Swimming News 2005 - 2006 |
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Ex-Academy Swimmer wins three Australian Championship medals, 11 December 2006
Former Academy swimmer, Ashley Delaney picked up three medals at last week's Australian Swimming Championships.
Ashley's club, Nunawading, won the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay in which he swam the second leg in 50.38 sec..
Ashley's individual medals came in the 50 m backstroke (2nd place, 25.83 sec) and 100 m backstroke (3rd, 55.27). Ashley's time in the 50 m makes him the third fastest all-time Australian.
The Championships also doubled as selection trials for the World Championships to be held in Melbourne next year. To qualify, swimmers have to finish in the first two and meet a qualifying time. Unfortunately, Ashley narrowly missed out in both events. His second place in the 50 m event, despite the apparently good time, was 0.65 seconds outside the standard. In the 100 m backstroke, his time was inside the qualifying standard but he needed to finish one place higher.
Another ex-Academy swimmer, Sam Ashby, also competed with distinction. Sam made the finals of the 200 metres individual medley and finished in sixth place. Sam also competed in two breaststroke events, but was eliminated from each in the semifinals.
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Swimmers make a strong early season start, 23 October 2006
In the second round of the Gippsland fixture held at Wonthaggi yesterday, Academy swimmers Stuart Hall, Stephanie Morgan and Charley Askew showed great early season form.
Stuart (14 years) won four events and place in two others. Stephanie won 14 years girls' butterfly events over two different distances, and Charley had three wins in freestyle and backstroke events.
With major events scheduled over the next few months, we look forward to more positive results from the Academy squad.
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Swimmers attack NSW titles, 3 October 2006
The Academy's GEO Group Swimming Squad members, Jeremy Saunders and Matthew Dinsmore, have both won gold at the New South Wales Short Course Championships. Swimming in Sydney as part of the Victorian Development Squad, the 16 year olds were among only a handful of Victorian medallists.
Jeremy Saunders followed up his gold medal win at the Victorian Championships in the 200m individual medley with a record breaking win at Sydney in the same event. Jeremy swam a 2:05.17 which created a new mark in Victorian Country and in Victorian State records. Jeremy also won the 200m breaststroke win in 2:22.10.
Matt Dinsmore won the 50m freestyle in 23.92, a time only 0.5 seconds off the Victorian record set by Australian Dolphin swimmer Andrew Lauterstien.
Jeremy's and Matt's performances show great promise for the forthcoming summer season.
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Academy swimmers score in Vic Short Course Championships, 3 October 2006
Academy swimmers scored a number of medals and Victorian Country records at the Victorian State Short Course Championships held in Melbourne over the past two weekends.
Jeremy Meyer, 15 showed he is a swimmer with a huge future when he won 3 gold medals and one silver. Jeremy’s 200 breaststroke time of 2:22.93 broke the existing Victorian Country record by 4 seconds. Jeremy also won the 100 breast in a time of 1:07.14 and the 100 IM in a time of 1:01.20. Jeremy’s silver medal was won in the 200IM in a time of 2:13.00.
Andrew Cameron (16) added the 200m butterfly short course to his list of achievements, winning that event in a new Victorian Country time of 2:05.37. Andrew also won a bronze medal in the 200 m backstroke with a time of 2:09.43.
Jeremy Saunders (16) won a gold in the 200 IM breaking the Gippsland Open and 16 year records as well as the Victorian Country record with a time of 2:07.41. Jeremy won a silver in the 200m Breaststroke in a time of 2:25.24, and a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke (1:07.19).
Andrew O’Connor (18) won three silver medals in the 200m freestyle (1:54.70), 100m backstroke (58.71) and 100m butterfly (56.97) All three swims broke the existing Victorian Country Short Course records.
Matt Dinsmore (16) won a silver in the 50m freestyle (24.24). Matt also won a bronze in the 100m freestyle in a time of 53.16. Although Matt did not break any State records, he had the satisfaction of breaking Gippsland records in both events.
