Gippsland Sports Academy Swimming News

Former Academy swimmers asserted themselves at the Australian Short Course Swimming Championships which have just concluded.

Ashley Delaney re-established himself as Australia's premier backstroker with wins in the 100- and 200-metre events, and a second place in the 50-metre sprint.

Jeremy Meyer, recently-departed for Canberra, would have been disappointed to narrowly miss the 50-metre and 100-metre breaststroke finals. But his strong fourth place in the 200-metre event – just 2 body lengths behind world record holders Christian Sprenger and Brenton Rickard – would have given him great encouragement.

Andrew Cameron was seventh in the 200-metre butterfly. Cameron's university studies have curtailed his training program, but he has kept his focus on just one event and significantly improved his time and placing over last year.

Sam Ashby was 8th in the 200-metre individual medley, and Jeremy Saunders only just failed to qualify.

Both Delaney and Meyer have forthcoming commitments in overseas teams and Ashby has also been an Australian representative.

In every case the successful swimmers have departed the Academy for a strong swimming environment in a successful Melbourne club or at the Australian Institute of Sport. Their advancement pathways have also included the support of Victorian Institute of Sport scholarships.

Jeremy wins Oceanic title, 1 July 2010

Jeremy Meyer has successfully returned from the Oceanic Championships held in Samoa. This event is a bi-annual event which brings together the top swimmers from the South Pacific nations.

Whilst we at home were freezing Jeremy enjoyed 29 degree tropical days. However, it wasn't entirely paradise for the competing swimmers. Apart from the stresses of travel, adjusting to the climate, along with changed hydration and dietary regimes were additional challenges.

Jeremy competed in three breaststroke events and the 4 x 100 metre medley relay. He came away from these championships with 2 gold and 1 silver medal.

Just outside of his personal best time in the 200-metre breaststroke, Jerry's winning 2:15.27 was a new Oceanic record and more than two seconds clear of the next competitor. He went straight from this event into the 4 x 100-metre medley relay which Australia won by a 5-second margin.

Jeremy will return to training prior to swimming at the Australian Short Course Championships in Brisbane later this month before heading to Canada as part of the Australia “A” team to swim at the Canadian Open Championships in Victoria in British Columbia.

With the Academy swimming squad for five years, Jeremy won an AIS scholarship last year and moved to Canberra as soon as his VCE examinations concluded. He continues to train and study in Canberra.

Swimming success at Age titles, 13 April 2010

Jeremy Meyer headed the achievers' list with a second place in the 100-metre breaststroke and a win in the 200-metre breaststroke for 17-18 year boys.

Jeremy's times in both events were around 2-seconds faster than when he won them last year, which reflects the higher level of competition this year. In winning the 200-metre race Meyer also broke his own Victorian age record.

Jeremy has been the Gippsland Sports Academy 's top swimmer in recent times and has secured places in swimming teams which will compete in Samoa and Canada in the coming months.

Georgia Tsebelis was also a medallist with second places in the 200-metre individual medley and backstroke events for 12-13 year girls. Georgia is a product of the Gippsland Swimming Target Squad which has programs designed to assist swimmers to qualify for entry into the Gippsland Sports Academy .

In the Gippsland Sports Academy 's squad Kate Sommerfield, 16, was another stand out performer. Her times have been improving with each meeting. Kate finished fourth in the 100-metre breaststroke final, again setting a personal best time.

Two 13 year old 50-metre freestyle swimmers who performed especially well were Maggie O'Keefe and Trent Morrow.Trent was a finalist in the 50-metre race while Maggie, who qualified eleventh, just missed out.

Lily Collins, Stephanie Morgan and Philip Blunt were three more who swam fast qualifying times and were unlucky to miss out on finals.

According to Jackie Madden, president of Gippsland Swimming, Gippsland's largest ever contingent for this event was very successful. "Of the 17 swimmers we had 7 who made finals or were finalist reserves," she said.

"This year's squad includes new faces who have now proved themselves and have the potential to swim even better next year," Ms Madden added.

The 17 who competed were: Kirsten Lieshout, Alice Lieshout, Stephanie Morgan, Kate Sommerfield, Lily Collins, Maggie O'Keefe, Georgia Tsebelis, Jeremy Meyer, Brayden Waltham, Lachie Evans , Jordan Radosavljevic, Matthew Norwood, Philip Blunt, Jacob Mulqueen, Daniel Gill, Brayden Haney and Trent Morrow.

Swimmers off to Nationals, 30 March 2010

A strong contingent of 17 Gippsland swimmers will compete at next week's Australian Age Championships in Sydney.

It is the largest number ever and reflects the increasing depth of swimming talent in the region.

Eight are in the Gippsland Sports Academy's swimming squad and most of these have already have won medals at the Victorian titles in January. Since then, their training and racing programs have been geared to peak fitness for next week.

The Academy squad and coaches at their last major training
session, held in Dandenong, prior to the Championships

A further 9 of the entrants are with Gippsland Swimming's Target Squad, a pre-Academy development group which has also had a remarkable year. Many of its members have also had outstanding results at the Victorian titles and all nine, since achieving national qualifying times, will be on the list for acceptance into the Academy.

Gippsland Swimming president, Jackie Madden said that she was delighted that so many swimmers had qualified for the Championships.

"It is a great outcome for Gippsland clubs and for the individual swimmers who have worked so hard for this result," she said.

Jackie, who is also a member of the Sports Academy's Board, will be attending the Championships in a different role. She is only one of four Victorians who have been selected for to officiate at the Championships.

The 17 swimmers are: Kirsten Lieshout, Alice Lieshout, Stephanie Morgan, Kate Sommerfield, Lily Collins, Maggie O'Keefe, Georgia Tsebelis, Jeremy Meyer, Brayden Waltham, Lachie Evans, Jordan Radosavljevic, Matthew Norwood, Philip Blunt, Jacob Mulqueen, Daniel Gill, Brayden Haney and Trent Morrow.

All swimmers attended a group training session in Dandenong last Sunday as their last major workout before traveling on to Sydney.

Swimmers at Australian titles, 23 March 2010

Kate Sommerfield and Jeremy Meyer represented the Academy at the Telstra Australian Swimming Championships. Both competed in breaststroke events over 50, 100 and 200-metres.

Meyer was a finalist in the 100 and 200-metre races which were dominated by world record holders Brenton Rickard and Christian Sprenger. Meyer placed 6th in the 100-metre race, which was won by Rickard.

In the 200-metre final Rickard swam a solid time, finishing 3-seconds ahead of Sprenger. Meyer was 5th, a further three seconds behind, but broke his own Victorian 17-18 age group record.

The Championships are the selection trials for the Commonwealth Games as well for other international events during the year. On the basis of his performances, Meyer is likely to win a spot in an Australian team at some time during the year .

Kate Sommerfield narrowly missed on qualifying for semi-finals in two of her events. Kate, 16, and a Victorian champion in her age group, swam at her best in each event and now looks set for some competitive races in the Australian Age titles in two weeks' time.

Former Academy swimmer Ashley Delaney scored backstroke two second places and has been named in the Commonwealth Games squad. Although a member of the Beijing Olympics team, this will be Delaney's first Commonwealth Games.

Andrew Cameron, another former Academy swimmer, finished 7th in the 200-metres butterfly. Two more, Sam Ashby and Jeremy Saunders, both narrowly missed qualifying for finals.

Swimmers sprint to medals, 16 February 2010

Five Academy swimmers competed with fine results at the Victorian Sprint Championships over the weekend.

They were Stephanie Morgan, Lily Collins, Kate Sommerfield, Elliot Shaw and Philip Blunt.

The sprint events are all of 50-metres duration and they require explosive starts with a 20 to 30-second burst of high intensity swimming to follow it. Strength, technique and timing are all critically important, and the Academy swimmers demonstrated great accomplishment in those areas.

Lily Collins won the 14-years breaststroke, swimming best times through the heats and finals.

Lily's win was a great achievement as she swam heats of three events on the first day as well as a further swim-off, for a possible finals place, after recording a tied time in the freestyle preliminaries. To come back the second day with a faster winning swim in the breaststroke final was a great achievement.

Kate Sommerfield was second in the breaststroke for 16-years girls, which was her only event. It was a solid performance, close enough to challenge the leader and well clear of third place-getter.

Stephanie Morgan was second in the 17/18-years butterfly. Like Kate, Stephanie stayed in contention with the winner and was nearly a full length clear of the next competitor. Stephanie was also a finalist in the freestyle race, in which she finished 8th.

Of the boys, Philip Blunt (14-years) had some excellent backstroke times and finished 5th in the final. In the butterfly preliminary he narrowly missed final qualification. And a one-quarter of a second was the time difference that prevented Elliot Shaw from making the final of his only event, the 16-years freestyle.

Swimmers on target in Country titles, 29 January 2010

Academy swimmers achieved excellent results at the Country Championships at Warrnambool last weekend.

The Championships also provided swimmers with an opportunity to take on a heavy racing program across a number of different strokes. The weekend was a stepping stone in the quest for peak fitness at Australian Championship in two months' time and most swimmers competed in 5 or more events.

The most intensive work loads were undertaken by Andrew O'Connor, Brayden Waltham and Dylan Wyatt who all competed in 11 individual events. Adding in preliminary rounds and relays means they actually had far more races during the Championships.

The outstanding performers were Stephanie Morgan (6 wins), Jeremy Meyer (5), Dylan Wyatt (4), Andrew O'Connor (4), Alice Lieshout (3), Kate Sommerfield (3) and Brayden Waltham (3).

Stephanie Morgan and Jeremy Meyer also won Australia Day medals for performances closest to world records.

Other winners were Kirsten Lieshout, Lily Collins and Ben Geard. Elliott Shaw took two silver medals and one bronze.

Jye Thompson and Philip Blunt were both unfortunate to miss out on medals although they swam good times in their butterfly races.

Fine swims at Victorian Open, 19 January 2010

Jeremy Meyer's two gold medals were the high spot of Academy swimming performances at last weekend's Victorian Open titles.

Meyer set the scene with a remarkable win in the 100-metre breaststroke final. Coming from behind in the return leg, He fought to close the gap to the leader, Daniel Crook. Meyer successfully gained the lead and won by one-hundredth of a second.

The win reversed the finishing order of the 50-metre breaststroke where Meyer finished second to Crook.

Meyer's second win was in the 200-metre event where he was able to control the race from the beginning and again hold Crook back to second place.

Although Meyer was the only medallist there were a number of young swimmers with fine performances against open-age competitors. Kate Sommerfield, Stephanie Morgan and Brayden Waltham all made finals. Elliot Shaw, 15, established his own benchmarks for future improvement in his backstroke and butterfly events. Shaw is a young competitor who is likely to make significant gains in the near future.

Amongst the more seasoned swimmers, Ben Geard's fifth place in the final of the 50-metre breaststroke was another of the great performances of the championships. Andrew O'Connor swam in five preliminary races in three different strokes and several times was close to finals qualification.

The swimmers who competed achieved some solid performances against open age competitors. Many of them will go on to the Australian open and age titles in two months' time.

Top level swims at age titles, 12 January 2010

Ten Academy swimmers all had fine results at the Victorian Age Swimming Championships which concluded last Sunday. All swimmers made finals lists with four of them winning medals.

Stephanie Morgan was our top achiever with two wins in 17-18 years 100 and 200-metre butterfly events. Stephanie finished second to the British swimmer, Ellen Gandy, who swam Australian records each time. However Gandy, as a visitor, is not eligible for the titles and they were awarded to Stephanie. It is interesting that Stephanie's times have improved over the 12 months and are now close to Gandy's at the same age at last year's titles.

The women's 16 years breaststroke events saw Kate Sommerfield take third places over both the 100 and 200-metre distances. Kirsten Lieshout was also third in 17-18 years 100-metres breaststroke. Lily Collins was yet another breaststroke bronze medallist in the 14 years 100-metre race.

Alice Lieshout became our only backstroke place-getter by taking out third in the 16 years 200-metre event.

Dylan Wyatt achieved a third places in the 17-18 years 100-metre butterfly and the 200-metre freestyle events. He also made the finals in his three other events.

Similarly, Brayden Waltham, in the same age group, made finals in all four of his events. in Brayden's most competitive swim, the 200-metres individual medley, he finished in 7th place and was only three-quarters of a length behind the bronze medallist.

Jye Thompson, competing against Dylan and Brayden in their 100-metre butterfly event, was relegated to the first emergency spot for the final. Unfortunately he was not called upon.

Phillip Blunt made the finals in both of his 14 years butterfly events. The other swimmer to qualify for finals was Elliot Shaw who did so in backstroke and butterfly events.

Fine start to swimming season, 10 September 2009

In the first major event of the new swimming season Academy squad members have launched into a fine start at last weekend's Victorian Short Course Championships.

