Kyle Chalmers who has been swimming with the Marion Swimming Club (previously from Port Lincoln) for the past two years won this age division in a 22.70 breaking the South Australian All-comers Record for this age group. His time was well under the Australian Open Short Course Qualifying standard of 23.80. Henry also had outstanding swims in both the backstroke almost breaking the 30 second barrier in the 50m race (30.18) and breastroke knocking 6 seconds off his previous 100m personal best (new time - 1.14.87). His open mindedness and willingness to test his talents against South Australia’s best, bought out an excellent level of personal performance. Achievement against National Age Standards is well within Henry’s abilities and the club looks forward to supporting further progress over the summer long course season. Backstroke specialist Tommy Ford competed in all available distances for this stroke and recorded some excellent personal best times in the 13 year old male division. He finished the 50m backstroke in 35.56, the 100m backstroke in 1.17.59 and the 200m in 2.43.21. These results placed him 9th, 11th and 6th overall. Following an unfortunate accident the day prior to attending the meet, Harrison Adams still managed a personal best performance of 1.10.57 in the 12 year old 100 freestyle. Whilst supporting his team mates, Harrison also competed in a further 4 events during the championships recording personal best times in the 50m butterfly (36.68), 50m backstroke (39.42) and 200m freestyle (2.36.05). This was his first opportunity to compete at State Championship level and he managed all of the technical requirements of competing at this level to the best of his ability. Also competing at State Championship level for the first time was Chris Bawden. Chris has clear talent in breastroke and made significant improvements in both the 50m (38.44) and 100m (1.24.22) events. Impressively Chris finished as South Australia’s 6th fastest 13 year old in these races. With continued work on the finer points of competitive racing including the importance of streamlining, quick acceleration from the block and technically proficient turns, Chris will be hard to beat in this age group at Country Championships in January. It’s great to see a young Tumby Bay swimmer with such significant support from his family to pursue his sporting ambitions. Fresh from a training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, Jade Calverley walked away with a clean sweep of personal best times together with her highest ever multiclass point score. Jade was thrilled to achieve a number of National Open Short Course Qualifying times and received a great deal of support from the crowd when she requested permission to swim a special time trial for the 100 freestyle. Jade proved again that she has what it takes to compete at the elite level in swimming, managing a full event program over four full days of competition. She was crowned multiclass State Champion in every one of her races walking away with an incredible 8 gold medals. Perhaps her greatest improvement was in the 200m Individual Medley - a race which she is yet to consider as a serious strength. Amazingly Jade knocked almost 13 seconds off her previous best and is within 8 seconds of performing at National Open level. Jade’s next competition is just around the corner at the Australian National Short Course Championships to be held in Adelaide in early November. Brooke Traeger (15 years) is also edging closer to National Age Standards. She came into this competition having a winter season of light training but still proved she has got what it takes to be amongst the state’s best swimmers. The proudest moment of the meet for Brooke was her bronze medal and personal best performance in the 50m butterfly (30.66) having overcome three previously frustrating 4th placings. Brooke’s smashed a number of personal best performances including the 100 freestyle where she almost cracked the 1 minute mark (1.01.54), the 50m freestyle (28.39) and the 50m backstroke (33.18). Swimming in six B finals Brooke had her first taste of Open State level competition and thrived on the opportunity to swim against competitors that have raced at national level and gone on to represent Australia at major meets. For 11 year old Jamie Ford this was her first attendance at a State Championship after qualifying in 9 individual events following consistent improvements in performance over the winter competition season. Jamie’s most competitive performance was in the 50m butterfly where she equalled her previous best of 36.03 to finish as South Australia’s seventh fastest 11 year old female. She made some great headway on her backstroke personal bests knocking two and a half seconds off her 50m time to finish in 8th place (37.29) and a massive 6 seconds off her 100m time to record a 1.22.98. Jamie will be working hard to utilise her versatility across all strokes to put together a 200m Individual Medley in preparation for the 2015 Country Championships and State Age Long Course Meets both in January. Jamie will be hitting the pool hard at the forthcoming Primary Championships and has her eyes set on rewriting a number of existing pool records. Ellie McInerney was in high spirits for the championships and competed across a large number of events. She also reconnected with a number of athletes with whom she has struck up special friendships following her travel to Melbourne as part of the SA Team at the School Sport Championships. Ellie’s best performances were in the 200m freestyle (4.16.00) and 50m backstroke (1.01.68). She was awarded three bronze medals, for the two events listed previously as well as in the 50m butterfly (1.30.01). At 12 years of age Ellie competes in Multiclass Competition which gives swimmers with physical disabilities the opportunity to benchmark their personal performances against swimmers with a similar degree of disability. She has built her race repertoire considerably and also competed in the 200m Individual Medley for just her second time during these championships. The competitors expressed their thanks to Team Manager Nardine McInerney and Coach Sonia Ford for supporting the team throughout the meet. Thanks also to each of the parents who donated their time as time keepers during each session.
