Last month Mount Gambier Swim Club members attended the inaugural National Country Swimming Championships in Darwin. A total of seven swimmers spent a week in Darwin, firstly acclimatising to the weather, which averaged a humid 35 degrees (when torrential rain wasn’t experienced).
Coached by Julie Moran and Nathan Stratford, swimmers trained over several days in the lead up to the Championship meet and in between sessions relaxed at the Wave Pool, Crocosaurus Cove, Mindil Beach and Mindil Markets on sunset.
The Championships were held over four days at the Parap Swimming Pool with heats in the morning and finals in the afternoon. All swimmers performed exceptionally well over the event with a total of 23 PB’s over the four days. Results also included a total of 22 finals and 5 medals.
Day 1 saw Elijah combining with the Geelong Sharks in an exhibition swim as part of the men’s 4 x 50m freestyle relay to perform exceptionally well in their heat. Lucy, Indee, Jess and Hinako represented the club in the women’s’ 4 x 50m freestyle relay, A medley relay was also swum on the final day by Hinako (backstroke), Vaughn (breaststroke), Lucy (butterfly) and Charles (freestyle).
Highlights of the meet included:
Hinako Holman: 2nd in 100 Backstroke
3rd in 50 Backstroke
Vaughn Stratford: 3rd in 50 Breaststroke
3rd in 100 Breaststroke
Lucy Dening: 2nd in 50 Backstroke
Charles Moore : 9.54 second PB in 200 Backstroke placing 8th in the finals
3.67 second PB in 100 Freestyle
Finals for the swimmers and top ten placings included:
Hinako: 100BK (2nd), 100FR (8th), 100FLY (8th), 50BK (3rd)
Vaughn: 200IM (9th), 200BR (8th), 50BR (3rd), 50BK (6th), 100BR (3rd)
Lucy: 50FR (6th), 100BK (10th), 100FR (7th), 100FLY (5th), 50BR (4th), 50BK(2nd), 50FLY (4th)
Charles: 100BK (9th), 100FLY (9th), 200BK (8th), 50FLY (9th)
Indee: 50BR (8th), 50FLY (9th)
With the finals done and dusted, swimmers were rewarded with a day trip to the Litchfield National Park, visiting Berry Springs, Wangi Falls, Florence Falls, Buley Rockhole to relax and swim under waterfalls before an early flight home the following morning.
Congratulations to Swimming Northern Territory and all officials and volunteers on a fantastic event and a great experience in the top end! A big thank you to all the parents and coaches that assisted with the trip to give the swimmers the opportunity to swim at the championships.
The club are now looking forward to the upcoming SA Country Swimming Championships to be held locally and hosted by our club at Wulanda Recreation and Convention Centre from the 5th to 8th of January, 2023. Swimmers are now training hard in the lead up to this major event on our swimming calendar for the upcoming summer season. If you would like to know more about the swim club, please contact either Nathan on 0427 979 238 or Julie on 0438 358 400. Free come and try sessions are offered on a regular basis throughout the term for swimmers that can swim 25m Freestyle and 25m Backstroke.
