A TALENTED team of Coffs Harbour swimmers have excelled at a recent meet in Lismore after their Country Championships in Sydney were postponed due to the COVID-19 situation in Sydney. In just one day of racing the team achieved a remarkable 50 personal bests between them in Lismore.

Bella Teale (14 years) qualified and added a further three swims to her state program, proving over the weekend she is more than just a breaststroker.

Her sister Layci Teale (12) and team mate Remi Ogilvy (11) both achieved their first state qualification times with some exceptional and skilful racing.

These swimmers weren’t the only ones to achieve State qualification with Finn Pengelly (13) and Lilly Geddes (15) also adding swims to their program.

National swimmer Sylas Phillips (15) showed his dominance in the 200m backstroke, winning the event by over 15m, in an incredibly fast swim.

His improvement in backstroke continues to amaze as he again improved his ranking into the Championship meets in both the 100m and 200m backstroke events with new personal best times.

While the meet was not a Championship meet, it was an opportunity for swimmers to compete in new events, and Piper Phillips (12) didn’t disappoint with an exceptional swim in her first ever 800m freestyle.

Phillips loves swimming distance, with her goal to qualify and compete in the 5KM National Open Water Championships when she is old enough.

The whole team swam incredibly well, and were all out of our seats when Cale Ogilvy broke the elusive 30 second barrier in his 50m freestyle.

With the Country Championships rescheduled for the end of August, and State Championships for September, the young swimmers’ season is hanging by a thread as they nervously await the verdict on each of the Championships.

The talented team is coached by Sarah-Jane Weir, who praised their performances in the pool at Lismore.

“To see the squad able to be together, competing and supporting each other was just amazing,” she said.

“Over the short course season there are already limited opportunities to compete in our region (before you add in COVID restrictions) so to have this opportunity was one the swimmers didn’t want to let slip and that showed in the incredible results.

“I admire each and every one of my athletes, that despite our season hanging by a thread, they continue to commit in the training pool.

“They’re all grateful they are still able to train as many of their competitors and friends face lockdown restrictions that mean they can’t.

“To see their hard work continue to pay off as a coach is just an amazing feeling.”

 

By Aiden BURGESS