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Jade has again been invited to an intensive training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra next week, where she will have a demanding schedule of two-hour training sessions twice a day, gym work and massage, and attend presentations on nutrition, recovery and psychology.
Jade will be the right age for the Rio Paralympics in 2016 but selection will depend on her times and she will be under the extra pressure of Year 12 that year. As her Paralympic dream comes closer to becoming a reality she knows her preparation will continue to step up. "Lots of training and probably watching what I eat, physio work and competitions." With five training sessions a week, some starting at 5am, Jade said that the feeling she got after every training was what kept her motivated and on track to her Olympic goal. As published in the Port Lincoln Times - Journalist Billie Harrison (11th September 2014) West Coast Swimmers enjoyed their final point score event for the current 2013 / 14 swimming season on Friday 26th of September. Points will now be tallied as a result of personal best improvements over the season in preparation for the End of Season Trophy Presentation Day at Boston Bay Wines on Sunday 26th of October. It was rewarding for many swimmers to record notable improvements across many of their events. Fastest 100m freestyle on the night went to Kieren Stephens (14) from Cummins who recorded a 1.04.57 narrowly edging out Brooke Traeger (15) who finished in a 1.04.91. Kieren also notched up a great result in the 50m butterfly finishing in 33.39 seconds. Many swimmers are now evaluating their performances against Country Championship standards as we head into the summer racing season. It was great to see Larissa Sporer (11) knock 5 seconds off her previous 100m freestyle time and record a 1.26.16 to go well under the Country Standard time. She teamed this with a fantastic 50 butterfly time of 44.67 to sneak this event into her program for January as well. Congratulations to swimmers of the month Max Rogalski, Stuart Mesecke, Issy Scott and Chris Bawden, Ellie Akehurst and Tasmin Durdin. All of these swimmers have shown fantastic dedication during training and have made clear goals to improve their personal performance. They were presented with Sports Star Certificates courtesy of McDonald’s Port Lincoln. Chris Bawden's (13) talent in breastroke continues to impress with further improvements to record 38.20 over 50m and 1.27.36 in the 100m. Chris will be aiming to rewrite Country Record books in this stroke over summer with the long course country record standing at 37.34 in the 50m event. With a disciplined approach to perfecting turns during training he could also look to make considerable improvements in his 100m and 200m personal bests. One to watch coming into Primary School Championships will be Max Rogalski (10). He has quickly got his head around the measurement of personal improvement according to benchmarked times and is edging on a number of Country Qualifying Standards for the 11 and under age group. He has demonstrated the ability to cope well with an increase in training and was thrilled to record a 49.59 for the 50m breastroke (under standard). The addition of 100 and 200m breastroke races to his repertoire will be important over the coming months. Sibling rivalry within the swim club spurred a number of improvements at point score including an excellent performance in the 200m breastroke by Emma Hamnett (11). She edged out older sister Alleigh to come within 4 seconds of the State Qualification Standard of 3.36.45. Congratulations on an awesome 200m breastroke in 3.40.36. Liana Baldwin (12) has made some great improvements in her freestyle finishing 6th fastest female at point score in a 1.29.47 in the 100m event. She also clocked a personal best in the 50m event (38.55) and celebrated with twin Isabella Baldwin (12) who finished in a very low 37 (37.31). Harrison Adams (12) has developed an excellent 200m Individual Medley which sees swimmers complete 50m of each stroke in the order butterfly, backstroke, breastroke and freestyle. Heading off to State Championships next week with 7 swims, Harrison completed his 200IM in 3.05.65. Young Bryce Hammond (7) has come ahead leaps and bounds and is in the process of building 100 and 200m race experience. t was incredible to see him complete his first 200m Individual Medley successfully finishing 50m in all four strokes. His 'gutsy' can do attitude is inspiring and this paired with his natural athleticism will see rewarding improvements in his personal best times. His 50m backstroke is now under the 50 second mark (49.07) and his 100m backstroke saw him finish well under the 2 minute mark (1.55.60). Incredibly Bryce was within .10 of a second of recording his first 11 and under country qualifying standard in the 100m backstroke - an amazing achievement for a 7 year old swimmer. West Coast Swimmers will head to the State Short Course Championships during the second week of the school holidays. This is an age group and open event and will provide an opportunity to race under the pressure of championship level swimming. Warm up at these meets can be challenging with upwards of 200 competitors vying for lane space. Many of those swimmers going will have the 2015 Pacific School Games on their radar and will be preparing their individual race programs to facilitate personal best performance over the summer long course program with view towards possible selection into a South Australian team.