Traralgon swimmers brought home a bag of medals and records from the Victorian State Short Course Championships held in Melbourne over the past two weekends. Eight swimmers won 17 medals and broke 17 records including 5 Victorian Country records.
Jeremy Meyer, 15 showed he is a swimmer with a huge future when he won 3 gold medals and one silver. Jeremy’s 200 breaststroke time of 2:22.93 broke the existing Gippsland 16 years and Open and Victorian Country records by 4 seconds. Jeremy also won the 100 breast in a time of 1:07.14 and the 100 IM in a time of 1:01.20. Jeremy’s silver medal was won in the 200IM in a time of 2:13.00.
Andrew Cameron (16) added the 200m butterfly short course to his list of achievements, winning that event in a new Gippsland Open and 16 years and Victorian Country time of 2:05.37. Andrew also won a bronze medal in the 200 m backstroke with a time of 2:09.43.
Jeremy Saunders (16) won a gold in the 200 IM breaking the Gippsland Open and 16 year records as well as the Victorian Country record with a time of 2:07.41.. Jeremy won a silver in the 200m Breaststroke in a time of 2:25.24, and a bronze medal in the 100m breaststroke (1:07.19).
Andrew O’Connor (18) won three silver medals in the 200m freestyle (1:54.70), 100m backstroke (58.71) and 100m butterfly (56.97) All three swims broke the existing Victorian Country Short Course records, and the 200 freestyle time broke the Open Gippsland record.
Matt Dinsmore (16) won a silver in the 50m freestyle (24.24) and broke the 16 years Gippsland record. Matt also won a bronze in the 100m freestyle in a time of 53.16 also breaking the 16 years Gippsland record.
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A great year for Academy swimmers, 3 October 2006
The last 12 months have seen some outstanding performances by the Academy swimmers, and their main results are outlined.
Lichelle Clarke was selected in the Commonwealth Games swimming squad for Melbourne earlier in the year. One of eight disability athletes selected, she had previously represented Australia at the Athens Paralympics.
Lichelle competed in the women’s EAD 100 metres freestyle. She drew a difficult heat, swimming against recent world record breakers Valerie Grandmaison (Canada) and Natalie Du Toit (South Africa). Lichelle was also competing against two other Australians. To qualify, Lichelle swam one of her best times for the distance.
The final was conducted the same evening, with the top swimmers recording excellent times. Grandmaison defeated Du Toit, with another Canadian third. Lichelle swam more than a second faster than in her heat, but the others’ exceptional times relegated her to 8th place. Lichelle achieved an outstanding result
Brayden Waltham has improved out of sight this season even to the point of qualifying in both the 100m and 200m backstroke at Nationals. Brayden was a finalist at States in both these events and was also a finalist at Countries. At All Junior Brayden won silver medals in back and fly and was a finalist in the breaststroke event. At the Gippsland Championships Brayden was a finalist in 10 events – 5 of them Open events. He won a bronze and a silver medal in individual events and gold and bronze in relays. At Nationals Brayden again improved his times, which is always a bonus when swimming at such a high level.
Charley Askew has had a great season – qualifying for Nationals in the 100m freestyle, being a finalist at States in the 100 free, and again at Countries in both the age and open 100 free placing 5th and 6th and winning two silver and one bronze medals at Gippsland Championships Charley also won a bronze medal at State Short Course. Charley has been instrumental in many relay combinations including the 14 & under free and medley relays at Nationals. At All Junior this year Charley won both the 50 free in a time of 27.96 and the 50 fly in an out-of-Gippsland record breaking time of 30.97. Charley was also a finalist in the breaststroke and backstroke events.