Established swimmers Kirsten Lieshout, Stephanie Morgan, Jeremy Meyer and Dylan Wyatt all won medals in their age groups and look set for a solid swimming season yet to come.

Jeremy Meyer headed the results list with wins in two breaststroke and two individual medley events. Dylan Wyatt finished second in each of his two events, the 100-metre butterfly and 400-metre freestyle.

Stephanie Morgan topped the girls' list with places in her two butterfly events. Kirsten Lieshout, a breaststroke specialist, finished second in the 100-metres race.

Brayden Waltham, who had some significant improvements in his times last year, swam 7 events and was never far short of a medal. For this stage of the season he is already swimming some fine times which included a country record in the 100-metre backstroke where he finished fourth.

Our more recent and younger squad members also had some fine achievements. Swimming over a large number of events Alice Lieshout, Elliot Shaw, Jye Thompson, Kate Sommerfield, Lily Collins and Philip Blunt all showed promise of continuing improvement over the coming months. Philip, 14, swam another impressive performance in his specialty 200-metre butterfly race when he finished second.

With a good number of personal best times being recorded early in the swimmers' build up phase continuing good results can be expected as the season progresses.

Stephanie 'flies to Queensland medal, 1 September 2009

Stephanie Morgan won a silver medal in the 200-metre butterfly in the Queensland Short Course swimming titles. Stephanie, 17, had travelled to Queensland for last weekend's championships as a member of the Victorian Development Silver Squad. Her race time was 2:18.73

Emily Seebohm, individual medley world record-holder, dominated in each of Stephanie's other events. She was joined in them by top New Zealander Danielle Koni who added even further sharpness to the Queensland competition.

Despite the depth of her opposition, Stephanie finished 5th in both the 50-metre and 100-metre butterfly events. The 100-metre race was particularly impressive, despite Seebohm's supremacy. Stephanie finished less than a length behind Koni and another length behind the second place-getter. Stephanie's time was 1:02.75.

Stephanie also had the distinction of being the first Victorian home in all three of her butterfly races. Her other event , the 100-metres freestyle, resulted in a 13th place finish.

Newcomers win swim medals, 25 August 2009

The it was a golden weekend for the six Academy swimmers at the Victorian Short Course Country titles over the weekend. Even though five of them are newcomers to the Academy this year they are already showing top results.

Elliot Shaw had four wins in freestyle, backstroke and butterfly events, and other places as well. Alice Lieshout had three wins in backstroke and medley, with most of them by comfortable margins. Continuing the pattern, Kate Sommerfield's win, in the 100-metre breaststroke, was achieved with ease.

Phil Blunt was the only one not to win an event but, as a 14 year-old, his third place in the open age 200-metre butterfly was an outstanding achievement and a sign of good things yet to come.

Jye Thompson made a great start with a win in the 100-metre freestyle, but luck deserted him soon after when he injured a shoulder and he opted to spectate for the rest of the weekend.

Brayden Waltham had an outstanding weekend after winning 6 events and placing in two others. Brayden was the only returning squad member, and he is only recently back in the pool after a seasonal break. During his break Brayden maintained a rigorous fitness program and his championship results show the benefits of it.

Another top relay swim, 14 August 2009

Academy swimmers capped off the Australian Short Course Championships with another outstanding relay performance. Swimming for the Traralgon Club, the team finished 7th in the medley relay, recording 3:40.56. Team members were Andrew O'Connor (backstroke), Jeremy Meyer (breaststroke), Dylan Wyatt (butterfly) and former Academy swimmer Sven Eriksson (freestyle).

This was Dylan's only race and his 53.92 'fly leg was competitive with any other from the top teams.

Nunawading Club, with former Academy swimmers Sam Ashby and Jeremy Saunders, were the bronze medallists.

Meanwhile, Jeremy Meyer has remained behind in Hobart with a squad of 13 for a three day breaststroke training camp. The camp aims to support breaststroke's emerging talent behind established champions Christian Sprenger, Leisel Jones and Brenton Rickard.

Meyer breaks through, 11 August 2009

Jeremy Meyer firmly established himself as an international standard swimmer in a record shattering race in the 200-metre breaststroke last night.

In the electric atmosphere immediately after Libby Trickett's new world record at the Australian Short Course Championships, Christian Sprenger took the world breaststroke record.

Behind Sprenger, Meyer destroyed his own Victorian record with a stunning break-through performance. Meyer's new 2:08.66 is 6 seconds under his previous age record and just shy of the Victorian open record held by Brenton Rickard, the world 100-metre breaststroke champion.

Sprenger was in a race of his own, but Meyer locked onto Craig Calder, the 100-metres title-holder. At each turn only fractions of a second separated Calder and his shadow. Meyer doggedly hung on through each leg until Calder, doing slightly better in the finishing leg, secured second place by half a stroke.

Meyer's outstanding 3rd place performance will not escape selectors' notice as he is by far the youngest of Australia's top breaststroke swimmers (Sprenger, Rickard, Calder and Meyer) and has great potential for continuing progress.

Not to be overlooked in the same final was another great performance by Jeremy Saunders. Since leaving the Academy last year and moving to the Nunawading Club, Saunders has continued to rise. His 7th place finish in 2:12:60 was a personal improvement by two seconds.

Saunders was also a finalist in the 200-metre individual medley race earlier in the evening. There he finished 8th, with 2nd place being taken by Sam Ashby, another former Academy swimmer.

Top swims at Hobart titles, 10 August 2009

A fine performance in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay and a Victorian record by Jeremy Meyer have been the highlights so far for Academy swimmers at the Australian Short Course Championships in Hobart.

The relay swimmers were Ben Geard, Sven Eriksson (ex-Academy), Jeremy Meyer and Andrew O'Connor. Both Sven and Andrew swam sub-50-second legs to secure 10th place for their team.

Jeremy Meyer broke his Victorian 18-years age record in the 100-metres breaststroke. Jeremy finished 7th in the final, but in an inspired swim in the semi-finals Jeremy recorded 60.34 seconds, his first time under the 61-second mark. His finals time again dipped into the 60' s.

Sparkling swim title performances, 20 July 2009

Academy swimmers had great results in the weekend's Victorian Open Short Course titles.

Andrew O'Connor's surprise bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle was one of the highlights of the championships. His times in all strokes have been improving as a result of an increased training commitment over the last year. Andrew had not raced this event for some time and his 1:50.30 swim, a 4 second improvement and a Victorian country record, marks him as someone to watch in the future.

In other events Andrew finished 4th in the 200-metre backstroke and 6th in both the 100-metre backstroke and butterfly events. Once again, Andrew's times and places were just reward for his dedication.

Jeremy Meyer is also in great form and in his specialist 100- and 200-metre breaststroke events he set new Victorian age records. He placed second in the 200-m and tied for third in the 100-m.

In the 200-metre and 400-metre individual medley events Jeremy finished a competitive 4th in each, and also scored a 5th in the 50-metre breaststroke.

Others to do well were Ben Geard, Jye Thompson and Kate Sommerfield. Ben was 6th in both breaststroke and freestyle 50-metre races. Jye, 17, and Kate, 15, had top 16 finishes, which is quite an achievement for their age and experience. For Jye it was in 100 and 200-metre butterfly, and for Kate, in her first championship with the Academy, in the 50-metre breaststroke.

In his only race for the meeting Dylan Wyatt joined Andrew, Jeremy and Ben for the medley relay. However, the result was worthwhile with an overall third place for the team and a new Country record.

Former Academy swimmers Samantha Wilkins, Sam Ashby, Andrew Cameron and Jeremy Saunders all won events. Each has made deliberate swimming career moves to high-gear metropolitan training environments and they are showing the benefits of their decisions.

Their wins were: Samantha , 100-metre butterfly; Andrew, 200-metre butterfly; Sam, 100-metre individual medley; Jeremy, 200-metre individual medley.

Australian swim team races in California, 17 June 2009

The Australian swimming team concluded its US tour with positive results in the Santa Clara International Invitational last the weekend.

Jeremy Meyer and Jeremy Saunders, members of last year's Academy squad, and past squad members Sam Ashby and Ashley Delaney were in the Australian team. American competition was tougher than in Arizona including the presence of Michael Phelps (holder of 7 world records) and Ryan Lochte (200 backstroke world record holder)

Ashley Delaney was beaten into second place by Lochte in the 200 metre backstroke. Their return match in the 100-metre event was enlivened by the presence of Phelps. Lochte held the narrowest of leads throughout, and a fast-finishing Phelps pipped Delaney for second. With only half a metre separating the three at the finish, Delaney should be pleased to be so close to both Americans at this stage of his training.

Sam Ashby's best result was a third in the 200 metre butterfly, the event being won by Phelps. Ashby was also seventh in the 200-metres individual medley.

In the days between the Arizona and California meetings Jeremy Meyer sat for his Victorian year 12 examinations. He should be excused for not qualifying for the 100-metre breaststroke final, but he went on to a second place in the B-final. Jeremy later made the final of the 200 breaststroke where he finished 7th.

Meyer's training partner, Jeremy Saunders, made B-finals for the 400-metres individual medley and 200-metres breaststroke with times close to his best. Saunders is likely to have pleased the selectors and, still 19, can improve in the future.

Australian teams finished comfortably first and second in the 400-metres medley relay giving Delaney and Ashby gold medal results and Meyer a silver medal.

Strong Academy presence in Australian swimming team, 11 June 2009

The 31-strong Australian swimming squad currently competing in the USA includes a strong Gippsland Sports Academy presence as four have Academy backgrounds.

Last weekend the squad competed at the South West Invitational meeting in Tucson, Arizona.

One of the meeting's outstanding performers was Ashley Delaney who cruised to easy victories in both the 100-metre and 200-metre backstroke events. Delaney commenced his career with the Academy several years ago and is now an AIS athlete.

Two of last year's Academy swimming squad, Jeremy Saunders and Jeremy Meyer, also had excellent results. Olympian Brenton Rickard won both the 100 and 200-metre breaststroke events but Jeremy Meyer finished in 3rd and 2nd places. Jeremy Saunders was 7th and 4th in the same finals.

Saunders, along with another past Academy member, Sam Ashby, competed in the individual medley events. Ashby finished 5th and 4th in the 200 and 400-metre IM races, with Saunders 6th and 7th. Ashby graduated from the Academy several years ago and took up a VIS scholarship. This year Saunders has moved to Melbourne and is following Delaney's and Ashby's careers, now training with them at Nunawading.

This weekend the team will compete in the Santa Clara International in California. For team members like Ashley Delaney, Stephanie Rice and Leisel Jones the tour is an important step in their preparation for the forthcoming World Championships.

Jeremy and Brian at Australia-Japan international, 14 May 2009

Jeremy Meyer joined the cream of Australian swimming to compete in the two nation Duel in the Pool meeting in Canberra early last week.

In the youth breaststroke events Jeremy was the top placed Australian over the 100-metres and 200-metres distances placing 4th in each. His team finished third in the medley relay.

The Japanese swimmers were in top form, having just peaked for their national titles. They produced many outstanding performances including one world record.

The Academy's Head Coach, Brian Ford also attended as a Swimming Australia coach, and was impressed by the quality and depth of the Japanese swimmers. He was pleased with Jeremy's results as Jeremy achieved near-best times best despite having given priority to his VCE studies.

Brian said he was honoured to have the opportunity attend such a high standard event, while working with Jeremy, as well as with two of his former Academy charges, Sam Ashby and Ashley Delaney, who were also in the team.

Swimmers sensational at age titles, 21 April 2008

Jeremy Meyer again spearheaded the Academy's swimmers at last week's Australian Age Championships in Sydney. He finished with two gold medals after narrowly winning the 100 metres and 200 metres breaststroke events.

Although Jeremy was the only medallist, Stephanie Morgan, Dylan Wyatt, Kirsten Lieshout, Brayden Waltham, Jye Thompson and Sarah Crowe all swam well to contribute a string of outstanding performances, Victorian records and personal best times.

In the girls' 16-years 100-metres butterfly all eyes would not have been on Emily Seebohm, despite her being a world record-holder in the backstroke. The battle for minor places behind Seebohm included Stephanie Morgan who missed the bronze by just a blink. Stephanie had been 6th at the turn, but only Seebohm swam the second half faster. Stephanie overhauled competitors from New Zealand and Canada and was tantalisingly close to the two minor place-getters when she reached the wall.

Stephanie also finished a creditable 5th in the 200-metres butterfly. All up, in four preliminary or final races Stephanie set three new Victorian country records.

Dylan Wyatt finished 10th in the 200-metres butterfly for 17-18 boys and set a new Victorian record. He also claimed country records in the 100-metres butterfly and 200-metres freestyle finals in which he respectively finished 9th and 6th.