The club would like to sincerely thank all of those parents and supporters who quickly nominated for timekeeping, marshalling and starting duties. The club prides itself on an athlete centred approach, driven by the judgement and experience of the coaching team and supported by a strong focus on parent volunteering. Swimming provides opportunities for young people to develop positive self-perception, be personally rewarded for hard work and perseverance and value the importance of supporting your team mates. West Coast Swimmers enjoyed a night of racing at the Port Lincoln Pool on Friday 29th of August. The club facilitates monthly point score events which simulate race marshalling protocols and offer swimmers the opportunity to update their personal best times or trial new race distances and events. This is the second to last point score for the current 2013/14 swimming season which closes on the 30th of September. The club then immediately rolls over to the following 2014/15 season with the State Short Course Championships being attended by 7 swimmers during the October school holidays. It was pleasing to see many of the junior squad swimmers taking advantage of point score to begin preparations for the Lower Eyre Peninsula Primary Schools Swimming Championship on the 31st of October. Swimmers in years 3 - 7 are invited to participate in the carnival with representative teams nominated by the team coordinator at each school. 10 year old Sophie Traeger had an excellent swim in her 100m freestyle to record a personal best time of 1.32.50 with team mate Tasmin Durdin (9 years) showing enormous potential finishing in 1.35.93. Both girls will be working hard to sneak under the Country Qualifying standard of 1.31.50 for the 11U age group. Biggest improvers amongst the girls were Kylie Hurrell (10) who shaved more than 17 seconds off from her previous personal best (1.42.22) and Jessica Mesecke who recorded a 14 second PB (1.59.11). Fastest 100 freestyle on the night went to Brooke Traeger in a 1.04.47 with Kieran Stephens a close second in a great time of 1.06.88. Immediately behind Kieran was Max Lambert who finished in 1.07.15. Both of the boys have made plenty of ground on this swim since the last time trial, recording 5 and 6 second personal bests. Star backstrokers for night were Dylan Evans (10 years) 48.62, who is now within a second of the Country Qualification standard of 47.30, Bryce Hammond (7 years) who knocked off over 4 seconds to record a 52.07 and Jamie Ford (11 years) who finished in 1.29.03 and will contest this event in October at the 2014 Short Course State Championships.
Dana Hurrell continues to set the pool on fire with her impressive command of breastroke. Her 100m time of 1.35.01 is well under the State Qualifying standard for 12 year old girls (1.40.00). Equally impressive was her incredible 20 second improvement on her 200 breastroke (3.24.28) which has her well under the 3.32.00 cut off for State Championships. Her dedication and attention at training is definitely paying big dividends and with race experience over the coming summer months will be a serious contender in age group events. Equally impressive on the breastroke front is Chris Bawden who has come ahead leaps and bounds in his proficiency over the winter season. Clocking a 21 second personal best in the 200 breastroke, Chris’s 200m time of 3.12.13 is 10 seconds under the 13 year old State Qualification standard and partnered with his 7 second PB in the 100 breastroke of 1.30.50 makes for a very exciting start to an action packed summer of racing. Joseph Perin (10 years) looked impressive on the 25 fly and it was fantastic to see Seb Henderson back in the water racing. It is important that swimmers take advantage of point score opportunities to build race confidence in events that they would like to add to their summer programs. Madeline McShane (1.36.93) and Isabella Scott (1.49.72) both recorded great improvements in their 100 butterfly with both girls achieving the standard necessary to add this to their Country Championships card in January. The West Coast Swimming club are looking forward to an exciting future with the recent Port Lincoln City Council decision to acquire the Port Lincoln Pool from the Sarin Group. With an allocated spend of $6 million on redevelopments for the centre, the club is hoping to see an increase in the area available for spectator seating combined with more efficient heating and refurbishment of the change room facilities. GO Club PB Standard Results The GO Club PB program is a key component of Swimming Australia's efforts to measure and reward swimming clubs based on their ability. By completing a series of questions that Swimming Australia has identified as having strategic importance, a club has the opportunity to gain a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. This year West Coast Swimming Club received its highest ranking to date - GOLD. Of the 311 clubs nationally that completed the online workbook a total of 12 clubs were awarded Platinum Status, 44 Gold Status, 85 Silver Status, 74 Bronze Status, 55 Green Status and 41 Entry Level Status. Congratulations as well to other GOLD recipients Marion Swimming Club, Norwood Swimming Club, Fleurieu Swimming Club, Whyalla Swimming Club, Silver City Swimming Club and Port Pirie Swimming Club - what a fantastic result for country swimming in SA. This places us on par with South Australia's leading swimming clubs. Inclusive Club Standards