Stephanie Morgan achieved a national qualifying time in the 100m butterfly. Stephanie had a very successful season with a final at States in the 100m butterfly in which she placed 4th and again at countries in both the 200 IM and 100m butterfly where she placed 4th again. Stephanie joined Sarah, Emily and Charley in the 14 years medley and freestyle relays at States where they won bronze medals and broke the out-of-Gippsland record. At Countries those relays won silver medals. Stephanie was in the gold medal winning medley at Gippsland Championships She travelled to Tasmania where she won the 100m butterfly and qualified for Nationals. At Nationals Stephanie not only swam her 100m butterfly, but she was also again part of excellent relay combinations that made finals
Jeremy Meyer has had an amazing season – the highlight of which would have to be his silver and bronze medals in the 100 and 200m breaststroke events at the National Age Championships. Jeremy worked his way toward that moment from the beginning of the season when he won a gold and a silver at State Short Course, went on to win silver and bronze at States – and make the 200 IM final as well. At Countries he won gold in the age 100 breast again, and at Gippsland Championships Jeremy won the age group 100 and 200 free, 100 breast, 100 fly and 200 IM. He placed 2nd in the Open 100 breast and third in his age group 100 backstroke. Jeremy has also been an outstanding relay swimmer even competing in the Open 4 x 100 Breaststroke relay at States that finished 5th. Victoria recognised a golden opportunity and thus invited Jeremy to swim in the State medley relay team as the breaststroke leg at the National Championships. Jeremy’s time of 32.34 helped that team to claim the gold medal.
Erin O’Connor was a finalist in both the 100m and 200m backstroke and at Country Championships she was a finalist in all backstroke events including the Open 100 and 200. At Gippsland Championships Erin won 4 bronze medals and was a busy relay swimmer. A highlight for Erin was qualifying for the Age National Championships in which she not only swam as an individual swimmer but was in the record breaking 16 years 4 x 100m medley relay.
Matthew Dinsmore was a finalist at Nationals in the 50m freestyle event finishing 6th with a 25.09. Matt was a finalist in the 100m breaststroke at States, won 3 bronze medals at Countries and won 4 silver medals at Gippsland Championships along with a host of relay medals – some mentioned. Being a National finalist is an outstanding achievement and we congratulate Matt for his successes this year.
Jeremy Saunders continues to delight us with his gutsy all round efforts. Jeremy broke 11 short course records this year and 5 long course Gippsland records and these were in the IM, freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly – 50s, 100s and 200s. He won 4 medals at State Short Course, was the 15 year old swimmer of the meet at State Long Course with 2 gold, a silver and 2 bronze medals 3 Gippsland records and a Vic Country record as well. Out of Age at Countries he still won one gold, 2 silver and one bronze from 9 finals, and at Gippsland Championships he won the Charles Ford Memorial Trophy as the Outstanding Male Swimmer of the meet after winning 6 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze medals from 14 finals. This says nothing of the many relays that Jeremy swims in from 16 years through to Opens. Jeremy also swam in the Pacific School Games this year and was a member of the State Target 2008 Squad. At Nationals Jeremy finished 4th in the 200m IM and then in the last event of the last day won a bronze medal in the 200m breaststroke with an outstanding swim.
Amanda Wells swam a 1:21 for the 100 breast in July at Coal Country, swam a 1:19.25 at States in January and in the 100m breaststroke final at Nationals she swam a 1:16.77. Along the way Amanda won two silver medals at the State Long Course Championships for the 100 and 200 breast, won gold in the 100 breast at Countries and at Gippsland Championships Amanda won the Open and Age 100 breast and was the silver medallist in the 200 breast.