Kirsten Lieshout was another finalist and placed 7th in the 17-18-years 100-mteres breaststroke. She just missed on finals for the 200, being listed as first reserve. However Kirsten's time was solid enough for yet another country record.

Brayden Waltham, Jye Thompson and Sarah Crowe all swam at or near their best times in their events although none were able to qualify for finals. Jye achieved two personal bests and Brayden one.

Swimming three for overseas, 21 April 2008

Following outstanding recent performances at the national open and age championships, Academy swimmers Jeremy Meyer and Jeremy Saunders have been selected for overseas competitions.

Jeremy Meyer will compete with an Australian junior team in a Duel in the Pool contest in Japan early next month. He will be joined by the Academy's Head Coach, Brian Ford, who has been appointed as a senior coach with the team.

During June Jeremy Meyer and Jeremy Saunders will be part of another Swimming Australia team to compete in two events in the USA.

Stunning swimmers, 24 March 2009

What a stunning week for our swimmers in Sydney at the Australian Open Championships! This was the place to be to rub shoulders with the Olympians, the internationals, and those from every flavour of sports institute from around Australia.

Despite their relative youth and the quality of their competition, Academy swimmers didn't just stand around in awe. They achieved some unexpectedly exciting results. The highlights were two outstanding men's relay races, finals performances by Jeremy Meyer and Jeremy Saunders, two Victorian records, and a further 9 country records.

Jeremy Saunders lead off the 4 x 100 freestyle relay with a 52.13-second first leg, which was fast enough for a new Victorian country record. Dylan Wyatt, Andrew O'Connor and Ben Geard kept up the pace with the team finishing 7th, just half a stroke behind Nunawading Club, the top point scoring club of the championships.

The medley relay was another extraordinary result. With solid swims from Andrew O'Connor, Jeremy Meyer, and Dylan Wyatt, the team lay in 5th place with a top NSW club, SOPAC, just centimetres behind. Inevitably, Jeremy Saunders, finishing off with the freestyle leg, was going to be overtaken and took the last turn in 6th place. However, he is not one to give up easily and Jeremy clawed back over the last 50-metres to recover 5th place, touching just 5 hundredths of a second ahead of his SOPAC rival. Jeremy clocked 50.91-seconds for his flying last leg.

Our other Jeremy, Jeremy Meyer, finished 5th in the 100-metre breaststroke final. His 1:02.60-second time was just 0.27 seconds behind the third place-getter and is a new Victorian record.

In the 200-metre breaststroke Jeremy finished 4th, again with another Victorian record, 2:15.22. His namesake, Jeremy Saunders, was 8th in the same final, just 3-seconds further back, and also with a personal best time. Saunders had another 8th-place finish 200-metres individual medley, 2:04.68, achieving yet another Victorian country record.

Last year only two Academy swimmers competed in the Championships. One was Ben Geard who again swam in 50-metre breaststroke and freestyle events. Although unable to make any finals, Ben improved his times and places over both of last year's events. The other, Andrew Cameron, also returned to the Championships and only narrowly missed on the 200 butterfly finals. Andrew, 19, moved to Melbourne during the year, and is now one of Victoria's most promising butterfly swimmers.

Stephanie Morgan, Andrew O'connor and Dylan Wyatt all had great performances as well. Stephanie made a B final in the 200 butterfly, Andrew took a country record, and Dylan swam a swag of good times across a number of disciplines.

Also at the Championships Ashley Delaney, formerly with the Academy and now in the AIS, established himself as Australia's pre-eminent backstroke swimmer. Delaney defeated his arch rival Hayden Stoeckel in all three of their backstroke contests.

Last year Stoeckel was stronger over the longer distances but this time a determined Delaney ravaged the Australian and Commonwealth 200-metre records and left Stoeckel nearly two seconds behind. Delaney also broke the Australian record in the 50-metres race.

Both Delaney and Stoeckel have been named in the Australian squad for the FINA World Championships in Rome in 4 months' time.

The individual results are:
Andrew O'Connor - 50 back - 27.59; Dylan Wyatt - 400 free - 4:00.51 - 19th; Andrew O'Connor - 50 fly - 25.61 - 37th Country Vic record; Jeremy Saunders - 100 Breast - 1:05.76 - 19th; Jeremy Meyer - 100 Breast FINAL - 1:02.60 - 5th Victorian, Country Vic Record; Dylan Wyatt - 200 Free - 1:54.38; Jeremy Saunders - 100 Free - 52.48; Dylan Wyatt - 100 Free -53.24; Jeremy Meyer - 50 Breast - SEMI - 29.30 - 6th FINAL - 29.53 - 8th; Ben Geard - 50 Breast heat - 29.21 Country Vic Record SEMI - 29.57 - 11th; Andrew O'Connor - 100 Back - heat 57.64 Country Vic Record SEMI - 57.97 - 14th; Ben Geard - 50 Free - 23.82; Jeremy Saunders - 200 IM - 2:03.56 - (VIS qualifying time) Vic Country Record FINAL - 2:04.68 - 8th; Jeremy Meyer - 200 IM - 2:11.41; Dylan Wyatt - 200 IM - 2:12.00; Stephanie Morgan - 200 Fly - 2:18.49 B Final 2:18.60; Jeremy Meyer - 200 Breast - 2:17.28; FINAL - 2:15.22 - 4th New Victorian, Vic Country Record; Jeremy Saunders - 200 Breast - 2:20.74 - 6th FINAL - 2:18.38 - 8th PB

Pathways in the pool, 23 March 2009

To talk about pathways in swimming might sound little incongruous but it's a concept that the Gippsland Sports Academy takes seriously. And we are happy to say that Gippsland Swimming is keen on the idea as well.

Across all sports the most successful athletes rely on specialised coaching to provide them with the knowledge, skills and fitness they need for optimum results. As they progress, these needs become greater and may include specialised training facilities, as well as testing and analytical advice. This is where the pathway concept, of progression to higher levels of athlete support in parallel with higher performance, is relevant.

Typically, a top-performing athlete would advance from the Academy to the Victorian Institute of Sport or the Australian Institute of Sport for enhanced access to competition, facilities and training resources. One role of the Gippsland Sports Academy is to prepare athletes by encouraging them to be analytical, resourceful and knowledgeable about their own performances in preparation for this further advancement.

Ashley Delaney is a perfect example. He began swimming with the Sale club and joined the Academy in 2001. Soon he was placing in national championships and then moved to Melbourne to take up a VIS scholarship. Later, as his progress continued, Delaney won an AIS scholarship. By 2007 Delaney was second in the backstroke to only Matt Welsh, the multi-Olympian.

In the Australian Championships early last year, Delaney wrote himself into the Australian record books with a crushing defeat over Welsh in the 100-metres backstroke. The performance secured him Olympic and World Short Course Championship selection where Delaney subsequently won relay and an individual bronze medals.

Delaney, now 22, has potential for better results yet to come, and is a product of a pathway system which supported his growing needs as his performances improved.

In Gippsland the pathway system has been further enhanced with the creation of Gippsland Swimming Inc's Target Squad. The Squad aims to support swimmers to achieve state or national qualifying times. It has been in operation for some 5 seasons and has gradually matured to provide a more natural progression into the Academy swimming squad. This is assisted by a closer association between the two squads' activities and includes general squad training or sessions with specialised coaches. There is also a crossover of coaches and Matt Dinsmore, an Academy swimmer, is one of the Target Squad's regular coaches.

In recent weeks four of Target Squad members have achieved national event qualifying times, which is the requirement for entry into the Gippsland Sports Academy. This is the largest number new qualifiers in any year since the Academy commenced and provides evidence that the Target Squad has a significant role in the pathways model.

The four successful Gippsland Swimming Target Squad swimmers are Elliot Shaw, Alice Lieshout, Kate Sommerfield and Charley Askew.

Pictured are Michelle Ketchion, Jackie Madden, squad members, and coaches at the first session held at the Warragul Indoor Pool on 20 September 2008.. Traralgon Swim Club - Elliot Shaw, Georgia Tsebelis, Samantha Lynn, Charley Askew, Cameron Juha, Zoe Trembath, Daniel Golcic, Alice Lieshout and Stephanie Spehar. Warragul Swim Club - Kate Davine, Dean Bickerdike, Hannah Acardi, Kirstie Skinner, Mat Acardi, Kate Sommerfield, Rebecca Wardell and Leah Holgate. Water Dragons (Bairnsdale) Swim Club - Grace Collins, Abbey Derbyshire, Olivia Ferretti, Zac Strini, Megan Donnelly, Jake Strini and Emma Wallis. Sale Swim Club - James Vandersteen, Megan Raine and Caroline Lee.

Swimmers in good form at Gippsland titles, 13 March 2009

Academy swimmers were highly successful in last weekend's Gippsland Championships. But for five swimmers, Ben Geard, Jeremy Saunders, Jeremy Meyer, Dylan Wyatt and Stephanie Morgan, the meeting was part of their training for the Australian Championships starting next week in Sydney.

The five used the championships as a high intensity workout. Including preliminary events and relays most were on the starting blocks for 20 or 30 events. As can be expected, they also recorded some good times and top results.

Jeremy Saunders - 6 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze. Charles Ford Memorial Trophy Male Champion.

Jeremy Meyer - 5 gold, 2 bronze. MLC Junior Sports Foundation Ben Holman Trophy for "Outstanding performance by a swimmer outside of District 21".

Sarah Berryman - 3 gold, 8 silver, 4 bronze. Jewell Family Trophy Female Champion, International Power Loy Yang B Mitsui & Co for "Outstanding Swimmer within the Gippsland District" (on points).

Absent from the Championships was squad member Andrew O'Connor who will be the sixth Academy representative at the Australian titles.

Gippsland takes two interdistrict trophies, 3 March 2009

Last Saturday Gippsland sent a team of 45 swimmers to compete at the Victorian Country Interdistrict Competition at MSAC against eight other Victorian Districts.

Academy swimmers Stephanie Morgan, Brayden Waltham, Jye Thompson and Andrew O'Connor were prominent in the Gippsland team. Steph, Brayden, Jye and Andrew all swam well in their individual events to help Gippsland bring home the Bill Willmott Trophy for the highest aggregate team points.

All four Academy swimmers were also relay members of the successful Men's and Women's Open 4 x 100m medley and freestyle relay events. Points in these relays also secured the Sovereign Hill Shield Open Relays Aggregate Trophy for Gippsland.

Academy four represent Victoria, 17 February 2009

Four Academy swimmers represented Victoria at the New South Wales Open Championships at the Sydney Aquatic Centre last weekend. They were Kirsten Lieshout, Jeremy Meyer, Jeremy Saunders and Dylan Wyatt.

The four won their selection as members of the Swimming Victoria Gold Development Squad which, in turn, was based on performances in State and National events. The titles attracted some AIS swimmers as well as several international competitors.

All swimmers made event finals with Jeremy Meyer winning a bronze medal in the 200-m breaststroke. He also finished 5th in the 100-metre breaststroke.

Kirsten Lieshout, a strong breaststroker, finished well up in the 100-metre and 200-metre "B" finals which resulted in a 16th and a 13th place.

Jeremy Saunders and Dylan Wyatt both made "A" and "B" finals. Jeremy finished 5th in the 200-metre breaststroke, not far behind Jeremy Meyer, and 12th in the 200-metres individual medley. Dylan had a 10th, 17th and 18th in 200-metres butterfly, 200-m freestyle and 100-m butterfly respectively.

Congratulations to all four on their selection and also for making finals against high-standard open age competition.

Swimmers win sprint title medals, 17 February 2009

Sprint races are tough events. In 50-metres of intense physical and mental effort every vital hundredth of a second can mean the difference between glory and disappointment.

Last weekend's Victorian Sprint Championships were no exception with extremely close racing in the finals.

The best-performed Academy swimmer was Ben Geard who finished with a win and second place. Ben won the men's 19 and over breaststroke. His winning margin, a comfortable body length, was quite exceptional and one of the largest of the championships.

Ben's second place was in the freestyle. He also finished 4th and 5th in backstroke and butterfly events, each time beaten out of a medal by just a touch at the finish.

Stephanie Morgan finished second in the women's 16 years butterfly with an excellent 28.87-seconds performance. Stephanie finished 9th in the freestyle final, a race so close that only a body length separated the entire field of 10 swimmers at the finish

Sarah Berryman, Sarah Crowe, Brayden Waltham and Jye Thompson all made finals in two events but, despite swimming well in the finals, none was able to take a medal.

Andrew O'Connor, who is in the highly competitive 19 and over group with Ben Geard, swam fast times in the preliminaries and was unlucky to make any finals.