The Inclusive Club Standard serves two purposes; the first is to provide recognition and reward to those clubs who are taking steps to create an inclusive environment in their clubs; the second helps clubs, regions, state associations and Swimming Australia to identify areas of strength and weakness enabling the development of programs to address inclusion of people with disability more effectively. This year West Coast Swimming Club was awarded two stars - Thinking About Inclusion. The maximum number of stars is 5 stars. For more information about the GO Club PB Standards and Inclusive Club Standards head to http://www2.swimming.org.au/article.php?group_id=43454&id=5117 Three talented Port Lincoln swimmers from the West Coast Swimming Club have been selected to compete at the 2014 School Sport Australia Swimming Championships in Melbourne from the 20th - 26th of July 2014. As members of the South Australian Team these young women were selected based upon their exceptional performances at SAPSASA or SASSSA state competitions earlier in the year. Both Jade Calverley and Ellie McInerney will be competing in the SWD category having both previously representing the state on a number of other occasions. Jade will be competing in the S6 category against swimmers with a similar disability and is a key member of the team competing in 7 individual and 2 relay events. She has cited her goal at this meet is to improve her 200m Individual Medley swim. She is currently ranked 23rd in the word by the International Paralympic Committee in this event and will be looking to improve her time of 4 minutes 18 seconds recorded at the Australian Age Championships in Sydney earlier this year. Ellie McInerney has added a number of longer distance events to her repertoire and is looking forward to representing South Australia in the 200m freestyle. She also has a very full program competing in 6 individual and 2 team events. Ellie is hoping to further improve her breastroke times after showing considerable improvement in this stroke at recent point score events. India Copland is the final member of the team and this is her first opportunity to swim as part of a touring South Australian team. India has shown great dedication to training over the past weeks travelling from Tumby Bay to hit the water at 7am three mornings a week. She has been required to attend team information and training sessions at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide. Normally called upon for her breastroke talents, 12 year old India has been selected to compete in the 100 backstroke and 50 freestyle as well as both team relay events. India has currently recorded a personal best 50 freestyle time of 31.97 and will be looking to work as close as possible to the 30 second mark in Melbourne. The West Coast Swimming Club would like to wish all three girls the best of luck at the championships and we are exceedingly proud of their achievements. We would also like to take this opportunity to encourage as many members of the wider community to support the clubs efforts to secure a new aquatic facility for Port Lincoln. The Port Lincoln City Council has released a further survey requiring your valued opinion so that the $10 million dollars set aside in the councils Long Term Financial Plan can be allocated towards an approved and contracted project.
It was awesome to see 40 eager West Coast Swimmers take to the water to contest our monthly Point Score Event held at the Port Lincoln Leisure Centre on Friday May 30th. The event schedule included opportunities for first time competitors to attempt 25m events in all 4 strokes, together with 50m events again in all four strokes teamed with a 200m freestyle for those looking to begin incorporating distance events onto their racing schedule. To begin the evening swimmers were provided with a copy of the Junior Excellence benchmarked times together with the State Qualification standards that will be applied at this year's short course and long course championships. These are excellent tools to use in planning your season goals. Many of our swimmers have received either Green, Bronze, Silver or Gold Junior Excellence standards and are looking for the next challenge to secure their country qualifying times and state qualifying times. Each month swimmers who demonstrate a dedicated attitude to training, are supportive of the teams efforts and show improvement towards their swimming goals are rewarded as "Swimmer of the Month." This month nippers squad members Jarrod Scholz and Jessica Mesecke were acknowledged for their willingness to respond to technical stroke feedback, Harrison Adams, Kilani Coleman-Smith, Emma Hamnett and Issy Scott were applauded for