58 eager West Coast Swimmers took to the pool for the Whyalla Swimming Carnival on Saturday 9th of March. It was a great chance for swimmers from Ceduna to join their team-mates from Port Lincoln and Cummins to set new personal best times over a short course distance (25m pool). Sophie Traeger was as proud as punch with her handful of medals coming first in the 8 and under 25m freestyle (21.06), breastroke (27.83) and backstroke (24.11). Swimming at his first open carnival was Kyle McInerney and he was thrilled to come home with 2 bronze medals in the 8 and under 25m freestyle (22.57) and breastroke (29.17). Other younger team members making their mark were Lilly Perham who recorded four personal best times over 50m and Cameron Izzo who swam a great 50m butterfly in 1.27.59 to finish 5th in his event.

There was plenty of action in the 10 year contingent. Jamie Ford was very pleased with her 50m freestyle swim (40.95) which earnt her the bronze medal in that event. She also made it through the heats and semi finals of the 50m freestyle handicap to take home her biggest swimming trophy yet, finishing in second place. Harrison Adams was a convincing winner in the 10 year old freestyle (36.46), backstroke (46.36), butterfly (43.22) and finished with a silver medal in the breastroke (54.21). Kalani Coleman - Smith churned out 6 personal best times and felt the weight of four medals for his efforts. The pride of place being his gold medal in the 10 and under breastroke (53.67). This time has him registered on the progression of Junior Excellence standards which is an important tool for junior swimmers to use to set their next goal time. Medal winner Emma Hamnett continues to show her strength as a breastroker finishing second in the 10 and under event (53.25). Other West Coast swimmers competing in this age group were Harrison Izzo, Cooper Perham and Isabella Scott. Cooper went home with three improvements in time together with three bronze medals - freestyle (41.63), backstroke (56.92) and a whopping 5 seconds off his 50 butterfly (1.02.19). Issy Scott swam a fantastic 50m backstroke (56.48) and also made improvements in her freestyle and butterfly.

Next to take to the pool were our 11 and 12 year old superfish. Brother and sister, Kieren and Megan Stephens have made great progress in their freestyle with Kieran's 50m time down to 33.74 and 100m time down to 1.20.35 (both bronze medal swims). Megan also swam a personal best in her freestyle (44.19) and topped this with a two second improvement in her backstroke (56.71). Christopher Bawden smashed his nominated times in every event and was most competitive in the breastroke event placing 4th (49.39). Brookyln George finished with a silver medal in the breastroke (48.01) and is steadily working herself towards a  47.00 which will jump her performance up to a Silver JX standard. She finished the meet with 4 personal best times and very pleased with a massive improvement in her 200m breastroke time (3.39.63). The Short Course (25m) qualifying time at State Age (July) for this event is 3.36.45 (11&U) and will be well within her reach. Alleigh Hamnett had her best performance in the 50m breastroke (49.76) and finished 4th while Braeden Hammond improved three of his times by considerable margins almost breaking the minute mark in his 50m breastroke (1.01.73). Tommy Ford came out of his 50m freestyle energised after breaking the 37 barrier with a 36.39 and has now recorded an official State Age Short Course Qualifying time for the 200m backstroke in 3.10.13 and also his 50m backstroke (42.61).  Ania Constantinopoulos was very pleased to come away with three improvements from her nominated times with a great freestyle performance, almost hitting the 36 second mark (37.10). Yemaya Coleman-Smith was stoked with her haul of medals on the day - 4 individual medals with her gold in the 50m butterfly (40.32) taking pride of place. She also had a super swim in the 50m freestyle to record a 34.03 placing her in bronze medal position.  Kellie Dennis looked impressive over the 100m freestyle (1.24.09) finishing in 4th position and topped this off with a personal best in her 50m race of 37.78. Recently jumping up an age group Henry Nelligan had a tough gig up against swimmers in the 12 year old age category but he didn't let this intimidate him with a super 50m freestyle (36.36) and 50m backstroke (47.39). Moet McCathie and Ellie McInerney also performed really well both making significant improvements in their freestyle. Moet recorded a 38.91 and Ellie a 56.19 over 50m.

Older swimmers, still fresh from SASSA were thrilled to have the opportunity to update their current short course times. Gerard Meyer came home with three silver medals two of which were for his breastroke performances. Nik Constantinopoulos left with three gold medals around his neck from his 50m freestyle (31.89), backstroke (40.77) and breastroke (43.38). Coen George was competitive in each of his strokes coming home with 5 medals in total. He made up some significant ground in his breastroke - 50m (46.96) and 100m (1.41.18).with a clear win in the boys 13 - 14 years 50m butterfly (42.26). Maddy Izzo medalled  in the 100m backstroke (2nd - 1.39.67) and 100m butterfly (1.49.09). Tash Hammond received 4 medals (two silver and two bronze) and posted competitive times for her breastroke (44.76) and freestyle (31.17). Brooke Traeger smashed the 50m freestyle (29.76), backstroke (36.02) and butterfly (33.19) and 100m butterfly (1.12.66) to finish first in all four events. Her times are all under the required 14 year old State Age Short Course Standards with the most significant margin being for her 100m fly where she is 11 seconds under. In this event she is within 2 seconds of the open standard (1.10.35). Henry Lambert's talent in the pool continues to astound, with medals wins in every event swum at Whyalla. He placed first in three and second in his other three events. His 50m freestyle time (26.61) is not only under the age group time but also under the open State Short Course Qualifying time. He almost broke the minute mark over the 100m event (1.00.84) and swam a solid 50m fly in 31.93 and backstroke 33.71.