All of our unplaced swimmers should be encouraged by their performances as they were able to challenge the State's best in races shorter than their ideal distances.

Swimming squad shows depth, 29 January 2009

The extraordinary depth of the Academy's swimming squad was evident at last weekend's Victorian Country Championships.

Jeremy Saunders was named the winner of the Bruce Carter Trophy for the highest point scoring swimmer of the Championships in individual events. Jeremy won a total of 13 individual medals, including 3 golds. Between individual and relay events Jeremy swam more than 30 high class races over the three days.

An Australia Day medal was presented to Jeremy Meyer for the best individual performance for a male swimmer on Australia Day. Meyer was slightly more modest in the number of events competed in, but he still managed 7 wins and 4 minor placings.

Stephanie Morgan was the best of our girls winning three events and a total of five medals. The medal counts understate the strength of Stephanie's performances as she had a number of close finishes where she was close to a better placing.

In other women's events Kirsten Lieshout had two wins while Sarah Berryman and Sarah Crowe each scored a number of places.

Amongst the men Ben Geard, with 3 wins in 50-metre sprint races, and Dylan Wyatt with 5 wins were amongst the Championship's best performers.

For Andrew O'Connor, Matthew Dinsmore, Brayden Waltham and Jye Thompson the concentration at the top made gold medals tougher for them. But each of these four are impressive young swimmers in their own right.

Andrew O'Connor broke through with one gold medal win and places in every other of his 5 other starts. Matthew Dinsmore was dangerously close to his Academy rivals, never more than a few strokes behind, in every one of his finals.

Brayden is the youngest and the most rapidly improving male squad member. His recent performances are now closing the gap to his more experienced seniors. He too, swam a huge number of events and won four bronze medals.

Jye Thompson is a butterfly specialist and scored places in both his starts. One of the most recent recruits to the Academy, Jye has also given notice of likely improvements.

It will be interesting to watch our swimmers' development from here as the season progresses.

Dylan outstanding at Youth Olympic Festival, 19 January 2009

Dylan Wyatt had outstanding results at the 2009 Australian Youth Olympic Festival which was held in Sydney and concluded yesterday. At the Festival two Australian youth swimming teams competed against those from Canada, Japan, China and New Zealand.

Dylan placed second in the 400-metre freestyle and his time, 3:58.60, broke the Victorian record. He was also fourth in the 200-metre freestyle with a Victorian country record.

Dylan capped off the championships on a high note when he swam the anchor leg of the 2 x 200 freestyle. His team, Australia Green, won narrowly from Canada.

Medals and top times at Victorian swimming titles, 19 January 2009

Improving performances resulted in medals and records for swimmers at the weekend's Victorian Open Championships.

Jeremy Saunders, Stephanie Morgan and Ben Geard scored medals with many others swimming close to their best.

Jeremy finished second in the 200-metre backstroke and 200-metre individual medley. Jeremy, whose IM time also won him a Victorian country record, was beaten home by former Academy swimmer, Sam Ashby. Sam represented Australia in the Oceania Championships in New Zealand last year.

In the 200-metre butterfly Stephanie Morgan was second to Ellen Gandy, the Melbourne-based British Olympian. Stephanie was 9th in the 100-metre butterfly, where Gandy finished third. Fourth place went to another former Academy swimmer, Samantha Wilkins, 14, the youngest in the field. The competition behind the medalists was extraordinarily close with less than a body length separating the 6 places between Samantha and Stephanie.

Sprinter Ben Geard finished third in the 50-metre breaststroke, with finals appearances in the 50-metre backstroke and 100-metre breaststroke. In addition Ben narrowly missed places in the freestyle and butterfly 50-metre finals.

In other individual performances Brayden Waltham finished 8th in the 400-metre individual medley and Andrew O'Connor was 9th in the 100-metre butterfly. Though not making event finals, Matthew Dinsmore, Jye Thompson, Sarah Berryman and Sarah Crowe all put up respectable performances in their preliminary rounds.

The depth of Academy performers was demonstrated in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay when the team broke the Victorian country record in the preliminary race and improved it by a further 5-seconds in the final. Those in the team were Ben Geard, Sven Eriksson (ex-Academy), Matthew Dinsmore (preliminary only), Andrew O'Connor (final only) and Jeremy Saunders. The team's place in the final was all the more exception as they were only one-and-a-half lengths behind the silver medalists

On Friday evening, the first day of the championships Andrew Cameron, an Academy squad member in 2007-08, had a wonderful win in the 200-metre butterfly. He defeated Sam Ashby, the ex-Academy swimmer mentioned previously. Both were clear of the rest of the field. Andrew swam in several other finals but this was his only placing.

Sam also had a third place in the 400-metre individual medley. Altogether Sam won medals of different types from each of his three events.

Jeremy scores medals in Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, 12 January 2009

To represent your country at world level is one thing. To be competitive with the best is something else again. However, that's what Jeremy Meyer has achieved at the Junior Pan Pacific Games.

In a race dominated by US swimmers, Jeremy finished fourth in the 100-metre breaststroke final. Americans filled the first two places with a Japanese swimmer, Yamaguchi, edging Jeremy out of the placings.

In the 200-metres breaststroke Yamaguchi lead another Japanese swimmer home and Jeremy finished third, but this time clear of the US swimmers.

Jeremy's final event was in the 4 x 100-metre medley relay. Surprise winners New Zealand finished narrowly in front of the Australians, but both teams edged under the event record. Coincidentally, the record was set in 2007 by an Australian junior team which included Sam Ashby, a former Academy swimmer and now, like Jeremy, a VIS swimming scholarship-holder.

The Games concluded yesterday. They were held at Guam, and teams comprised top junior swimmers from USA, Canada, Japan, and Australia, as well as from 5 other nations. The USA narrowly won the international points trophy from Australia.

Swimmers score medals at Victorian titles, 12 January 2009

Academy swimming squad members Dylan Wyatt, Jeremy Saunders, Stephanie Morgan, Kirsten Lieshout, and Jye Thompson, were individual medal winners at last week's Victorian State Age Championships.

Dylan Wyatt moved to the region a few months ago and has thrived on the Academy training program. Swimming in the 17/18 age group, Dylan won three gold medals in 200-metre and 400-metre freestyle events as well as in the 200-metre butterfly. The 400 freestyle was a particularly exciting result as Dylan's winning 4:00.08 time broke Michael Klim's 14-year Victorian record. Halfway through the race five swimmers were in close contention with a body length separating them, but Dylan then moved into the lead and dominated the race.

Jeremy Saunders had the honour of reading the athletes' oath at the start of the ceremony. He then went on to become age group champion, for the seventh consecutive year. Jeremy secured the trophy by wins in the 18 years 100-metre and 200-metre breaststroke events, as well as the 200-metre individual medley. He also placed in two other events.

Butterfly specialist Stephanie Morgan (16-years) won both the 100-metre and 200-metre events with two new Victorian Country country records in doing so.

Kirsten Lieshout and Jye Thompson achieved places with Kirsten second in the 17/18 -years100-metre breaststroke, and Jye third in 16-years 100-metre butterfly.

Four others, Sarah Berryman, Sarah Crowe, Matthew Dinsmore and Brayden Waltham all recorded competitive performances in finals but finished out of the placings.

In the 18-years freestyle and medley relays our boys also achieved a second and a third.

It was also pleasing to see that Samantha Wilkins, formerly with the Academy, won a number of medals and was the girls 14 years age champion. Samantha lived in South Gippsland and has moved to Melbourne.

Following their successes squad members will be looking forward to the Country Championships at Sale, in two weeks time. Some will also compete at the Open Age championships this coming weekend as part of their preparation.

Swimmers go well at Pacific School Games, 9 December 2008

Four Academy swimmers attended the Pacific School Games last week and performed well against strong international competition China and other Asian and Pacific countries.

Jeremy Meyer had the best results with a win in the 50 metres breaststroke and second places in both the 100 and 200 events. Jeremy's second places were to a Chinese swimmer and he, like many others, was drawn into fast times in the highly competitive environment.

All Academy swimmers represented Victoria in relay events and Sarah Berryman, Sarah Crowe and Brayden Waltham were in second- or third-placed Victorian teams. Sarah Crowe's best individual results were a 5th and 6th in freestyle finals while Brayden had two 6ths and a 7th in backstroke, butterfly and medley finals.

Sarah Berryman was was the only swimmer not to make any finals, but heartbreakingly close in three of her events. However, Sarah's persistence was rewarded with her selection into a Victorian medley relay team which placed in the finals.

Jeremy Meyer also has just been awarded the Wellington Shire's Sportsperson of the Year Award for the third consecutive year. In addition to his place in the Academy Jeremy receives additional assistance by way of a VIS “Beyond 2012” scholarship.

Swimmers respond to Australian titles pressure, 24 September 2008

At this week's Australian Open Short Course Championships our Academy swimmers have achieved excellent results.

Even though some of the Olympic team did not attend, the Championships attracted high quality fields. Our swimmers, stepping up to open age competition, responded magnificently.

Kirsten Lieshout, Jeremy Meyer, Ben Geard, Brayden Waltham and Stephanie Morgan all swam personal bests.

Kirsten Lieshout (16 years) made the semi-finals of the women's 50 metre breaststroke finishing 14th overall. Jeremy Saunders (18) also qualified for a semi-final in the men's 100m individual medley and ended up with an overall 13th place.

Ben Geard was twice unlucky not to have had semi-final places for the 50m and 100m breaststroke. In both preliminary events he placed 17th, each time less than two-tenths of a second short of qualifying.

Jeremy Meyer was the Academy's best performer when he made the breaststroke finals in both the 100m and 200m events. Jeremy, aged 17, finished an outstanding 5th and 4th respectively in these open age races.

The Championships, conducted in Melbourne over the last 5 days, will conclude tonight.

Swimming wins in Victorian titles, 9 September 2008

Training partners Jeremy Meyer and Jeremy Saunders were the Academy's top performers at the weekend's Victorian Age Short Course Swimming Championships. Meyer won the 17-18 years 100 and 200 metre breaststroke events with Saunders finishing third and second respectively.

Both swimmers created new Victorian records in the 200 metres breaststroke. For Meyer it was in the 17 year age group (2:13.78) and for Saunders in the 18 and over category (2:16.87). Their times were even more creditable because they were recorded in a re-swim, just 15 minutes after a first attempt in which there was a timing malfunction.

Jeremy Saunders turned the tables in the 100 metres individual medley, a clear winner in 57.07 sec, with Meyer in third place. Meyer's other medals were 200m medley (2nd) and 400m medley (3rd). Saunders also had a second place in the 100m freestyle and 200m breaststroke, with a third in the 100m breaststroke.

Breaststroke specialist Kirsten Lieshout dominated the 16 years girls 100 metre race, winning by more than 2 seconds in 1:13.10. In her only other event, the 200 metres, Kirsten finished 6th, still a creditable result at the State level.

Two other 16 year girls, Sarah Berryman and Stephanie Morgan, achieved second places. Sarah was beaten by a touch in the 100 metres individual medley but nevertheless recorded a personal best time of 1:06.61. Sarah had a busy program with 8 individual events and she finished in the top 8 in 5 of them. Stephanie's second placing was in the 100 metres butterfly, and she was also in the final 8 in her other three events.

Matthew Dinsmore (18) finished second in the 50 metres freestyle (23.51 seconds). The sprint provided a close and exciting finish, and Matthew again proved himself able to hold his form and composure in this testing event.

Brayden Waltham and Jye Thompson, both 16 year boys, were both competitive although they did not win medals. Brayden's best result, but perhaps most disappointing, was his 4th place in the 100 metres butterfly where he was just 2 one-hundredths of a second behind the bronze medallist. Brayden was also 5th in two backstroke events. Jye swam four events with his best results in the 100 metre (8th) and 200 metre (5th) butterfly events.

The Championships were a great result for Academy swimmers. Of our 11 squad members, 8 competed and 6 won medals. It has also been a useful lead-in event to the Australian Short Course titles in 2 week's time and in which most squad members are expected to compete.

Swimming wins for Brayden, 25 August 2008

Brayden Waltham was the Academy's only representative at the weekend's Victorian Country Short Course Swimming Championships.

Swimming in the 16-17 age group, 16 year-old Brayden won 6 events and placed in three others. His best performances were in the backstroke where he won the 100 metres race by 1.6 seconds and the 200 metres even more easily. His times were 1:00.57 and 2:12.44 respectively.

Brayden had another convincing win, by 1.3 seconds, in the 100metre butterfly race (59.11sec). However, his 200 metre ’fly win was more tense with the first three close at the end.

Brayden's other wins were in the individual medley events. His places were in breaststroke and freestyle. In two further freestyle events Brayden finished closely behind the place-getters.