their application to the training program and Henry Lambert was awarded for his continued responsiveness to coaching direction and support of development squad swimmers who are commencing training in the senior lane. Fastest females for the 50m freestyle were Brook Traeger (30.32), India Copland (32.84 ) Xanthia Clark (34.59) and Jamie Ford (36.42). Biggest improver for the girls was 10 year old Jessica Mesecke who bettered her previous personal best by a whopping 5.26 seconds to finish in 56.14 seconds. Also showing great improvements were Kylie Hurrell (52.56), Emma Hamnett (46.23), Dana Hurrell (38.50) and Isabella Baldwin (41.65). For the males, fastest freestyler went to Henry Lambert who clocked an excellent personal best of 26.19 seconds which is just .8 of a second shy of the National Age Qualifying time of 25.40. Hot on his heals were James Andrews (28.18), Max Lambert (29.88) and Kieran Stephens (30.04) who all swam beneath the respective State Qualification standards for their age. Biggest improver went to Stuart Mesecke who shaved off 3.5 seconds off his 50m personal best to finish in 36.56. Also ones to watch will be 10 year olds Joseph Perin (46.53) and Max Rogalski (45.81) who will both be aiming to edge down to the 40 second mark over the winter period. Next on the program was the 50m backstroke and stand out performance goes to Liana Baldwin who finished in a four second personal best of 44.28. This was well under the Country Qualifying standard of 45.50 for 11 year old girls and saw her finish 4th fastest female. Other great improvers were Dana Hurrell (46.51), Bridie Mickan (52.74) and Jessica Mesecke who broke the minute mark finishing in 59.01. For the boys, the 50m backstroke saw a cracker swim from Max Lambert (35.68) to finish fastest male. It always brings a smile to finish in front of an older brother or sister, so Max was all smiles with Henry placing second (36.33), James Andrews third (36.44) and Tommy Ford fourth (38.62). Again Stuart Mesecke has taken a big leap forward finishing in 46.63 (a nearly 6 second personal best). The 50m breastroke saw fastest female awarded to India Copland in 42.57 seconds. India is one of three West Coast Swimmers chosen to represent South Australia at the National School Sport Championships in Melbourne. This competition is held in July and is an important precursor to the 2015 Pacific School Games. Jade Calverley showed her keenness to fine tune her pre-race routines and posted both a very competitive time in her breastroke (1.01.12) and in all other events. Jade is also headed to Melbourne along with Ellie McInerney as part of the South Australian team. Improvement points are awarded to swimmers who post a personal best against previous point score results. 9 year old Tasmin Durdin recorded an excellent breastroke personal best of 55.41 which was the fastest time from both 9 and 10 year old girls. Isabella Baldwin (11) also posted a great result of 56.97. James Andrews was the top of the heap for the male breastrokers finishing in a blistering 37.49 seconds. The long standing tussle between Stuart Mesecke and Kilani Coleman-Smith in the breastroke is always worth the wait and they finished their respective 50m races within .2 of a second of one another (Kilani 46.06 and Stuart 46.24). Butterfly swimmers hit the block next with Brooke Traeger (32.04), India Copland (39.91) and Jamie Ford (40.87) all finishing strongly in their respective heats. Liana Baldwin had an excellent race managing to finish in 53.80 just behind Larissa Sporer (53.75). Training programs over the past month have featured butterfly heavily so it was pleasing to see swimmers put their training practice into action. For the boys Henry Lambert smashed out a sub 30 second 50m swim (29.32). Harrison Adams (37.68) has his sights set on catching Max Lambert (37.03) and came within half a second of his goal. It was great to see Jospeh Perin continue to strengthen his 50m race. He wiped of over 10 seconds from his previous point score result to record a 1.02.19. The challenge for him is to now to get down under the minute mark. The final event on the program was a 200m freestyle and it was inspiring to see 7 year old Bryce Hammond and many of our other younger swimmers comfortably complete this event. Swimmers who look to include longer distance events on their program go through a process of understanding ‘how’ to swim the race as mental strategy and perceived rate of exertion play a critical role in developing a competitive time. Harrison Adams swam a well thought out race to finish in 2.44.17 and again will be looking to start chasing down Max Lambert in this event (2.40.28). The West Coast Swimming Club sincerely appreciates the willingness of parents to support these point score events. Without obliging time keepers, a starter, event marshall and stroke judges they would not be able to be held. The club would like to acknowledge the ongoing role that Lea Traeger has performed in administering the receiving of event entries and publication of results sheets. This is a highly valued role and sincerely