Traralgon Swimming Club Presentation Night

The Traralgon Swimming Club Presentation for 2013 was held at the Premier Function room on May 11. Swimmers and families arrived around 4pm for the celebration of the 2012/13 season. With almost 100% of families in attendance, approx. 250 persons applauded the achievements of swimmers and coaches.

Swimmers were presented for participation trophies which congratulated their involvement and achievements. Age trophies were given to swimmers based on aggregate points from meets targeted by the club as well as all meets in the local fixture. Meets of greater significance and difficulty carried greater point score. As well, coaches chose swimmers from their squads who they believe were exemplary in some way for their “coach’s trophy”. Swimmers with the greatest improvement to their times were acknowledged and the Top 10 Swimmers in the club were named. During the evening both coaches and committee members were thanked for their work throughout the season.

Three New Trophies were introduced this Season: “The Brian Ford Trophy for the Best Relay Performance of the Season” presented to the swimmer judged by Brian to have made the most significant contribution to a relay’s success. Given the importance of Relay Teams in the Traralgon Club, this is an excellent trophy to be awarded. In 2013 Trent Morrow was the recipient for his contribution in the 2013 Country Championship16 & Under 4x50m freestyle relay.

Emily Beecroft’s fine performance in Multi-Class events this year lead to the institution of the “LaTrobe Financial Swimmer with Disability Swimmer of the Year” trophy. Emily’s performances in State Open, National Age and National Open events made her an outstanding winner of this trophy in its inaugural year.

The third new trophy was donated by the Meyer family – Jeremy Meyer is a Traralgon swimmer who is currently training at the AIS. The “Meyer Family Trophy” is awarded for the highest FINA ranking and went to Mikaela Cornelissen. Mikaela’s 774 point ranking came from her 27.30 50m Butterfly at Open Nationals.

Three new Life Members were acknowledged for their contributions to the Traralgon Club: Heather Haney, Len Haney and Brigitte Maglen. The Club congratulates these worthy recipients and thanks them for their years of dedicated service.

High Performance Coach Ben Geard was acknowledged with the “Outstanding Contribution to the Traralgon Swimming Club” award. Ben was thanked for his over-all contribution to the culture and success of the club.

Team Captains and Vice Captains played a significant role as presenters and speakers with Brayden Haney, Trent Morrow, Erin Roberts and Maggie O’Keefe speaking of the role of coaches from the swimmer’s point of view throughout the evening. Speeches were at once humorous and poignant as the swimmers spoke from the hearts.

Thank you to the excellent club photographers, especially Michael Mihaly and Stephen Spehar, for their contribution to the night through the power point presentation which accompanied the speeches.

Congratulations to all swimmers and coaches, Brian Ford, Ben Geard, Dean Gooch, Michelle Ford, Georgia Collings, Peter Haberl, Sam Fenton and Charley Askew.

Swimmers who received special awards were:

Kathleen Froud Memorial trophy ~ Club Champion

• Alexander Tsebelis

Age Champions

• 7 & Under: Zoe Dowler and Joshua Hamilton
• 8 Years: Khianna Bullen and Xavier Haberl
• 9 Years: Sophie Waller and Bradley Peters
• 10 Years: Elayna Pistrin and Chance Doultree
• 11 Years: Bridget Cain and Oscar Harry
• 12 Years: Ellodie Reid and Alex Tsebelis
• 13 Years: Jasmine Doultree/Emily Beecroft and Thomas Fleming
• 14 Years: Annie Pepper and Caiden Gill
• 15 Years: Georgia Tsebelis and Michael Buckley
• 16 Years: Brayden Haney
• 17 & Over: Lily Collins and Philip Blunt

Coach’s Awards

• Development Squad: Chiara Bordonaro and Nick Prezioso
• Gippy Squad: Oliver Haberl and Zoe Dowler
• Country Squad: Sophie Waller
• State Squad: Riley Akers
• Saunders Squad: Sophie Fitzpatrick
• National Squad: Mikaela Cornelissen
• Strength and Conditioning: Ellodie Reid

Gippsland Windows and Doors1st Year Swimmer with Potential

• Jordyn Cargill

LaTrobe Financial Swimmer with Disability Swimmer of the Year

• Emily Beecroft

Brian Ford Trophy for the best Relay Performance of the Season

• Trent Morrow

Meyer Family Trophy for FINA ranking

• Mikaela Cornelissen

Loy Yang Power Encouragement Award

• Rachael Sbaglia

Outstanding Contribution to the Club

• Ben Geard

10 Years Service Awards

• Zoe Trembath, Alice and Kirsten Lieshout, Matt Norwood, Cameron Juha
• Most Successful Swimmer in Gippsland Fixture
• Xavier Haberl

LaTrobe Financial Most Improved Swimmers

• 10 & Under
• 1. Carrisa Hughes
• 2. Khianna Bullen
• 3. Lily Maxwell
• 1. Nathan Higginson
• 2. Nicholas Prezioso
• 3. Vincent Schoutens
• 11 & Over
• 1. Tori Merrin
• 2. Lily Zee-Verner
• 3. Alexis Mentzing
• 1. Locke DeGaris
• 2. Riley Akers
• 3. Matthew Trickett

Top Ten

• 1. Alex Tsebelis 6930pts
• 2. Annie Pepper 4575pts
• 3. Jeremy Meyer 4460pts
• 4. Lily Collins 4381pts
• 5. Mikaela Cornelissen 4169pts
• 6. Jasmine Doultree 4082pts
• 7. Ellodie Reid 3052pts
• 8. Caiden Gill 2940pts
• 9. Georgia Tsebelis 2698pts
• 10. Brayden Haney 2125pts