SOME of Coffs Harbour’s best junior swimmers have once again produced medal-winning performances, during the North Coast Area Championships in Coffs Harbour.

The small team of 11 swimmers had a massive two days of competition taking home 33 gold medals, 25 silver medals, and 17 bronze medals between them.

Layci Teale took out the 12 years Girls Age Champion, Andrea Thompson took out the Under 13 Girls Distance Champion, and Mitchell Hickey and Lilly Geddes took out the Male and Female O/13 Distance Champions respectively.

The small team broke three championship records over the weekend, Sylas Phillips breaking both the 15 Years Boys 100m and 200m backstroke records, and Mitchell Hickey broke the 17 Years Boys 1500m freestyle.

The awards and medals for the team didn’t stop there, as Finn Pengelly took out the Tim Mullens 13 Years Boys Memorial Trophy, winning the 13 Years Boys 100m freestyle doing close to a 2 second personal best to take out the trophy.

The weekend saw personal bests tumble, too many to count, with the young swimmers walking away with new Country and State Championship qualifying times to add to the many events already qualified for.

The youngest team member Harley Teale (10 years) competed at his first ever Area Championships over the weekend, taking home 5 individual medals, 3 of them gold winning the 10 Years Boys 50m and 100m freestyle, as well as the 10 Years Boys 100m backstroke.

The young squads coach Sarah-Jane Weir said the Coffs Harbour event was a wonderful weekend for her talented swimmers as they prepare for upcoming major events.

“The weekend saw us blessed with weather, the sun shining bright for both days.

“There were so many smiles and a whole lot of cheering, it was a wonderful weekend for our team,” she said.

“We now continue preparation into State Open Water, and the Senior State Age scheduled for the middle of January.”

 

By: Aiden BURGESS