appreciated by all club members. Friday 21st of March 2014 saw a very excited team of Lower Eyre Peninsula (LEP) swimmers travel to the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre at Marion to contest the Country SAPSASA State Final. Swimmers had been identified based upon their performance at the LEP Primary Schools Championship in November 2013 and selected into the team as a result of having the most competitive personal bests over 50m during the summer racing season. For many of the younger team members this was their first experience racing at the SA Aquatic Centre and the atmosphere was electric with the crowd filled with excited parents, grandparents and swimmers. Team captains on the day were Kellie Dennis (St Joseph’s School) and Henry Nelligan (Cummins Area School) both year 7’s at their respective schools. The role is an important one as SAPSASA is open to both registered and non-registered swimmers with Swimming SA so a number of the team have plenty of competitive potential but may not have the experience of being marshalled, presenting to the medal ceremony and abiding by warm up and race protocols. The team was thrilled to better their result from last year, again finishing in second place overall on 232.5 points, narrowly missing the top spot by just 10.5 points (the equivalent of one gold medal) to the team from the Hills. The first events on the schedule were the 50m freestyle heats and the LEP saw a number of swimmers progress through to the finals and medal in their respective age groups. Tasmin Durdin (10yr girls) finished in 5th place in 41.20 seconds. Jasmine Clark (11yr girls) had the perfect race to finish with the gold medal in a personal best time of 36.63 with Larissa Sporer in the same final picking up the 4th placing (37.59). The 12yr boys worked hard to finish in 2nd and 3rd place (Harrison Adams 33.13 and Henry Nelligan 33.86) with India Copland (12yr girls) swimming an excellent time of 31.83 in the final to take out the silver placing. The 13 year old team members medalled in third place – Chris Bawden from Tumby Bay Area School finished in 32.08 and Kellie Denis from St Joseph’s School in 33.83. 50m Breastroke finals saw Lower Eyre Peninsula representatives in every final, in each age group for both males and females. Kyle McInerney (10yr boys) finished in 6th place with a time of 55.91 whilst Sophie Traeger (10yr girls) completed the swim of the day with an incredible 2 second improvement on her heat swim. She finished in first place, in a new personal best performance of 52.55 seconds. In the 11 year old age group Zac Kenny was thrilled to swim two seconds faster than his heat and complete the race in 51.25 seconds to take out 5th place. Jamie Ford (11yr girls) secured the first of three individual medals in her races, being narrowly touched out at the wall resulting in a second placing in 49.55. Kalani Coleman – Smith demonstrated his incredible drive to succeed by swimming a blinder in the 12 year old breastroke (46.99 - gold), to outswim team mate Stuart Mesecke (47.82 - silver) from Navigator College. The boys showed inspiring sportsmanship after the race by shaking hands at the finish, acknowledging the effort that each one had put into the race. India Copland added to her freestyle silver with a confident gold medal performance in the breastroke in a time of 45.01. Chris Bawden (13yr boys) had to battle hard in his final to be narrowly touched out by .07 of a second to receive the silver placing (41.59) whilst Brooklyn George generated more valuable points for the team to finish in 8th place in her final (47.57). Backstrokers took to the pool next and six competitors went through to the finals. A gold medal went to Jamie Ford (11yr girls) in 42.05 despite a much more impressive heat performance of 40.73, a silver medal went to Tommy Ford (13yr boys) in a time of 37.71 and bronze medals were taken out by India Copland (12yr girls) and Harrison Adams (12yr boys) in times of 39.47 and 41.14 respectively. Sophie Traeger finished in 4th place (10yr girls) in 47.76 and Kellie Dennis (13yr girls) again secured more valuable team points in 8th place (44.16). The last individual races for the championship were the 50m butterfly events and a familiar set of faces again graced the finals listings and medal podium. Joseph Perin (10yr boys) swam a solid race to finish in 6th position in a time of 1.12.90 whilst Sophie Traeger (10yr girls) also finished in 6th in a time of 54.52. Jamie Ford (11 yr girls) led the field from the moment she entered the water and finished first in 39.57, putting to bed last year’s disqualification in the same event for an incorrect start. Harrison Adams (12yr boys) was ecstatic to finish first in 37.71, relishing the experience of seeing the number 1 pop up next to his name on the electronic score board. This event was the LEP’s second gold / silver combination with team captain Henry Nelligan taking out the silver in 42.87. The 13yr olds held their own with Tommy Ford showing steely determination to finish 2nd in 38.03 and Kellie Dennis in 8th position in 41.18.
