Full Report: Summer Age Group Swim Meet
As the local season builds to a climax, over 140 swimmers from three swim clubs participated in the Makin Waves Summer Age Group Championships held last weekend.
Ben Smith, Co-National Swim Coach and Head Coach for the Sharks Swim Club said: “Last weekend saw an extremely busy and rewarding swim meet for the Sharks Swim Club and we were extremely happy with the performances witnessed over the weekend.
“There were so many swimmers that captured personal best times that it was hard to keep up with the excitement. As Sharks Head Coach I was very proud of the way Sharks competed at all levels. We were able to capture 7 of the 10 age groups high point champions which is an impressive result.
Video from Day #2 of the swim meet:
“It is great to have the hard work of our coaches and swimmers rewarded with such a high number of personal best times and age group winners.”
“The highlights of the meet for me were the young swimmers that made their presence felt with some very fast times. The 50 free finish of the meet is always a time of excitement as we watch the 2 lap dash and this weekend was no different with both Philip Hagen and Vaughn Rowse taking turns in the lead before having Nic Patterson finish in first after recovering from a slip off the starting blocks.
“The young swimmers were once again the highlight as Maddie Moore won the 11&12 50 in 28.93 which was 2 hundredths from the age group record and gave her the fastest female 50 of the night. Jesse Washington – having just moved to the 13&14 age group 2 weeks ago – was quickly out to put his stamp in his new division.
“His 25.68 in the 50 was dazzling to watch and made him the fastest sprinter at the meet. The senior boys had a front row seat as they watched him light up the clock before they had their go at the 50.”
Sharks Intermediate Coach Rob DeSilva reported a very successful weekend for his group of swimmers: “There were multiple personal bests and podium finishes achieved. A great amount of effort was put in by all over the three day meet, with Ethan Daley and Paige Bruton producing some outstanding swims.
“Ethan swam to a AAA time in the 50 Free on his way to becoming the boys 9 – 10 Age Group Champion. Paige was outstanding in the breast stroke events and finished with a super 50 Free swim on Sunday night which propelled her to a third place finish in the 11 – 12 girls age group.”
Mimi Smith, Junior Head Coach for the Sharks Swim Club reported: “What a weekend! Jessica Bruton (age 8) swam in 7 events and broke 3 age group records all previously held by Elizabeth Brewin in 1998, the 100 free, 50 back (she broke her own record in the finals), and the 100 back.
“She has her goals set to break the record books again in the other events before she ages up! Well done Jessica. Jessica was also 1st in the 8 & under high points champion while her sister Holly finished 3rd in high points for the 9 & 10 age group. Both Jessica and Holly have now achieved B and BB times as have Brynn Telenko and Joshua Thorne.”
“Other highlights were Keagan Woolley (age 9) achieving 2 A times in 50 and 100 free which means he has now been invited to join the National Training Squad. Logan Watson Brown achieving 5 B times, Kion Richardson and Elan Daley with 3 B times each, Amber Simons with 2 B times and Isabelle Dutranoit achieving a B time.”
“The following swimmers were on the podium receiving medals: Holly Bruton, Skylar Powell, Brynn Telenko, Brian Desmond, Blake Oliveira, Elan Daley and Amber Simons. I would like to congratulate all juniors for their outstanding performances with 90% achieving PB’s during the weekend.”
Richard Godwin, Co-National Coach and Harbour Swim Club’s Head Coach reported: “In this meet, two ten year old girls led Harbour Swim Club’s competitive spirit. On Friday night, it was Ashley Irby who won the 200 freestyle in her age group with a great swim, stopping the clock in 2:29.01 and setting a record in the process.
“The following morning, she placed first in heats in the 100 freestyle and came back that evening to win in convincing fashion, breaking Ashley Yearwood’s seven year old record by ½ a second with a sterling performance of 1:08.24. Her teammate, Emma Harvey, was up next in the 50 butterfly and lowered her own record by over ½ second to 0:34.12.
“She then repeated the butterfly by swimming the 100m version, breaking her own record by a second, as she recorded a time of 1:15.80. Switching to the 50 backstroke, she took another of Ashley Yearwood’s records by nearly a second, dropping it to 0:36.21 in an excellent swim. Irby completed the evening with an excellent 400 freestyle, winning the event with a time of 5:21.04.”
“On Sunday, Harvey was back in action in the 50 breaststroke, winning both heats and finals and lowering her personal best on both occasions. Next, Irby duplicated this feat in the 100 backstroke and Harvey came back once again to repeat this trend in the 100 breaststroke.
“They then competed together in the 100 individual medley as Harvey broke her own record in the morning’s heats and the two had an epic battle in the final as Harvey emerged the winner, breaking the record again by almost 2 seconds in the evening with a time of 1:18.07.
“It was Irby who closed out the duo’s efforts with one of the best swims of the meet, as she shattered another of Ashley Yearwood’s records by almost a second, this time in the 50 freestyle, with a very fine swim of 0:30.71.”
“All told, these two girls accounted for seven age group records, with Harvey winning the High Points trophy for her age group and Irby a close second.”
“This was an excellent meet for Harbour and it was especially gratifying to see swimmers attempting new and longer events with determination and confidence.”
In his capacity as co-National Coach, Richard Godwin said: “Both Shannon Hassell and Jesse Washington continued their fine season with some stellar performances over the weekend and were dominant in all of their races. If I had to pick one outstanding swim, it would have to be Washington’s 50 freestyle which was superb for a 13 year old boy.”
The Dolphin Swim Team also had an impressive showing this weekend during Summer Age Groups. With 36 swimmers in the water, the team is half the size of the other clubs but continues to “punch above our weight”.
Coach Barry Hanson, in a note to his swimmers this weekend, stated, “What impresses me on a continual basis is the sportsmanship of our swimmers and the support they give each other. Every one of you is able to look back and say ‘you know what? I had some great swims’ and I am very proud of you all.”
The Dolphin’s were well represented on the overall winner podium: Neil Budge took overall first place for the 8 and under boys and Evan Farrow took overall first place for 11-12 boys; Skylar Trott took overall second place in the 8 and under girls, Megan Lau took overall second place for the 11-12 girls, Peter Dill took overall second place for the 13-14 boys and Alexandra Myles took and overall second place for the 15 and over girls; and Gen Lau took overall third place in the 8 and under girls, Brett Smith took overall third place for the 9-10 boys and Amber Reid took an overall third for the 15 and over girls. The swimmers racked up over 145 personal bests among the 36 swimmers.
Both Ben Smith and Richard Godwin, as the National Team Coaches, finished by saying: “All of these swims bode well for our upcoming CCS National Championships and with some of our elite athletes returning to participate it should make for another weekend of excitement at the pool.”
The list of High Point Champions is below, click ‘Fullscreen’ for greater clarity:
