Interdisctrict ~ Smashed it!

The strength and depth of Gippsland District swimming was on clear display at the Victorian Country InterDistrict swimming championships held last weekend at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.

Competing against the 9 other Victorian country swimming districts, Gippsland’s stranglehold on the Bill Willmott trophy awarded to the district achieving the highest aggregate point score at the championships continued unabated. Incredibly, this latest victory marked the 20th consecutive year in which the Gipplsand district has taken home the trophy, and it came in emphatic style too.

The team scored a total of 1296 points in a result that bettered the next-placed Ovens and Murray District by 350 points. Victory in the Sovereign Hill Shield for the highest aggregate point score in freestyle and medley relay events for male and female competitors completed the rout.

Remarkably, swimmers from the Gippsland district hit the wall first in a total of 43 events on the 64 event program. The wins included victory in 24 of the 42 individual events (19 by Traralgon Swim Club representatives), as well as an incredible 19 of the 22 relay events which underlined the pride and commitment of Gippsland representatives when swimming in this format.

Swimmers from the Traralgon Swim Club played a pivotal role in the victory. Individual winners from the club included Jordyn Cargill (10) and Mikaela Cornellisen (16) who each produced three strong wins in their freestyle, butterfly and backstroke events, Alex Tsebelis (14) who was dominant in the 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle, Lauren Akers (13) who won going away in the 100m butterfly and was pressed to victory in the 100m freestyle, Caiden Gill (16) who was pushed hard in his wins in the 100m butterfly and 100m freestyle, Harliai Curthoys-Davies (12) who had perhaps her best swims of the season with wins in the 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle, Trent Morrow (17) who was very close to his best in winning the 50m freestyle, Connor O’Neill (15) with a hard-fought near PB win in the 100m backstroke, Molly Cargill (9) who stunned spectactors and older swimmers alike with her 35.54 winning swim in the 10 yrs butterfly, Caitie Mitchell (27) who added to her recent run of post-comeback title wins with victory in the 50m breaststroke, and Locke DeGaris (14) and Melina de Cort (14) who won their respective 100m backstroke events in a canter.

Other TSC swimmers to stand out were Sam Roberts, Matt Jennings, Taylah DaRos, Maggie O’Keefe, Fabienne Schoutens, Erin Roberts, Bridie O’Keefe, Ellodie Reid, Xavier Haberl, Sophie Waller, Riley Akers and Mitchell O’Neill who returned home from the championships as members of one or more victorious relay teams.