SAPSASA also provides the opportunity for SWD (Swimmers with a disability) to compete in the championships. Ellie McInerney (S7) from Navigator College competed in three events recording her best performance in the 50m backstroke to take home a gold medal (1.00.59). Points are allocated to swimmers based on a comparison between their performance and the world record for their particular classification with the swimmer closest being crowned that events champion. Ellie also swam the 100 freestyle and received a silver medal (2.03.39) and the 50 freestyle (57.56) where she received bronze. The highlight for many of the swimmers is the chance to team up with their swimming mates and contest the 4 x 50 age group team freestyle finals. Medals again came streaming in for the LEP and these events provide key contributions to the overall team point score. The gorgeous 10yr girls team comprising Lily Nicholls, Lily Perham, Sophie Traeger and Tasmin Durdin were thrilled with their gold medal win, edging out the Hills team by just one second (2.57.09). Tasmin showed great resilience to also join the 11 year old girls team with Jamie Ford, Larissa Sporer and Jasmine Clark who also walked away with the gold in an unbeatable time of 2.38.31. The third team to finish first were the 12 year old boys (Harrison Adams, Henry Nelligan, Kalani Coleman-Smith and Stuart Mesecke) who finished over 10 seconds in front of their nearest rival team in 2.23.09. Silver medal winning teams were both the boys and girls 13 year old teams. The boys (Tommy Ford, Chris Bawden, Henry Nelligan and Kalani Coleman-Smith) finished their race in 2.20.91 whilst the girls finished in 2.28.62. The final team to bring home a bronze placing were the 12 yr old girls (Moet McCathie, Victoria Henderson, India Copland and Issy Scott) who swam a 2.30.50. Being involved in the SAPSASA swim team is a significant commitment for Lower Eyre Peninsula families. Many of the swimmers have attended regular before school morning training sessions at the Port Lincoln Leisure Centre and carefully planned their travel to Adelaide to make the most of flight and accommodation specials. The team acknowledges the special contribution made by team managers Andrew Casanova and Sonia Ford together with team coach Carol Veldhuyzen. One of the senior swimmers from the West Coast Swimming Club – Brooke Traeger also put to good use her extensive competition experience by supporting all of the swimmers and teams to correctly marshal prior to their event. The team for 2015 will incorporate swimmers born in 2005, 2004, 2003 and 2002 and selection into a target squad is based on swimmers participation and performance at the Lower Eyre Peninsula Primary Schools Carnival in November 2014. For more information about the activities of the West Coast Swimming Club go to www.westcoastswimmingclub.com West Coast swimmers were on the road again for their second consecutive weekend away at competition. The venue this time was the Port Pirie Swimming Pool to contest their open carnival. The competition offered a full program of swimming including 400m, 800m and 1500m events. 9 swimmers attended the meet bringing home plenty of swimming bling for their efforts. Kellie Dennis (12) and Tommy Ford (12) have both been working hard on developing a 400m freestyle event and Kellie completed her race in second place in 6 minutes and 17 seconds and Tommy finished in first place in 5 minutes and 57 seconds. Ellie McInerney (12) was showing increasing race confidence and she is back to contesting 100m events finishing the 100m freestyle in 2.05.35. Sophie Traeger (9) performed confidently in the 10 and under age group taking home five individual medals. She walked away with gold in the 50m breastroke (56.70) and 50m backstroke (49.86). Also competing in this age group was Kyle McInerney (9) who also added to his medals from Whyalla with a third placing in the 50m backstroke (54.32). At this early stage in their understanding of competitive swimming, there are many important elements to master including an effective dive, efficient underwater work, completing their race with determination and speed using the approved competition finishes. Jamie Ford (11) competed in a full program of 100m events and was pleased to continue to improve her backstroke (1.41.58) time and breastroke (1.50.53). She also is working hard to develop her 200m Individual medley showing a high level of technical proficiency across all four strokes – her time of 3.30.54 is a three second improvement on her performance at the SA Country Championships. Tommy Ford (12) was thrilled with his haul of 7 gold medals at the event. Tommy is continuing to show his efficiency in backstroke completing the 100m event in 1.25.31. He was also the backstroke representative in the 4 x 50m Medley Relay team who walked away with first placing. Joining him to complete the 200m in 2.33.60 was Brooklyn George (12) breastroke, Brooke Traeger (15) butterfly and Coen George (14) freestyle. Brooklyn George had one of her most successful meets to date taking home her first ever individual gold medal placings. Her strength as a breastroke specialist shone through to finish first in both the 50m (48.04) and 100m (1.47.08) events. Both