NSW 12 and under Championships

A small team of 7 Traralgon swimmers aged from 10 to 12 years of age recently competed in the NSW 10/u – 12 years Short Course Championships  at Homebush, the venue of the 2000 Olympic Games swimming competition.

The 7 swimmers came home with 7 gold, 6 silver and 3 bronze medals to finish 3^rd on the State medal tally behind the 2 biggest programs in NSW – Knox/Pymble and PLC Aquatic.

12 year old Molly Cargill followed on from her Victorian Championship success with 4 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals winning the 50, 200 and 400Freestyle events breaking Out of Gippsland records in the 200 (2.11.04) and 400 (4.41.68), and then showing her versatility across all strokes by winning the 400 Individual Medley.

10 year old Ainsley Trotter had an exceptional meet particularly in the shorter events winning the 50m backstroke in a new Out of Gippsland record (33.09) and 50m Butterfly with silver in the 50 freestyle.

11 year old Ashley Nicholes performed well across all events with his highlight winning the 50m Breaststroke in a new Victorian Country record time of 36.25.

12 year old Zoe Dowler was another who swam faster across all her events than the previous week and won silver in the 200m Breaststroke (2.48.66).

The final medal winners were the Traralgon 12 years girls relay team of Molly Cargill, Ainsley Trotter, Zoe Dowler and Samantha Sbaglia who won silver in the 4 x 50 Freestyle (1.57.24) and Medley events (2.08.69), both times being out of Gippsland records.

The final 2 swimmers of the team, 11 year old Kaja Tierney and Olivia Baillie, swam the 50, 100 and 200 metre backstroke events recording personal best times in each.

Senior Head Coach, Brian Ford was full of praise for the resilience of the each of the swimmers – “Travelling to NSW, managing their time, equipment and well being, racing against some of the best young swimmers in Australia, with a final result of 3^rd in the State, speaks volumes for the attitude and behaviour of the team in their planning and competition at the meet. Their support of each other and willingness to challenge themselves is a true test of their determination to swim for the team. I couldn’t be prouder of their character, demeanour and of course, results in representing Gippsland and the Club”.