Swimmers are now in final preparation for their participation in the 2013 State Country SAPSASA Carnival at the SA Aquatic and Leisure centre on Friday 22nd of March. We wish all Lower Eyre Peninsula team members a fantastic carnival - in 2012 the team finished in seventh place overall with a very close tussle from 5th place onwards. Many of our swimmers are travelling with extended family and have invited relatives and friends in Adelaide to celebrate their achievements with them.

24 swimmers from the Eyre Peninsula (Far West) represented their region at the 2013 South Australian Secondary Schools C Grade Swimming Championship held at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre on Monday 4th of March. Finishing second in this grade to Sacred HeartCollege the team has risen from the G  grade competition six years ago to now competing on an even keel with some of the state’s best high school swimmers. A & B Grade are made up of Adelaide's top private schools. Representative schools comprising the Far West (Eyre Peninsula) team were – St Josephs Port Lincoln, Ceduna Area School,Port Lincoln High School, Navigator College and Cummins AreaSchool. Eyerus Curtis (Port Lincoln High School) and Luke Andrews (St Josephs Port Lincoln) represented the team at presentation.

Certificates were awarded for all place getters and a number of stand out performances were noted. Congratulations to Luke and James Andrews, Henry Lambert and Brooke Traeger who all achieved standard times in their events making them eligible for nomination in the South Australian Secondary School Team. First placed in their events were; Luke Andrews in the Open and U16 50m Breastroke (33.86), Henry Lambert in the U15 50m Backstroke (33.18), Brooke Traeger in U14 50m Freestyle (30.53), Gerard Meyer in the U16 50m Freestyle Division 2 (28.54), James Andrews in the U14 Freestyle and Breastroke Division 2 (30.87, 39.38), Marley Fairclough in the U16 Breastroke Division 2 (44.54) and Nik Constantinopoulos in the U14 50m Breastroke Division 3 (43.09).

To finish the meet team events were swum and the Far West Open Boys team (Henry Lambert, Luke Andrews, Tyson Lynch and Gerard Meyer) swum a great 4 x 50m Medley relay to finish on top in 2.11.24. The U14 girls 4 x 50m Freestyle (Maddy Izzo, Brooke Traeger, Stella Reidy and Tash Hammond) followed this up with another win in 2.15.81 and the U15 boys (Fraser Tonkin, Tyson Lynch, James Andrews and Henry Lambert) did the same in 2.00.50. Jade Calverley also competed in the competition for swimmers with a disability and came home with 2 first placings and a second placing. Many thanks to the parent helpers on the day particularly Todd George and Brett Howell together with team manager Carol Veldhuyzen.

Championship Dates for Interstate Secondary Schools Swimming: 8th - 14th September
Championship Venue: Adelaide, SA

State Secondary Swimming Team Nominations must be received by the 15th of May.

More recognition has been received for the potential that power house Jade Calverley has to fulfil her deams of representing Australia in the pool at a Paralympic Games. The South Australian Institute of Sport (SASI) have just announced the recipients of their 2013 Athlete Scholarship program and Jade has been selected to recieve a Country Individual Athlete Award. This funding from the SA Sports Institute is available for athletes aged 13-18 years who are performing at a high (state/national) level in Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games Sports and live permanently in a regional area, 130kms or more from the Adelaide GPO. Athletes must have a long-term commitment to their sport and demonstrate ability to eventually compete at the elite level. Athletes receive approximately $800 to assist with travel costs to training and competition. Also receiving a scholarship in this round of support was Kyle Chalmers (Norwood Swimming Club - SA Centre for Excellence). Kyle, previously a member of the West Coast Swimming Team relocated to Adelaide to further his swimming career. He received an Individual Talented Athlete Scholarship which offers financial assistance to talented junior  athletes to assist them progress to the senior elite level.

Jade is currently preparing for the Australian Age Multi-Class Championships which will see swimmers from around the country compete at the SA Aquatic and Leisure centre in Marion from the 13th - 15th of April 2013. The event is run concurrently with the 2013 Georgina Hope Swimmers Foundation Australian Age Championships.

Congratulations to West Coast Multi - Class Swimmers Ellie McInerney & Jade Calverley who travelled to Unley Hall on the 25th of February to be presented with their Variety Club Scholarships.

Variety SA scholarship program is open annually for children who are sick, disadvantaged or have special needs and are aged under 18. Scholarship funding is specifically provided to assist children in fulfilling their talents and achieving their life goals. The program is divided into categories; sport, education and the arts. The Show of Hearts Scholarship committee consists of a group of industry professionals for these categories. The committee, under the guidance of Chair Deborah Miller, considers each scholarship application in November - January each year. For those recipients who are successful, Variety assigns them a committee member (known as a case manager) to ensure these children receive all the advice, encouragement and inspiration to help them on their way.

In 2013, Variety SA rewarded 33 talented children a scholarship in sport, education and the arts. Totaling $81,988, 2013 saw a huge jump from previous years with the competition for a scholarship multiplying from previous years. The fantastic news is that two swimmers from the West Coast Swimming Club were amongst the recipients of these scholarships which will assist by providing financial support to both girls so that they can enter and travel to competitions that they wish to participate in across the country.

Jade, age 13, swimming
Competitive swimming has given Jade the confidence to be at one with her peers doing something she absolutely loves. She is now part of the Paralympics Development Team with the opportunity to go to Rio in 2016.

Ellie, age 11, swimming
Ellie experiences a feeling of freedom and being equal to others while swimming. This scholarship will enable Ellie to improve her skills through specialist coaching and compete in carnivals across the state and beyond.

You can read more about the great work that the Variety Club of South Australia does to improve access to incredible opportunities for children to reach their potential via the website link below!