Liz Bacchetti is an outstanding swimmer who has had some wonderful success this season. Liz is an all-rounder who swims everything. She is a great IM swimmer and generally sticks to pool swimming, but this year even had success in the 1km event at the Open Water Meet where she won a gold medal. She was a finalist in seven events at States and a bronze medallist in the 16 years 200m butterfly as well as winning bronze as part of the 5 x 50 freestyle relay with Emily, Charley, Melissa and Traralgon swimmer Alyce Milkins. At the Country Champs Liz won one gold, one silver and four bronze medals although out of age. But it was a Gippsland Championships that Liz really shone winning the Tom Osborne Memorial Trophy as the most successful female at Gippsland Championships. Liz swam in 16 individual finals winning 3 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze medals. It was an outstanding performance. Liz is one of our National swimmers who made the trip to Sydney swimming in three individual events and two relays.
Melissa Hopley swam extensively both in our district and beyond in 22 meets. Mel has enjoyed some outstanding success at high levels this year. She won 4 gold, 2 silver and a bronze at the Country short Course Championships in Shepparton in August – winning all three freestyle events and giving notice that this was her stroke. A silver and two bronze medals at followed at State Short Course. At the New South Wales Age short course Championships Mel broke three Out of Gippsland records – in the 100m free with a 57.88, in the 50m free with a 26.64 and in the 50m fly with a 30.47 – these broke both the age and open records. Mel swam in the 5km Open Water Championships and placed 4th in the 15-16 years age group. At the Victorian State Long Course Championships Mel broke two more records – the 50m free with a 27.44 and the 100m free with a 58.90 – again taking the age and open records. At that championships Mel was a finalist in 6 individual events and won medals in all freestyle events: gold medal in the 100 free, silver in both the 200m free and the 400m free and bronze in the 800m freestyle. At Countries Melissa won two gold – taking out the 100 free both open and age, silver in the 200m free and bronze in the 400. Mel broke the country event record in the 16 year 100m freestyle. At Gippsland Championships Mel and Liz had a great tussle – with last year’s result reversed. Mel won 6 gold medals and 2 silver medals in individual events. Melissa rounded out the season with 4 individual events and 2 relays at the National Championships.
Andrew Cameron showed early in the season – at State short course – that this was his year in the 200m butterfly. He won the gold medal and set a new out-of-Gippsland record of 2:08.31. At State Long Course Andrew won two silver and one bronze medals. The silver medals were in the 100 and 200 fly and the bronze was in the gruelling 1500m freestyle in which Andrew set one of two new Gippsland records the other was again in the 200 fly. In fact Andrew has broken the 16 years 200 fly record 7 times in the past year and has bettered it by 6 seconds –his most recent record being a 2:07.47 set at Nationals in Sydney. At Countries Andrew won the 100 and 200 fly and set a new event record in the 200. At Gippsland Championships Andrew broke some significant records set by past Gippsland Champions Daniel Bertacco and Joe Krusec. I remember both those boys in their hey day – they were awesome; unbeatable. Well it took 10 years for someone to beat Joe’s 200 fly record and 14 years to break Daniel’s 100 fly record – and again it was by someone awesome – possibly unbeatable for another 10 years! Andrew has great endurance capacity and as well as the 1500m free at States, along with Melissa he swam in the 5km Open Water Championships. Andrew won a silver medal in that Championship and apparently had so much fun that he decided to repeat the effort at Nationals becoming the first Traralgon swimmer to compete in a National Open Water event. Andrew placed 11th in very chilly conditions in the Manly Reservoir swimming two minutes faster than his October time. Andrew had a great result at Nationals – not just setting records but winning a silver medal in the 200m butterfly.
Dale Mitchell found his niche this year as a freestyle sprinter. His 50m free time found him a place in several medal winning relays as well as earning him a spot at the National Championships where he swam a respectable 25.01. He was a finalist at Countries and a bronze medallist at Gippsland Championships
This year Sven Eriksson became the fastest man in Gippsland when he broke the 17 & over and Open 50m freestyle record with a 24.05 and the short course 100m record of 52.48. Sven won 4 gold medals at the Victorian Country Short Course meet, a silver and two bronze at State Short Course and then at State Long Course Sven won a silver medal in the 100m freestyle breaking the Victorian Country record in a time of 53.89. He was also a finalist in the 100m breaststroke and a member of the gold medal winning 18 and under State freestyle team. At Countries Sven won three gold medals and one silver as well as numerous relay medals. At Gippsland Championships he won all the freestyle and breaststroke events as well as medalling in the fly, back and IM. At the National Championships Sven was a finalist in the 50m freestyle event where he placed 6th. He became the 3rd Traralgon swimmer to swim for Victoria when invited to swim freestyle in the State 18 & under Medley and also swim in the state freestyle team at Nationals. Sven swam excellent times of 23.66 and 23.58 in these teams which placed 4th.