Despite moving up an age group this year, Brayden's times have improved enough to make him even more competitive than previously. He is also much stronger, and was able to successfully take on 11 events at these championships.

The next major event for Academy swimmers is the Victorian Age Short Course Championships in two weeks' time.

Medal shows that Delaney is world class, 18 August 2008

Ashley Delaney's Olympic campaign has come to end. Although he returns home without an individual medal, Delaney ranks as one of the world's best backstroke swimmers.

He finishes his Olympic debut with a finals 5th place and a personal best time. He also swam in the 4 x 100 medley relay qualifying event which secured Australia a place in the final. The Australian team won a silver medal and, along with the finalists, members of the qualifying team also won a silver medal.

The 22-year old former Academy member, who now swims with the AIS in Canberra, struck form at the Australian Championships in March. He won the 100 metres backstroke in Australian record time and defeated former Olympic medallist, Matt Welsh. In the 200 metres event Delaney finished second to his rival Hayden Stoeckel.

Both swimmers were nominated for Beijing, with Delaney also selected for the FINA World Short Course Championships in April. The Championships were an important milestone for Delaney, and he won third place in the 50 metres backstroke as well as taking Australian short course records.

At Beijing however Delaney has been eclipsed by Stoeckel. Both swimmers made the 100 metres backstroke final with Stoeckel finishing in a dead-heated 3rd place. He had beaten Delaney, who was awarded 5th place, by just a touch.

In the 200 metres backstroke Delaney was eliminated in the semifinals while Stoeckel finished 6th in the final. Stoeckel also achieved Australian records in both backstroke events. In consequence, Stoeckel was selected into the 4 x 100 medley relay final in which Australia finished second. Delaney, less gloriously, swam only the qualifying round, but has also been awarded a silver medal.

In an interview during the Games Delaney generously praised Stoeckel's 100 metre performance, saying it had been inspirational to him.

With both Delaney and Stoeckel now firmly established at world level, who knows how much they will press each other to even greater results? May the inspiration continue!

NSW swimming medals for Stephanie, 14 August 2008

Last weekend Stephanie Morgan won medals at the NSW Age Short Course titles. She was representing Victoria as a member of the Target 2012 Silver Squad.

Stephanie swam in the 200 metres butterfly, finishing third, in 2:19.92. She later swam the 100 metres butterfly where, in the last half, she was drawing in the event winner. Both girls posted personal best times, Stephanie's being 62.68 seconds.

Stephanie earned her selection into the Target 2012 squad after winning two gold medals at the Victorian Championships for 15 years 100 and 200 metres butterfly. She has posted top results in several subsequent events, including another Victorian win in the 50 metre butterfly at the Sprint Championships.

Four swimmers in Victorian schools team, 14 August 2008

Yesterday the Victorian Secondary Schools' Sports Association announced its swimming team for the Pacific School Games to be held in Canberra from 29 November to 7 December 2008.

The Victorian squad includes 4 Academy swimmers, Sarah Berryman, Sarah Crowe, Jeremy Meyer and Brayden Waltham. Also selected was Samantha Wilkins, a member of last year's Academy swimming squad.

The Pacific School Games is an international sporting event for primary and secondary school students aged 10 to 19, and is held every three to four years.

Swimmers' short course successes, 21 July 2008

During the weekend's Victorian Open Short Course Championships, Academy swimmers put in some fine performances.

Fresh from the World Youth Championships Jeremy Meyer won the 200 metre breaststroke and placed second in the 100 metres. Jeremy controlled the 200 metre race from the start and his winning margin was more than 3 seconds.

Ben Geard, a sprint specialist who is strong in several disciplines, finished fourth in both the 50 metre freestyle and breaststroke events. The sprints are renown for their dramatically close finishes and Ben was only 7 hundredths of a second behind second place-getter in the breaststroke race.

Kirsten Lieshout was close to the medals as well with her fourth place and personal best time in the 100 metre breaststroke.

Also competing were Mathew Dinsmore, Sarah Berryman and Brayden Waltham, all of whom swam in several events. Although none made finals this year they all achieved competitive performances against open competition. They are presently only 16 or 17 years old, and all of them are potential finalists in the future.

The Academy's swimming program is due to resume in two weeks and amongst our new faces will be Jye Thompson. Jye, also 16, swam in 3 events and gave notice of his future prospects.

Two former Academy swimmers achieved medal results. Sam Ashby, now with the VIS, won both the 100 and 200 metre individual medley events. Sam left the Academy 5 years ago to take up a VIS scholarship. In June he was selected to an Australian team to swim in New Zealand. Andrew Cameron, in the Academy until last year and now with a Melbourne club, finished third in the 200 metres butterfly.

Samantha tastes international success, 15 July 2008

Samantha Wilkins had her first experience of international competition last week when she represented the Australia Gold team in the Trans Tasman series.

The 6-event competition was between two Australian and one New Zealand team and held at several venues in New South Wales. It aims to create an international competition environment for promising junior swimmers. Samantha, aged 14, was one of the youngest competitors.

Samantha raced on most days, with a best result on the third day at Wagga Wagga. There she swam in the 100 metre butterfly and achieved third place (in 1 min 4.68 sec). Her achievement was especially notable as there were several 16 or 17 year old girls in her race.

Samantha was in the Academy's 2007-08 swimming squad. She has been highly dedicated to her training, and has made great progress during the last year. Samantha has now moved to Melbourne where she trains with the Haileybury Waterlions. We wish her well for her future swimming career, and hope to follow her continuing achievements.

Meyer in Mexico, 14 July 2008

Jeremy Meyer, representing Australia at the World Junior Swimming Championships, has swum some fine races in his specialty event, the breaststroke. The Championships, which concluded yesterday, were held in Monterrey, Mexico.

Jeremy's best result was in the 200 metres where he qualified for the final and subsequently placed 8th.

In the heats of the 50 metres and 100 metres events Jeremy swam times consistently close to his best. In both races he placed in the top half of the field but was unable unable to qualify for the semi-finals.

Jeremy has been a member of the Academy's swimming squad for several years and was also the recent winner of the Tim Forsyth Award for best athlete in 2007. This is the second occasion that Jeremy has been selected for a Swimming Australia team.

Beijing dream comes true for Amanda, 19 June 2008

Amanda Drennan is a paralympic swimmer who has been selected to the Australian squad for the Beijing Paralympics. Amanda was a member of the Academy's swimming squad from 2000 to 2002, and she significantly improved her race times during that period.

In 2002 Amanda had a stunning year, capturing a world junior disability backstroke record and Australian records. As well as backstroke, Amanda was highly successful in freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly events as well.

As a result of these performances the Academy honoured Amanda as its top athlete for 2002 and presented her with its prestigious Tim Forsyth Award. Amanda then left the Academy to take up a scholarship with the Victorian Institute of Sport, where her swimming career successfully continued.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics Amanda, then 16, swam in the bronze-medal winning 4 x 100 paralympic freestyle event. (Another Academy paralympian, Lichelle Clarke, was in the same event.) Amanda has followed since with a string of successful international performances.

Amanda's story demonstrates the pathways concept in which regional sports academies have an important role. The academies' capacity to nurture and support young talent at the foundation stage enables next-level organisations, like the Victorian Institute of Sport, to develop successful regional athletes, as they mature, into world standard ones.

A further pathway is provided by the Australian Institute of Sport, where specialised facilities and resources are provided in Canberra. For some sports and some athletes, the AIS opportunities are particularly advantageous in their advancement.

Amanda's swimming career reflects the effectiveness of the pathways from regional academies. After training with the VIS Amanda was subsequently awarded an AIS scholarship, and her swimming career has continued successfully. This year Amanda will be a member of the 35-strong squad contesting the Beijing Paralympics, in September, following the Olympic Games.

Delaney prominent in Australian swimming team wins, 16 June 2008

Ex-Academy swimmer Ashley Delaney figured prominently in recent international performances by the Australian team.

Ashley Dealaney with Brian Ford and Rob Moore

Ashley Delaney (centre) photographed recently with
his former Academy coaches Brian Ford & Rob Moore

Following the Barcelona leg of the Mare Nostrum series last Wednesday, Delaney finished this tour with five wins from six races.

However, Delaney's Barcelona performances were not without drama and considerable pressure. He was disqualified in both the 50 and 200 metres backstroke heats under a local rule for having his entire body leave the water at the start of the race.

A protest by Australian officials was initially dismissed before an appeal led to his reinstatement for the finals. Delaney then won the 200 final in a personal best of 1:57.22, while in the 50m backstroke he clocked a solid 25.28, finishing second.

Australian National Coach Alan Thompson said that Delaney did well to overcome the drama of the double disqualification.

“Ash was disqualified twice in the heats by an official applying a local rule that doesn't allow you to fully leave the water at the start of a backstroke race,” Thompson said.

“Ash gets up really high on the wall before the start of a race and explodes out of the water in an arch and the official thought it was illegal but that is not what the FINA (Swimming's governing body) rules state. This meet is run under FINA rules and so we were finally able to get him back into the field for tonight.

“Considering all the drama and him not knowing if he would get to race the finals, Ash swam really well and can be very pleased with the way he handled the distractions.”

Delaney has returned to Australia to begin his final preparations for the Beijing Olympics where he will swim in two individual backstroke events and a medley relay.

Delaney swam with the Sale club and the Academy before moving to Melbourne to take up a VIS scholarship, and later an AIS scholarship. He is scheduled to swim 100 and 200 metre backstroke events at the Beijing Olympics, as well as the 4 x 100 medley relay.

Swimmers at Canberra Grand Prix, 30 April 2008

Academy swimmers Jeremy Saunders and Ben Geard competed at the Telstra Grand Prix No 1 at the AIS in Canberra last weekend. They raced against Olympic team and other nationally-ranked swimmers.

Jeremy made two finals, the 100m breaststroke, and 200m individual medley. He finished fifth in both events. Ben also swam in two events finishing 4th in the semi-final of the 50m breaststroke and 9th in the preliminary round of 50m freestyle.

Former Academy swimmer Ashley Delaney, freshly returned from his World Championship placing, also competed and won the 50 metres backstroke.

The meeting comprised mainly Olympic and Paralympic team swimmers, with a handful from the Papua New Guinea squad. Jeremy and Ben joined a score of other ranked swimmers to challenge the Olympians. A second Telstra Grand Prix will be held in July as a prelude to the Beijing Olympics in August.

Australian selectors pick our swimmers, 29 April 2008

Following the Australian Age Championships at Brisbane 2 weeks ago, Swimming Australia has selected seven Victorians onto travelling teams to swim in international events.

Among them are swimming squad members Samantha Wilkins and Jeremy Meyer, and former Academy swimmer Sam Ashby.

Samantha will compete in the Trans Tasman Series in New South Wales in July. This is the same competition that Jeremy Meyer competed successfully in last year.

Meanwhile, Jeremy will compete in the World Junior Championships at Monterrey, Mexico, also in July.

Sam Ashby was with the Academy until 2004 when he left to train in Melbourne. He will be competing in the Oceania Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand, in July.

Swimming Australia says that selection onto travelling teams provides competition opportunities in preparation for senior teams. It shows that selectors have great confidence in our swimmers' future potential.

Australian medals to Meyer and Saunders, 14 April 2008

Academy swimming squad members have done extremely well at the Australian Age Championships in Brisbane over the weekend.

Jeremy Meyer outclassed his competitors with a time of 1:04.39 in the final of the 16 years 100m breaststroke beating his nearest opponent by 1.3 seconds. He also won a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke. Jeremy's results were a repeat of his results last year, but with improved times this year.

Jeremy Saunders had another breaststroke success when he won 17-18 years 200m breaststroke. He was also third in the 200m individual medley.

Samantha Wilkins, in girls 13 and under events, was second in the 200m individual medley and third in the 100m butterfly. She was chosen to represent Victoria in the 4x50m state freestyle relay event and this team secured a bronze medal.

Yet another breaststroker, Kirsten Lieshout, was second in the girls 16 years 100m event.

Jeremy Saunders, Jeremy Meyer, Andrew Cameron and Matthew Dinsmore combined to win a bronze medal in the 18 & under 4x100m club medley relay.

World title medal to Delaney, 14 April 2008

Fresh from his Australian Championship successes, former Academy squad swimmer Ashley Delaney mixed it with the world's best at the FINA World Short Course titles in Manchester, England over the last few days.

Delaney won a bronze medal in the 50 metres backstroke. He swam 23.57 sec, just 0.08 seconds behind the winner.

In his next final, the 100 metres backstroke, Delaney was fifth, just 0.57 seconds behind the winner. At this stage Delaney had posted a string of 6 personal best times.

