A TEAM of five swimmers from the Coffs Coast has taken on Australia’s finest.

The Coffs Harbour Swimming Club members have been busy competing at this week’s Australian Age Swimming Championships at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.

The Championships are being held from 6-14 April, with the five Coffs Coast swimmers competing against the best swimmers in Australia aged between 13-18 years.

The Coffs team features four multi-class athletes and one able-bodied athlete; and includes Lily Bourne, Bridie Gordon, Lily-Grace Herden, Rose-Anna Herden and Amelia Moore.

Sara Bergen and Lily Bright-Taylor were also in the team but had to withdraw due to injury.

The qualifying times for the Australian Age Swimming Championships are famously challenging; all swimmers have had to work incredibly hard to qualify, training up to five times a week in some cases.

One of the Coffs team’s coaches, Daniel Bannerman, said they had made a great start at the Australian Championships.

“They are doing pretty well, it started on Saturday and the girls have already made finals and achieved personal bests,” he said.

“It has been a good meet to test themselves against the best in Australia.

“And it’s good to see country kids doing so well at Nationals.”

By Aiden BURGESS