Andrew O’Connor had an outstanding season and provided us with some of the best and most memorable moments. Andrew was looking very good at States where he won a silver in the 200m backstroke and 3 bronze medals in the 100 and 200 fly and 100 back. He had a knack of sneaking into finals in lane 0 or 9 and then dropping 3 seconds or more to take out a medal. In not one of his medal winning swims did Andrew qualify higher than 7th. Nowhere was this talent more evident than at Countries where Andrew swam in 12 individual finals and medalled in all of them. Andrew won 6 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals in individual events and 4 gold in relays. Once again, in no event did Andrew go into the final in lane 4 as the favourite from the heats – although he often went in wearing “the robe” so his intentions were clear – even in lane 6! Andrew was rewarded for his amazing effort over that three days with the Bruce Carter Trophy for the Best Performance at a Country Championships and the Australia Day Medal for outstanding performance. He broke a 12 year old record set by Morwell butterflier Daniel Bertacco when he clocked 26.35 for the 50m butterfly. At Gippsland Championships Andrew won 5 gold, 6 silver and one bronze in 13 finals and was again an outstanding performer for Traralgon
Ben Geard has been away from Traralgon for much of this year but managed to swim at the Commonwealth Games trials where he swam in the 50m breaststroke, backstroke and freestyle. Ben swam in the 4 x 100m breaststroke relay at the State Championships and though by his own admission, somewhat unfit, he swam close to his Gippsland record time which again showed what an great competitor Ben is. He also swam some remarkable races at Countries winning the 50m breast and free, also winning 2 silver and 2 bronze medals.
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Swimmers make a splash at Country Champs, 25 August 2006
Academy swimmers achieved impressive results at last weekend's Victorian Short Course Country Championships at Shepparton.
Andrew O'Connor finished with four wins from five events, including a new Country record in the mens 200 m freestyle. Andrew's other wins, all over the 200 metre distance, were in the backstroke, butterfly and individual medley.
Melissa Hopely, Jeremy Meyer, Matthew Dinsmore and Elizabeth Bacchetti also performed extremely well. All won medals in at least 3 events. These five athletes are versatile across a range of strokes, which meant that all would expect to perform well in the individual medley. In fact, they were all able to score wins or second places in their IM event.
Lichelle Clarke performed well also across several different strokes. In freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and breaststroke events for disability athletes, Lichelle won three events and finished second in two others.
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Melissa Hopley is Country Vic's best, 4 August 2006
Swimming Victoria has honoured Melissa Hopley with the Allan Blue Memorial Trophy as top country swimmer of the 2005/6 season.
Melissa achieved most of her successes in the freestyle, but she is also a strong butterflier. During the year she won medals at Victorian open championships, dominated Country Championships, and she qualified and competed in six National Championship events.
More details courtesy Gippsland Swimming:
Swimming Victoria announced recently the winner of the Allan Blue Memorial Trophy for the most Outstanding Country Swimmer in Victoria is Melissa Hopley of the Traralgon Swimming Club and Gippsland Sports Academy.
Melissa had a very successful 2005/2006 season: In August 2005, Melissa swam at the Victorian Country Shortcourse Championships in Shepparton, winning 4 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal.