of these were personal best performances. Coen George (14) gave the team plenty of opportunities to cheer as he contested the ‘Dash for Cash’ – a 50m freestyle event that is reserved for the fastest male swimmers of the meet. With a 50m freestyle time consistently around the 30 / 31 second mark Coen made it through the first knock out round. The competition ended up being taken out by a National Age qualifier from Whyalla. Brooke Traeger (15) continues to amass a huge number of open carnival points which accumulate towards club trophies awarded at the end of the swimming season. She accrued 132 points by achieving 5 gold medals and two bronze placings. Again one of the fastest females at the meet Brooke was invited to contest the ‘Dash for Cash’ – run in a skins format swimmers contest consecutive 50m freestyle races to determine the fastest individual on the day. Brooke proudly took home $50 for her efforts. The Port Pirie Open Water Swim was held the following day and provided another opportunity for Brooke Traeger (15) to show her strength in this style of event. Staged over a triangular course adjacent to the Port Pirie Warf conditions for the swim were ideal with limited tidal movement, light winds and the water temperature still holding its summer warmth. Brooke had her work cut out for her as she battled over every metre of the 2000m race with Paige Maynard from Playford Aquatic Club to eventually pip her by just a few arm strokes at the finish line. Brooke took home two generous prize cheques provided by Nyrstar - the first for being the fastest female ($200) and the second for being placed second over the finish line ($150). She completed the race in 27 minutes and 35 seconds. In recognition of the battle waged between the two girls over the entire course Nyrstar matched the prize money for Paige. Also competing in the event were siblings Tommy (12) and Jamie Ford (11) together with their mother Sonia. This was Tommy's first time wearing a red cap reserved for the fastest qualifying swimmers and he confidently completed the course in 32 minutes and 12 seconds. Sonia was able to keep Jamie at bay finishing 35 minutes and 20 seconds - five minutes ahead of Jamie who was the event's youngest swimmer. All competitors were asked to wear a black arm band for the duration of the swim in honour of the loss of a long standing life member of the Port Pirie swimming club who traditionally collected the caps at the end of the meet.
Photo from back; Teacher Matt Keatley, Nik Constantinopoulos, Gerard Meyers, Trent Ritter, Henry Lambert, Milton Kelsh, Kale Olds, Simon Geldenhuip. Middle Alana Hancock, Tayla Stirling, Meg Sheasby, Katherine Turner, Brooke Traeger, Xanthia Clark, Coen George, max Lambert, Mitchell Schwert, Cameron Wilson. Front Demi and Alana Lynch, Madi McShane, Mia Meyers, Maddy Izzo, Ania Constantinopoulos, Yemeya Coleman-Smith The FAR WEST Secondary School Swimming Team dominated in C division to win the boys shield, girls shield and overall champions last week. The team travelled to Adelaide from Port Lincoln, Ceduna, Whyalla and Port Augusta representing the Eyre Peninsulas secondary schools. Saint Josephs, Navigator College, Samaritan College, Ceduna Area School, Whyalla High and Port Augusta’s Caritas College. In the past four years the team has moved from the bottom division up five divisions and will next year compete in B division against some of Adelaide’s top private schools and giving them the opportunity to be part of the 2015 Pacific School Games being held in Adelaide. This was a unique team effort that combined and showcased the regions talent. The boys dominated consistently to place first in most events and in every relay event, narrowly missing a long standing relay record. The girls also showed their strength placing consistently in the top three despite a strong challenge from Loxton and Glenunga. The boys open relay team was well out front with Henry Lambert, Simon Gelenhuip, Cameron Wilson and Gerard Meyers all posting sub 27 seconds for their 50 free swims. Kale Olds came out of nowhere to cut his 50m freestyle by 7 seconds to a 30 sec best time. Cameron Wilson and Brooke Traeger led out the morning with the fly in their usual strong style to finish in first and second place respectively and continued the meet in great form. Henry and Max Lambert, Simon Geldenhuip, Coen George, Trent Ritter, Mitchell Schwert, Gerard Meyers and Milton Kelsh for the boys were literally running from one event to another displaying their fitness and sportsmanship throughout the meet. Not to be outdone Brooke Traeger, Alana Hancock, Tayla Stirling, Yemeya Coleman-Smith, Xanthia Clark, Meg Sheasby, Demi and Adele Lynch were also constantly on the move between events and absolutely shined during the relays. Captains Henry Lambert and Brooke Traeger represented the team with style at presentations. Every member of the team contributed to the win and is to be congratulated on their behaviour, team spirit and sportsmanship. Thank you to parents for their support, St Joseph’s teacher Matt Keatley and Coach Carolyn Veldhuyzen. |
AUTHORSonia Ford is our publicity officer and would love to hear of noteworthy news items from our swimming community! |