek to the Upper Hunter for the carnival still managed to make the most of the experience.

Lake Macquarie Swimming Club members used the pool on Sunday morning to complete a number of drills alongside several Scone representatives.

Coach Ben Jenkinson said the swimmers weren’t too disappointed by the postponement.

“We just decided to have a bit of fun; the water’s great and the weather is fantastic at the moment,” he said.

“Unfortunately, there’s a lot of logistics in a carnival – you can consider night swimming, starting early, or twilight swimming, but when everyone is commuting distances, you sort of can’t really do that.

“Our guys aren’t too disappointed because they’ve got their [NSW] Country Championship times; it was more just a hit-out beforehand.

“During our stay here, the local hotels were great and the golf club put on a terrific spread for us on Saturday night.

“So we’ll certainly be back next year.

Swimming New England and North West stated it was working with Scone Swimming Club in a bid to consider alternative dates and possibilities for the carnival.

The NSW Country Championships will be held from February 24-26 at Sydney Olympic Park.