In September 2005, Melissa swam at the Victorian State Age Championships winning 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. As a member of the Swimming Victoria Target 2008 squad, Melissa was asked to represent Victoria at the New South Wales, Age Shortcourse event. Melissa broke 3 records and won 2 gold and 1 silver medal.
In October 2005, Melissa competed in the Open Water swimming event at Hazelwood Pondage, finishing a strong 4th and achieving a time which enabled her to compete in the same event in Sydney. In December, Melissa attended the Australian Institute of Sport with the Gippsland Academy of Sport.
In January 2006, Melissa competed in the Commonwealth Games Trials held in Melbourne. Also in January, Melissa competed for 8 days at the Victorian Age Longcourse Championships. Here, Melissa broke 2 records and won 4 more medals at the State Level.
Melissa then travelled to Shepparton to compete in the Victorian Country Championships. Melissa won 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze, breaking more records at these Championships. In February, Melissa competed in the Gippsland Championships in Traralgon, where she broke numerous records and achieved 6 gold and 2 silver medals.
In March Melissa headed off to Sydney for the National Age Championships, competing in 4 individual events and 2 club relays, narrowly missing out on a finals place.
Melissa has just competed at the Victorian Country Shortcourse Championships at Shepparton, where she won 3 gold, 2 silver medals and was named runner up female swimmer of the meet.
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Lichelle Clarke in Commonwealth Games final, 20 March 2006
Gippsland Sports Academy swimmer, Lichelle Clarke made it through yesterday morning’s heats to qualify for a berth in last night’s final. Lichelle was swimming in the women’s EAD 100 metres freestyle after been honoured with Commonwealth Games selection.
For the first time, EAD (Elite Athletes with Disability) events have been integrated into the Commonwealth Games, rather than being conducted as a separate competition. World records exist for different levels of disability, and events are decided by competitors’ closeness to their respective category’s record.
Lichelle drew a difficult heat, swimming against world record breakers Valerie Grandmaison (Canada) and Natalie Du Toit (South Africa). Lichelle was also competing against two other Australians. In order to qualify, Lichelle had to swim one of her best times for the distance; but she made it through.
The final was conducted the same evening, with the top swimmers recording excellent times. Grandmaison defeated Du Toit, with another Canadian third. Lichelle swam more than a second faster than in her heat, but the others’ exceptional times relegated her to 8th place.
All at the Academy applaud Lichelle for her high achievements.
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Swimmers feature in Gippstar awards, 22 February 2006
Gippsland’s 40-year long Gippstar program has nominated three swimmers from the Academy squad in its recent monthly awards. Commonwealth Games representative Lichelle Clarke headed the January list with Melissa Hopely winning the junior award. Jeremy Saunders was also named as award winner for December.
Melissa and Jeremy have been in top form in sprint events, but they also achieved recognition after outstanding performances in the Victorian Open Water Championships last October Melissa had finished fourth and Jeremy second and their performances have qualified them for the Australian Open Water Championships.
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Lichelle Clarke makes Commonwealth Squad, 8 February 2006
Congratulations to Lichelle Clarke who has been selected in the 53-strong Commonwealth Games swimming squad. One of eight disability athletes selected, Lichelle also represented Australia at the Athens Paralympics two years ago where she won silver and bronze medals.
The Commonwealth Games has been progressively integrating elite athlete with a disability events into the Games programs, so Lichelle joins an awesome squad which includes recent world record breakers Leisel Jones, Libby Lenton and Jade Edmiston. We wish Lichelle every success.
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Swimmers excel in Victorian and Country Championships, 31 January 2006
The Victorian Championships, in the new Commonwealth Games pool at Albert Park, saw some great swims and fast times.
During the first week of the Championships, with the open events, the Academy was represented by Andrew O’Connor, Andrew Cameron, Melissa Hopley, Jeremy Meyer and Sven Eriksson. All swam above expectations.