He then qualified for the backstroke final, but only just, with the 8th fastest time (1min 53.6). Delaney adopted different strategy the final, taking an immediate lead and at world record pace. During the third lap Delaney slipped from first to third and, tiring further in the last lap, was beaten - by a touch - into fourth. The first two broke the previous world record with Delaney (in 1:50.45) 2.65 seconds behind the winner. He also broke the Commonwealth and Australian records.

The Australian 4 x 100 medley relay team with Delaney backstroking, finished in fourth place - another near-medal performance, setting a new Australian record.

We congratulate Ashley Delaney on his outstanding international results and wish him further success at Beijing.

Academy swimmers at Olympic trials, 1 April 2008

Academy swimmers Ben Geard and Andrew Cameron competed at the Australian Swimming Championships in Sydney last week. The Championships also doubled as selection trials for the Beijing Olympics in August.

Both swimmers performed well. Ben's best outcome was in the 50m breaststroke event where he finished in 20th position with a time of 30.16 seconds. Ben also swam the 50m backstroke event for 23rd place (27.73 sec) and the 50m freestyle for 33rd place (24.04 sec).

Andrew competed in the 200m butterfly event with a time of 2.06.99, just outside his personal best time. He placed 27th.

Former Academy swimmer Ashley Delaney added a third event to his Beijing Olympic program when he finished second in the 200 metres backstroke. Delaney had previously qualified for the 100 metres and 4 x 100 medley relay.

Ashley Delaney swims into Olympic spot, 25 March 2008

At the Australian Swimming Championships last night former Academy swimmer Ashley Delaney secured a spot in the Australian team for the Beijing Olympics.

Delaney won the 100m backstroke in 53.68 seconds, defeating Olympic medallist Matt Welsh. He also broke Welsh's Australian record.

For a decade Welsh had dominated the event, but in recent times Delaney had begun to close the gap. After last night's defeat Welsh paid tribute to Delaney and second place-getter Hayden Stoeckel: "I went faster tonight than I thought I could of (but) those guys definitely went very fast. That's what it takes these days, so the young guys are doing well and they've risen very, very quickly."

Delaney has certainly struck form at the right moment. At Beijing he will contest the 100 metres backstroke as well as the backstroke leg in the 4 x 100m medley relay, where Australia is a medal chance.

Originally from Sale, the 21 year old trained with the Academy swimming squad before winning a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship. He is now with the Australian Institute of Sport.

Academy swimmers compete at Gippsland Championships, 25 March 2008

Academy swimmers competed at the Gippsland Championships in Sale over the Labour Day weekend and were amongst the top award winners for the meet.

Jeremy Saunders (18) was named Male Swimmer of the Meet winning 7 gold, 6 silver & 2 bronze individual medals and breaking 11 records in the process.

Sarah Berryman (15) won 5 gold & 7 silver medals together with Samantha Wilkins (13) who won 9 gold, 2 silver & 1 bronze medal were named joint winners of the Female Swimmer of the Meet, tying with the same amount of points. Samantha broke 6 records and was also announced as the winner of the Female 14 & under Swimmer of the Meet award.

Jeremy Meyer (16) won 7 gold & 4 bronze medals and broke broke 12 records. Jeremy won the Most Outstanding Swimmer Out of Gippsland for his swimming achievements over the 2007/2008 season.

Ben Geard (26) won six gold medals and broke an amazing total of 19 records. Stephanie Morgan (15) won 3 gold, 2 silver & 2 bronze medals and breaking 10 records. Kirsten Lieshout (16) won 3 gold & 2 bronze medals and broke one record. Andrew Cameron (18) won 1 gold, 3 silver & 2 bronze medals. Brayden Waltham (15) won 1 gold, 1 silver & 4 bronze medals. Charley Askew (16) won 3 silver & 2 bronze. Matthew Dinsmore (17) won 3 silver medals.

Academy swimmers assist regional win, 4 March 2008

Seven Academy swimmers were selected to represent Gippsland and have combined with other Gippsland District 21 swimmers to win the Victorian Country Interdistrict Competition last Saturday.

Ben Geard, Jeremy Meyer, Stephanie Morgan and Brayden Waltham all won individual events while Charley Askew, Sarah Berryman and Kirsten Lieshout took part in relays which also took out first place.

This is the 16th consecutive year that Gippsland has won the coveted Bill Willmott Trophy which is awarded to the premier Country district. Gippsland also won the Sovereign Hill Trophy for gaining the most points for the four Open relays contested on the day.

Swimmers' sprint successes, 12 February 2008

Academy swimmers had success at the Victorian Sprint Championships last weekend in Melbourne.

Samantha Wilkins was dominant in the 13 years age group winning 3 gold and 1 silver medal. A gold medal was won by nearly 2 seconds in the 50m breaststroke with a time of 36.27 and another gold in the 50m freestyle in a time of 28.23. Samantha had a convincing win in the 50m butterfly in a time of 29.32 which also earned her an Out of Gippsland record in the 14 years and Open category. Samantha's silver medal came in a close finish in the 50m backstroke with a time of 32.56.

Ben Geard performed extremely well throughout the finals session with one gold and two bronze medals in the 19 & over age group. Ben dominated the 50m breaststroke and won the event in a time of 30.38, nearly a second clear of his rivals. Ben won the bronze medal in the 50m freestyle event and with a time of 23.89 equalled his own Out of Gippsland record in both the 17 & over and Open category, a time which he set at the Victorian Open Championships in January. Ben swam 28.06 in the 50m backstroke also placing him third and 26.58 in the 50m butterfly resulting in a 5th placing.

Kirsten Lieshout swam a personal best time of 34.96 and had a convincing win in the 16 years 50m breaststroke event.

Stephanie Morgan earned her gold medal in the 15 years 50m butterfly and in a close finish snatched first place in a personal best time and also claimed the 16 years Out of Gippsland record in a time of 29.94.

A silver medal went to Jeremy Meyer who also fought out a close tussle in the 16 years 50m breaststroke to place second in a time of 31.13. Jeremy also placed 8th and 9th in the 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle in time of 29.96 and 26.45 respectively.

Matthew Dinsmore competed in the 17/18 years 50m freestyle and in a tight finish took out the bronze medal with 24.86, narrowly missing the silver medal. Matthew had another close race in the 50m breaststroke just finishing behind the medal winners to take 4 th place in a time of 31.68.

Sarah Berryman excelled in the 15 years 50m backstroke claiming the bronze medal in a personal best time of 32.60 narrowly missing the silver by only 3/100 th second. Sarah competed in the 50m freestyle final and with a time of 29.35 placed 9th .

Jeremy Saunders finalled in three events placing 5th in each of them. Jeremy swam in the 17/18 years age group and swam 31.95 in the 50m breaststroke, 26.86 in the 50m butterfly and 25.09 in the 50m freestyle.

Brayden Waltham competed in two finals in the 15 years age group. Brayden finished 7 th in the 50m butterfly in a time of 27.96 and 8 th in the 50m backstroke in 29.80.

Charley Askew swam in the 16 years 50m freestyle and placed 9th in a time of 29.13.

Exceptional results for swimmers at Country titles, 4 February 2008

Academy swimmers Sarah Berryman, Andrew Cameron, Matthew Dinsmore, Ben Geard, Kirsten Lieshout, Jeremy Meyer, Stephanie Morgan, Jeremy Saunders and Brayden Waltham all won medals at the Victorian Country Championships held in Portland held over the Australia Day long weekend. Charley Askew, Elizabeth Bacchetti and Alyce Milkins were also finalists at the event which saw swimmers compete against 36 other Victorian Country Clubs.

Jeremy Saunders was named the winner of the Bruce Carter Trophy for the highest point scoring swimmer of the Championships. Australia Day medals went to Kirsten Lieshout and Jeremy Meyer for the best individual performances for female and male swimmers on Australia Day. Jeremy Saunders, Ben Geard and Stephanie Morgan each broke 2 Country Event records throughout the Championships

Jeremy Saunders — 5 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze (2 Country Event records), Ben Geard — 4 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze. (2 Country Event records), Andrew Cameron — 3 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze, Jeremy Meyer — 2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze, Stephanie Morgan — 3 gold (2 Country Event records), Kirsten Lieshout — 2 gold, Sarah Berryman — 1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze, Brayden Waltham — 3 silver, 1 bronze, Matthew Dinsmore — 3 silver, 1 bronze.

Jeremy Saunders, 18, swam an amazing 30 events over the three days, making 13 finals and medalling in each of them, which makes it no surprise that he won the Bruce Carter Trophy for the gaining the most number of individual points. This feat comes only a week after competing at the Victorian Open and Age Championships where Jeremy brought home 3 gold and 2 silver individual medals together with breaking 8 Out of Gippsland and 2 Country Victorian records. Jeremy was also awarded the male 17/18 years Age Group Champion at the Victorian Championships, a title he has won for an astonishing six years consecutively. At the Country Championships Jeremy set two new Country Event records by winning the Open 200m individual medley in a time of 2.12.90 and in his last individual swim of the meet he claimed another Country Event record in the Open 200m freestyle in a winning time of 1.59.81. Jeremy also claimed a further three gold medals in the Open 200m breaststroke, Open 100m freestyle and 18 & over 200m individual medley. Jeremy won four silver medals in the Open 200m backstroke, 18 & over 50m breaststroke, Open 100m breaststroke and Open 100m backstroke. Rounding out Jeremy's medal tally were four bronze medals in the 18 & over 50m butterfly, 18 & over 50m backstroke, 18 & over 50m freestyle and Open 100m butterfly.

Ben Geard, 26, also followed on from an impressive showing at the Victorian Championships where he became the first Gippsland swimmer to break the 24 and 30 second barrier in the 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke respectively. Along the way Ben broke 6 Out of Gippsland and one Victorian Country record. Ben had similar success in Portland where he won a medal in every final he competed in and broke the Country Event record by winning the 18 & over 50m breaststroke in time of 30.59. His second Country Event record for the meet came by winning the blue ribbon event, the 18 & over 50m freestyle in a time of 24.53. Ben won additional gold medals in the 18 & over 50m backstroke and the Open 100m backstroke. Ben won a silver medal in the 18 & over 50m butterfly and a bronze medal in the Open 100m breaststroke.

Andrew Cameron, 18, had a hectic schedule over the three days of competition with 13 events, making 11 finals and winning medals in 8 of the events. Andrew won the gold medal in the Open 200m butterfly; an event he specialises in, and with a time of 2.10.90 was only .5 of a second outside his own Country Event record. Andrew had further success by winning the Open 400m freestyle and the Open 200m backstroke. Andrew claimed the silver medal in the Open 100m butterfly, missing the gold medal by only 0.01 seconds. Andrew also won the silver medals in the Open and 18 & over 200m individual medleys. Making up his medal tally Andrew won the bronze medals in the Open 100m freestyle and Open 100m backstroke.

Jeremy Meyer, 16, was another swimmer who competed in the two successful weeks of competition at the Victorian Championships in Melbourne and backed his performances up with great results at the Country Championships. Jeremy won both the gold medals in the Open 100m breaststroke and 16/17 years 100m breaststroke with times of 1.07.12 and 1.08.58 respectively and in the process was awarded the Australia Day medal for the best performance by a male in an individual event on Australia Day. Jeremy also won silver medals in the Open 200m breaststroke and 16/17 years 100m backstroke. Jeremy claimed the bronze medals in the Open 200m backstroke and 16/17 years 200m individual medley. Jeremy swam in a total of 9 finals.

Stephanie Morgan, 15, won all the butterfly events on offer in her age group and in the Open category. Stephanie set a new Country Event record of 2.22.75 by taking out the gold medal in the Open 200m butterfly and also won the 14/15 years 100m butterfly in a Country Event record time of 1.05.49. Stephanie claimed her third gold medal in the Open 100m butterfly.

Kirsten Lieshout, 16, excelled in the breaststroke events winning both the Open 100m breaststroke and the 16/17 years 100m breaststroke. Kirsten also finalled in the Open 200m breaststroke placing 5 th and 16/17 years 200m individual medley placing 8 th .

Sarah Berryman, 15, swam in a total of 8 finals and won 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals. Sarah snatched victory by .5 of a second in the 14/15 years 200m individual medley in a winning time of 2.33.01. Sarah won the silver medal in the 14/15 years 100m freestyle. She also won two bronze medals in the Open 400m freestyle and 14/15 years 100m backstroke.

Brayden Waltham, 15, was another swimmer who finalled in each of the events he competed in, totalling 9 individual finals. Brayden had success by winning silver medals in the 14/15 years 100m butterfly, 14/15 years 100m backstroke and 14/15 years 200m individual medley. A bronze medal was won from the outside lane in the 14/15 years 100m breaststroke.

