COFFS Harbour swimmers Lilly Geddes and Mitchell Hickey have both won medals during the recent NSW State Open Water Championships in Sydney.

Lilly Geddes took out the gold medal in the Women’s 15 years 7.5km event, taking out the title of NSW State Champion.

She backed up the following day to claim the silver medal in the Women’s 15 years 5km event, an amazing achievement.

Mitchell Hickey claimed his first state medal, placing second and earning a silver medal in the Men’s 17-18 years 10km combined age group, an exceptional feat given he only turned 17 2 months ago.

He too also backed up for the 5km event the following day placing 4th.

Team mates and brothers Isaiha (17) and Sylas (15) Phillips also competed in the 5km Championship event for their respective age groups, Isaiha placing 8th and earning a top 10 finalist placing while Sylas placed 11th in a highly competitive 15 years boys event.

All four swimmers swam incredibly well, which was reflective in massive PB’s, some PB’s over 2 minutes.

Andrea Thomson swam in her first open water swim, in the NSW JX exhibition 2.5km swim, placing 4th in the 13 years age group.

The Coffs Harbour squad’s coach Sarah Jane-Weir praised her swimmers’ performances at the State Championships.

“An enormous amount of training goes into preparing for such long events, and these athletes clock up huge kilometres each week,” she said.

“To have achieved all they have over the two days of competition is just incredible and I couldn’t be prouder.

“They have all worked so very hard, so for the results to pay off and for them to earn some of the highest rankings in our state is just a huge honour.”

The squad is now preparing for the Australian Open Water National Championships in Adelaide this month.

 

By: Aiden BURGESS