In the second week, in the Age Championships, most of the Academy members competed with outstanding results. Amongst our best were
- Melissa Hopley, 1st in girls 16 years 100 m freestyle;
- Andrew Cameron 2nd in boys 16 100 m butterfly, 3rd in the 200 m butterfly and 3rd in the 16-18 1500 m;
- Jeremy Meyer, 1st in boys 100 m breaststroke and 2nd in the 200 m;
- Sven Eriksson, 2nd in the boys 17-18 100 freestyle;
- Andrew O’Connor, 3rd in both of the boys 17-18 100 m and 200 m butterfly events;
- Jarrod Raun, 2nd in the boys 15 years 100 m backstroke;
- Jeremy Saunders, in 15 years boys events, 2nd in the 200 individual medley, 3rd in the 100 m freestyle, and 3rd in the 400 m individual medley.
Jeremy Saunders also won the award for best 15 year old boy at the championship.
In the following week, Academy members, competing for their home clubs, were in Shepparton for the Country Championships. Again Academy swimmers had exceedingly good results. Amongst the best were Andrew Cameron who broke a 9-year old record when he won the open mens 200 m butterfly. Andrew O’Connor was awarded the Bruce Carter trophy for the best individual boy’s performance.
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Swim Meet honours to Academy swimmers, 4 August 2005
(Story summary courtesy the Latrobe Valley Express.)
Academy swimmers Melissa Hopley and Jeremy Saunders were awarded top female and male honours at the recent Coal Country competition at Churchill. Melissa had scored four gold medals, three silver and one bronze as well as breaking three event records. Jeremy won five gold and two silver medals.
Excellent performances by other Academy swimmers resulted in further medals for Brenton Ford, Andrew O’connor, Sven Eriksson, Elizabeth Bacchetti, Mathew Dinsmore, Emily Swinbourne and Charley Askew.
The Coal Country event attracted 160 competitors from Gippsland and Melbourne.
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Academy swimmers shine in elite competitions, 27 January 2005
The summer season is usually a time to relax, celebrate and enjoy the great weather; however for many Gippsland athletes it is a time to focus and perform in their sporting pursuits. The Gippsland Sports Academy has had great success in the pool recently with the Swimming squad all competing at the 2005 Victorian Championships and 2005 Victorian Country Championships in January.
Bairnsdale local, Rohan Moffat swam exceptionally well winning 2 bronze medals and also took home the Male SWD Swimmer of the Meet. But it was 14 year old, Jeremy Saunders who was a stand out at the State Championships taking home a swag of medals and the 14 year old Male Victorian Age Group champion - an accolade Jeremy has won as a 12 year old and 13 year old in previous years. Jeremy’s tally of 4 gold, 2 bronze, two fifth placing’s and one 6th placing, 7 Out-of-Gippsland records, one Victorian Country Record and one Victorian State Record demonstrated his awesome talent and dedication to swimming. Jeremy was also an integral part of the 14 years 4 x 50m medley relay that won Gold and brought the Bill Slade Trophy back to Traralgon. He also swam a lightning 24 second freestyle leg for Traralgon in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay which won silver. Jeremy broke the Victorian Country and State record in the 14 years 200m Individual Medley when he clocked 2:12.60.
Jeremy also swam exceptionally well at the Victorian Country Championships, taking home 6 Gold medals and 1 bronze, but it was fellow academy athlete Andrew O’Connor who stole the limelight taking home Swimmer of the Meet honours with 5 Gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. Andrew also claimed 4 gold in relays for Traralgon. There were excellent performances from all swimmers and we look forward to seeing them compete at the Australian Age and Open Championships held in April.
The swimming program has been working with the VIS in the past couple of months and athletes are now beginning to really lift the intensity as they approach their main competitions. The squad has been working closely with Ralph Richards and Vince Raleigh on stroke technique, and also recently with Megan Jones from the VIS sport science team. The academy thanks the VIS for providing opportunities for our athletes to become involved with the VIS experience.
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