Matthew Dinsmore, 17, had a shortened program due to school commitments but swam exceptionally well winning silver medals in the Open 100m freestyle, 16/17 years 100m freestyle and 16/17 years 200m individual medley and a bronze medal in the 16/17 years 100m breaststroke.

Other individual finalists included Charley Askew, Elizabeth Bacchetti and Alyce Milkins.

Swimmers win Victorian Championship medals, 21 January 2008

Last week 11 Academy members competed at the Victorian Swimming Championships in Melbourne against teams from all states and territories in Australia, members of the Australian and Victorian Institutes of Sport, and also some strong International teams.

Samantha Wilkins, 13, had a sensational competition winning 2 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze medals and placing 4th in another 3 events to win the title of 13 Years Female Age Group Swimmer. In addition, Samantha's fantastic results awarded her the over-all title of "Female Age Swimmer of the Meet".

Samantha swam impressive races in the 13 years 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley to record comfortable wins with times of 1.05.21 and 2.28.71 respectively. By winning the gold medal in these races Samantha also broke the 13 years Country Victorian record for both events. Samantha just missed out on another gold by only ½ second in the 13 years 100m breaststroke when she claimed the silver medal in a time of 1.20.67. Samantha also won a silver medal in the 200m breaststroke. Bronze medals were won in the 13 years 100m freestyle and 200m butterfly.

Jeremy Saunders, 17 performed extremely well winning 3 gold and 2 silver medals from the 7 finals he contested. Jeremy had a tough schedule and competed throughout the two weeks of competition in both the Open and Age events and broke a total of 8 Out of Gippsland records and 2 Victorian Country records in the process. Jeremy's stand out performances were in the boys 17/18 years 200m breaststroke winning in an Open Out of Gippsland record time of 2.22.62. Jeremy's win in the 200m individual medley broke his own 17 & over and Open record with a time of 2.08.53 and also set a new record time in the 16/17 years and Open Victorian Country events. Jeremy went on to win the boys 17/18 years 100m breaststroke and placing second in the 200m freestyle breaking another of his own Open records with a time of 1.56.87. Jeremy placed 4 th in the 400m individual medley with a time of 4.42.77 and broke another Open Out of Gippsland record. Jeremy competed in the first week of Open Championships against a dominant USA team where it was not uncommon to see the finals being contested only by visitors from outside of Victoria. Jeremy swam extremely well to make the finals of the Open 100m breaststroke placing 8 th in a field of ten finalists. Along the way to the finals Jeremy broke the 17 & over 100m breaststroke Out of Gippsland record twice culminating in another record in his lead leg swim of the 4 x 100m breaststroke relay in a time of 1.05.85. In his 17/18 age group events Jeremy made another two finals in the 100m backstroke and 100m freestyle.

Jeremy Meyer was another swimmer who had success throughout the challenging two weeks of Open and Age competition winning two gold and one silver medal. Jeremy 16, brought home two gold medals in the boys 16 years 100m and 200m breaststroke with times of 1.06.95 and 2.27.24 respectively. Jeremy totalled 6 Out of Gippsland records during the Championships and broke the boys 16 years 50m breaststroke record an amazing four times throughout the Championships. Jeremy fought out a tough race in the 200m individual medley to just miss out on the gold by 0.17 seconds taking home the silver medal in a time of 2.13.21. Jeremy had the outstanding achievement of competing against a class international field in the Open 200m breaststroke where he was the youngest Victorian to make the final , finishing in 5 th place in a time of 2.24.96. In the semi finals of the Open 100m breaststroke Jeremy broke the 16 year and Open Out of Gippsland record in a time of 1.05.72 on his way to competing in the final where he placed 9 th . Jeremy also finalled in the 16 years 400m freestyle placing 8 th Victorian.

Fifteen year old Stephanie Morgan won two gold medals in the girls 15 years 100m and 200m butterfly, also breaking four Age and Open Out of Gippsland records together with three Victorian Country records. Stephanie recorded a time of 1.03.62 beating her previous 16 year and Open Out of Gippsland record by ½ second and also setting a new record in the Victorian Country 14/15 years and Open age groups. Stephanie set a new benchmark in the girls Out of Gippsland 16 year and Open 200m butterfly when she won the gold medal and broke another of her own records by 4 ½ seconds in a time of 2.18.54. This time earned Stephanie a Victorian Country Open record for that event. Stephanie finalled in the 15 years 100m freestyle and with a personal best time placed 7 th Victorian.

Andrew Cameron 18, swam in the boys 17/18 years age group and won the gold medal in the 200m butterfly event where he fought out a gruelling tussle for first place and in the process breaking a long standing Open Out of Gippsland record set in 1994 by Daniel Bertacco. Andrew won the event in 2.06.55, this time also claiming the Victorian Country Open record. Andrew placed in the 400m freestyle winning the bronze medal in an Out of Gippsland Open record time of 4.11.31. Andrew achieved another four finals in his 17/18 age group events with placings in the 17/18 years 100m butterfly, 200m backstroke, 200m freestyle and 100m backstroke events.

Kirsten Lieshout was another member of the team to win a gold medal. Kirsten won the girls 16 years 100m breaststroke event putting in an impressive performance beating her Victorian rivals by a second in a time of 1.16.04. Kirsten competed in the 16 years 200m breaststroke event and with a personal best time came 4 th which also gave her a National Qualifying time of 2:48.63.

Team members Jeremy Saunders, Matthew Dinsmore, Ben Geard and Jeremy Meyer combined to take out the Gold medal in the Open men's 4 x 100m breaststroke event in a time of 4:29.23 also claiming the Trevor Richardson Trophy for winning that event. A medal was also achieved in a boys relay event with Jeremy Saunders, Jeremy Meyer, Andrew Cameron and Matthew Dinsmore teaming up to win the bronze medal in the men's 18 & under 4 x 50m medley relay in a time of 1:49.43. This time beat the previous Open Out of Gippsland record by ½ second set in 2006.

Ben Geard competed in the first week of Open competition where he swam personal best times and records in many of his events. Ben is the first Gippsland swimmer to swim under 24 seconds in a 50m long course freestyle event and with a time of 23.89 in the Open 50m freestyle preliminaries he broke the 17 & over and Open Out of Gippsland record for that event. Ben went on to compete in the semi finals for this event and placed 18 th . Ben also achieved the feat of making the final in the Open 50m breaststroke where he placed 6 th in a class field of swimmers. Ben previously swam in the semi finals of the Open 50m breaststroke and was once again the first Gippsland swimmer to swim under 30 seconds in a long course 50m breaststroke even in a time of 29.89. This time also secured Ben an Out of Gippsland record in both the 17 & over and Open category and an Open Victorian Country record. Ben added to his record tally when he swam in the heats of the Open 50m butterfly and recorded a time of 26.20 earning him the 17 & over and Open Out of Gippsland record for that event.

Sarah Berryman, 15 had an excellent week of competition and competed in eight Age group and one Open event. Sarah swam in the Open 50m freestyle event and with a time of 28.38 qualified to swim her first individual events at the Australian Age Championships to be held in Brisbane in April. Following on from her great Open result Sarah competed in the 15 years age group events where she made four finals. Sarah's best result was placing 4 th in the 100m backstroke event in a time of 1.09.21 and just missing a bronze medal by 0.25 seconds. The time was good enough however to qualify Sarah for her 2 nd National time.

Brayden Waltham swam consistently throughout the week of the Age group Championships making six finals out of the eight events in which he competed in. Brayden's best results were placing 6 th Victorian in the boys 15 years 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley in a time of 1.01.10 and 2.19.42 respectively. Brayden's individual medley swim qualified him to compete at the upcoming Australian Age Championships. In an Open men's 100m backstroke in the first week of competition Brayden also recorded a National Qualifying time of 1.03.80.

Matthew Dinsmore made one final in the 17/18 years 100m breaststroke event and with a time of 1:11.56 placed 8th. Matthew was an integral part of the gold medal winning 4 x 100m Open breaststroke relay team and freestyle member of the boys 18 & under 4 x 50m freestyle bronze medal winning team.

Charley Askew competed at the Championships and just missed out on a finals berth in the 16 years 100m freestyle placing 12th with a time of 1.03.30.

Swimmers score at Canberra Classic, 4 December, 2007

Ten Gippsland Sports Academy Swimming members travelled to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra last week to participate in a training camp. The team competed in the Canberra Christmas Classic swim meet and also participated in several AIS activities including a training session with AIS Senior Swimming Coach Vince Raleigh.

The swimmers who attended were: Charley Askew, Sarah Berryman, Andrew Cameron, Matthew Dinsmore, Kirsten Lieshout, Jeremy Meyer, Alyce Milkins, Stephanie Morgan, Brayden Waltham and Samantha Wilkins. Brian Ford (coach), Rob Moore (coach), Russell Stewart (program manager) and Veronica Roberts (team manager) were also part of the team.

Samantha Wilkins excelled at the Canberra Christmas Classic by winning four events and placing in three others. She won the girls 13 year old 50m butterfly, 200m individual medley, 50m freestyle, and 100m butterfly. Samantha's time in the 50m butterfly of 29.88 earned her Gippsland records for the 14 years and open age groups.

Fifteen year old Stephanie Morgan also had great success in the pool by winning each of the butterfly events she competed in and breaking four Gippsland records. Stephanie won the 15 & over 50m butterfly (in 30.22 seconds) and 100m butterfly (1:04.59) as well as the open 200m butterfly (2:22.99).

Other Academy medallists at this event were: Andrew Cameron 2nd in 15 & over 50m butterfly and 3rd in 15 & over 100m butterfly; Matthew Dinsmore 2nd in 15 & over 50m freestyle, 3rd Men's 50m freestyle “Splash for Cash”; Jeremy Meyer 2nd in 15 & over 100m breaststroke, 3rd in open 400m individual medley; Charley Askew 3rd in 15 & over 50m freestyle; Kirsten Lieshout 3rd in 15 & over 100m breaststroke.

Academy two successful at the “Duel in the Pool”, 6 November 2007

Two Academy Swimmers competed in the “Duel in the Pool Meet” at Carey Grammar recently against Queensland. Swimmers aged from 12 to 15 years of age were chosen to compete for Victoria based on their performances at the Victorian State Age Short Course Championships held in September.

South Gippsland Bass swimmer Samantha Wilkins had a great competition when she won the Girls 13 year old 100m butterfly in a time of 1:06.61. Samantha also won the silver medal in the Girls 13 year old 50m freestyle and 200m individual medley.

Traralgon swimmer Stephanie Morgan also swam well when she competed in the Girls 15 year old 100m butterfly winning the silver medal in a time of 1:06.19.

It was a great outcome for both girls considering the strength of Queensland swimming.

Two Academy swimmers to represent Victoria, 9 October 2007

Gippsland Sports Academy members Stephanie Morgan and Samantha Wilkins (South Gippsland Bass) have been selected to compete for Victoria in the “Duel in the Pool” competition later this month.

The “Duel in the Pool” competition will be against highly ranked age group swimmers from Queensland.

Both Stephanie and Samantha are also members of Swimming Victoria Development Squads and were selected after their excellent results at the recent Victorian Age Short Course Championships. Stephanie was a gold medallist at the championships.

Samantha has been recognised as a rising talent and is an extremely dedicated swimmer. She regularly travels from South Gippsland to train with the Academy squad at Morwell.

Academy swimmers strong at Vic titles, 24 September 2007

Academy swimmers picked up a total of 16 medals at the Victorian Age Short Course Championships over the last two weekends.

Jeremy Saunders won the 100 metres individual medley in 57.62 seconds, just 0.17 seconds outside the Victorian record. He won the 17 years breaststroke as well.

Jeremy also had second places in the 200 m individual medley, 100 m freestyle, and 200m breaststroke. He was third in the 200 m freestyle.

Breaststroke specialist Jeremy Meyer won his 100 m and 200 m events, and he finished third in the 200 m freestyle.

Stephanie Morgan won the 15 years 100 m butterfly. She was second in the 200 m event. Kirsten Lieshout finished second in 15 years 100 m breaststroke and third in the 200 m.

Andrew Cameron won the 17 years 200 m butterfly and was second in the 100 m butterfly. Sprinter Matt Dinsmore was third in the 16 years freestyle clocking a fine 23.74 seconds.

Geard and Waltham in Country swim wins, 22 August 2007

Ben Geard and Brayden Waltham had great results in last weekend's Victorian Country Short Course Championships. The pair scored 5 wins and 5 other placings.

Ben had convincing wins to bring home the gold medal in the Men's 18 & over 100m Freestyle, 100m Breaststroke, 100m Individual Medley and 100m Backstroke. He improved on his Country Victorian record set only three weeks ago in the 100 metre Breaststroke by 0.22 seconds in a personal best time of 1.07.62 seconds.

Ben also gained a silver medal in the Men's 18 & over 100m Butterfly and placed 6th in the Men's 18 & over 200m Individual Medley.

Brayden Waltham, 15, had great success in winning gold in the Men's 14/15 years 100m Butterfly in a personal best time of 1.02.66.

Brayden also won a silver medal in the Men's 14/15 years 100m Breaststroke and bronze medals in the Men's 14/15 years 100m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley together with a bronze medal in the Men's Open 200m Backstroke.

He also came 7th in the Men's 14/15 years 200m freestyle, 8th in the Men's Open 100m Individual Medley and 9th in the Men's 14/15 years 100m Freestyle.

In other recent news, Stephanie Morgan and Kirsten Lieshout recently competed in the NSW State Age Short course Championships. They are both part of the Victorian Target 2010 Squad that travelled to Sydney for the Championships.

Stephanie had an outstanding meet when she won a silver medal in the Women's 15 years 100m Butterfly in a time of 1:04.13, a Victorian Country record. Stephanie narrowly missed a gold medal in the Women's 15 years 200m Butterfly but she secured second place and another Victorian Country Open record (2:20.93).

Kirsten swam in the Women's 15 years 200m Breaststroke and swam a personal best time, placing her thirteenth. Kirsten also competed in the Women's 15 years 100m Breaststroke and once again beat her best time and finished fifth.

Strong show by Academy swimmers, 1 August 2007

At last weekend's Victorian Short Course Championships Jeremy Meyer lead the way with a second place in the Victorian open 200 metres breaststroke. He also finished 8th in the 100 metres breaststroke.

In Meyer's 200 metres breaststroke race Jeremy Saunders was not too far behind, finishing fifth. Saunders also swam well in the butterfly and individual medley events where he achieved a 6th and an 8th place. Saunders also had the distinction of finals places in all three of his events.

Ben Geard achieved three 7th places in backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle events. All were in 50 metre sprints, but he also achieved some creditable lower-order results in longer events.

Although out of the major places, Matthew Dinsmore swam up to his best. Matthew's best place was 10th in the 50 metre freestyle (23.90 seconds), a time which was just 0.63 seconds behind the winner. On this result, Matthew's potential cannot be overlooked.

Jeremy keeps on winning, 9 July 2007

Jeremy Meyer has scored three wins and several placings in the Trans Tasman swimming competition which concluded on Saturday.

Jeremy secured a place in the Australian Gold team after his outstanding breaststroke win at the Australian Championships. A second Australian team and a New Zealand team also contested the annual points-scored competition.

The Trans Tasman squeezes 6 competitions into 5 days. Swimmers are bussed between Sydney, Gosford and Canberra venues, training and education sessions. The arrangements simulate the stresses of high pressure international competition for the three teams' swimmers.

Jeremy's final result tally was an impressive 3 wins, 3 seconds, a third, and a fourth, from 8 races.He continued to maintain his focus throughout the series and was swimming his best times at the end. On the second last day, Jeremy broke the Victorian 16 years 200 metre breaststroke record (2:17.39). A breaststroke specialist, Jeremy competed in 50, 100 and 200 metre races in the series.

The Trans Tasman is intended to provide a high-pressure international competition for emerging talent like Jeremy, and we are delighted that he has responded magnificently.

Academy swimmers win national medals, 23 April 2007

Academy swimmers returned last week from the Australian National Age Championships with some outstanding results.

Best performed was 15 year old Jeremy Meyer who won gold in the 100 metre breaststroke (1.06.64) and silver in the 200 metre event (2.23.13).

Jeremy is the first Academy swimmer to win an Age National title. As a result of his performance he was selected as part of the Australian All Star Flippers team. He will attend a National Breaststroke Camp on the Sunshine Coast in May, where he will live and train with Australia's best. As an event champion, Jeremy will be eligible to compete in the Trans-Tasman tour in July, which takes in 6 events in 6 days.

17 year old Jeremy Saunders won Silver in the Boys 17-18 years 200 metre breaststroke (2.23.85) improving on his third place in each of the last two years.

Stephanie Morgan, at age 14, was competing in her second Nationals. She finished 6th in the final of the 100 metre Butterfly (1.04.11), and 9th in the 200 metre (2.25.47).

Andrew Cameron made the finals of the 17-18 years 200 metre butterfly. Andrew also joined with Jeremy Saunders, Jeremy Meyer and Matt Dinsmore in the finals of the 4 x 100 medley relay. Andrew swam faster in the heats, but his performances were good enough to earn him a place in the Victorian 2010 Target Squad.

Other swimmers to perform well in individual events were Elizabeth Bacchetti, Matt Dinsmore, Brayden Waltham, Dale Mitchell and Charley Askew.

All swimmers who competed have exceeded the qualifying standard for re-admission into the next Academy swimming squad.

Gippsland Swimming Championship Results, 3 April 2007

Charles Ford Memorial Trophy. Male Champion (Jeremy Saunders –Traralgon)
Alan Harlow Trophy: Outstanding Male Swimmer 14 years and under at the Gippsland Championships (Brayden Waltham –Traralgon)

Jeremy Saunders (Traralgon) 1st Boys 17 years and over 50m Butterfly, 1st Boys Open 200m Individual Medley,1st Boys Open 100m Freestyle,1st Boys Open 200m Freestyle, 1st Boys 17 years and over 200m Individual Medley, 2nd Boys Open 100m Backstroke, 2nd Boys Open 100m Butterfly, 2nd Boys 17 years and over 50m Breaststroke, 2nd Boys Open 200m Butterfly, 2nd Boys Open 200m Breaststroke, 2nd Boys Open 400m Freestyle, 3rd Boys Open 200m Backstroke, 3rd Boys 17 years and over 50m Backstroke, 3rd Boys 17 years and over 50m Freestyle.

Jeremy Meyer (Traralgon) 1st Boys Open 200m Breaststroke, 1st Boys 15/16 years 100m Backstroke,1st Boys Open 100m Breaststroke, 1st Boys 15/16 years Open 100m Breaststroke, 2nd Boys 15/16 years 100m Freestyle, 2nd Boys 15/16 years 100m Butterfly, 2nd Boys 15/16 years 200m Freestyle, 2nd Boys 15/16 years 200m Individual Medley, 3rd Boys Open 400m Freestyle, 3rd Boys Open 200m Individual Medley.

Andrew Cameron (Traralgon) 1st Boys Open 400m Freestyle, 1st Boys Open 200m Butterfly, 1st Boys Open 100m Butterfly,1st Boys Open 100m Backstroke, 2nd Boys Open 200m Backstroke, 2nd Boys Open 200m Individual Medley, 2nd Boys 17 years and over 200m Individual Medley, 2nd Boys Open 200m Freestyle, 3rd Boys Open 100m Freestyle.

Matthew Dinsmore (Traralgon) 1st Boys 15/16 years 100m Butterfly, 1st Boys 15/16 years 200m Freestyle, 1st Boys 15/16 years 100m Freestyle, 1st Boys 15/16 years 200m Individual Medley, 2nd Boys Open 100m Freestyle, 2nd Boys 15/16 years 100m Backstroke, 2nd Boys 15/16 years Open 100m Breaststroke, 3rd Boys Open 100m Breaststroke, 3rd Boys Open 200m Freestyle.

Brayden Waltham (Traralgon) 1st Boys 13/14 years 200m Freestyle, 1st Boys 13/14 years 100m Backstroke. 1st Boys 13/14 years 100m Butterfly, 1st Boys 13/14 years 200m Individual Medley, 3rd Boys 13/14 years 100m Freestyle.

Elizabeth Bacchetti (Traralgon) 1st Girls Open 200m Backstroke, 1st Girls Open 200m Individual Medley, 1st Girls 17 years and over 200m Individual Medley, 1st Girls Open 100m Backstroke, 2nd Girls Open 200m Butterfly, 3rd Girls 17 years and over 50m Butterfly, 3rd Girls 17 years and over 50m Backstroke.

Melissa Hopley (Morwell) 1st Girls 17 years and over 50m Backstroke.1st Girls Open 100m Freestyle, 2nd Girls Open 200m Freestyle 3rd Girls Open 400m Freestyle, 3rd Girls Open 200m Backstroke, 3rd Girls 17 years and over 50m Freestyle, 3rd Girls 17 years and over 200m Individual Medley

Stephanie Morgan (Traralgon) 1st Girls 13/14 years 100m Butterfly.1st Girls Open 200m Butterfly,1st Girls Open 100m Butterfly, 2nd Girls 13/14 years 200m Freestyle, 2nd Girls 13/14 years 200m Individual Medley, 2nd Girls 13/14 years 100m Freestyle.
Andrew O’Connor (Traralgon) 1st Boys Open 200m Backstroke. 2nd Boys 17 years and over 50m Backstroke. 3rd Boys 17 years and over 50m Butterfly

Charley Askew (Traralgon) 2nd Girls 15/16 years 100m Freestyle. 2nd Girls 15/16 years 200m Individual Medley. 2nd Girls 15/16 years 200m Freestyle. 2nd Girls Open 400m Freestyle. 3rd Girls 15/16 years 100m Butterfly. 3rd Girls Open 100m Freestyle.

Stuart Hall (Morwell) 1st Boys 13/14 years 100m Breaststroke, 2nd Boys 13/14 years 100m Freestyle, 2nd Boys 13/14 years 200m Individual Medley, 3rd Boys 13/14 years 200m Freestyle, 3rd Boys 13/14 years 100m Butterfly.

Swimmers’ great showing at Country titles, 1 February 2007

Jeremy Saunders and Andrew Cameron won Best Performance and Achiever’s awards at last weekend’s Victorian Country Championships at Mildura. In Jeremy's case it was the Bruce Carter Trophy for best performance. In the 16/17 age group, Jeremy had 4 wins, including the open 200m breaststroke. He secured eight further places in his age group or open events.

Andrew Cameron won the Australian Coaches and Teachers Association of Victoria’s Achiever’s Award. Also in the 16/17 age group, Andrew also won 4 events, including the open 400m freestyle and the open 200m butterfly.

Jeremy and Andrew opposed each other in 9 events. Andrew pushed Jeremy down to second place three times, and Jeremy reversed this twice. However, in events where neither won, Jeremy usually placed higher, so their rivalry scorecard was evenly balanced. It is little wonder they both received awards.

Stephanie Morgan won the 14/15 age 100m butterfly. Despite her youth, she was strong enough to win the same event in the open age group as well.

Other winners in individual events included Ben Geard (also 4 wins), Liz Bachetti (3), Andrew O’Connor (3) and Jeremy Meyer (1).

Dale Mitchell, Mathew Dinsmore, Charley Askew, Sven Eriksson and Erin O’Connor swam places, or were in successful relay teams.

Victorian medal haul by Academy swimmers, 19 January 2007

At last week's Victorian Age Championships, Academy swimmers were amongst the winners and place-getters in many events.

Jeremy Saunders and Jeremy Meyer were outstanding with four wins and three wins respectively.

Other swimmers with wins or places, in individual or relay events, were Stephanie Morgan, Liz Bacchetti, Andrew Cameron, Ben Geard, Matt Dinsmore, Dale Mitchell and Sven Eriksson. In total, half of the Academy’s GEO Swimming Squad were Victorian medalists.

Jeremy Saunders was named 16 year old Age Group Champion after winning four gold and six silver medals. Jeremy’s best times – though not all were wins - were in the 100m breaststroke (1:06.53), 100m freestyle (53.44), 200m individual medley (2:09.63), and 100m butterfly (57.78).

Jeremy Meyer was outstanding in the breaststroke, achieving three wins. His 200m time of 2:24.07 heads the season's 15 year age group rankings. Jeremy also finished second in the open 200m breaststroke.

Andrew Cameron was another to successfully swim above his age group. Andrew won both the 17-18 and open age group 200m butterfly events.

Stephanie Morgan, another strong butterfly swimmer, placed in both 100 and 200m 14 year age events.

Liz Bacchetti swam in 8 finals with third places in 17 years 400m freestyle and 200m butterfly.

Open age swimmer, Ben Geard, made several finals for breaststroke and backstroke. His best result was a second place in the 50m breaststroke, a mere 0.09 seconds behind the winner.

In the relay events the Matt Dinsmore, Jeremy Meyer and Jeremy Saunders were involved in the 16 year teams which won three events.

Combinations with Dale Mitchell, Sven Eriksson, Matt Dinsmore, Jeremy Saunders and Andrew Cameron won the 18 years freestyle relay and finished third in the medley.

An open breaststroke relay team of Ben Geard, Matt Dinsmore, Jeremy Meyer and Jeremy Saunders won a second place, quite an achievement with three under-age swimmers.

Swimming News

Ex-Academy swimmers go well at Aussie titles, 19 July 2010