Report by Caroline Makin, Club Captain
WOW! What a fantastic venue the Australian Institute of Sport proved to be to swim in for the 2015 NSW State Short Course Championships held over the weekend of 17-18 October in Canberra.
We saw 26 Vikings take to the water to show their skills and determination in the pool, and Tuggeranong fielded a fantastic 18 relay teams across the two days of competition. Our Club President, Leisa Cass, was not swimming but was there the whole weekend supporting our swimmers from the pool deck.
We saw lots of significant PBs from our swimmers and witnessed some superb races containing many of our Vikings up against each other in the same heat. Medals were being handed over to our swimmers in bucket-loads during the meet and the Vikings won the meet trophy for highest overall point score.
Some highlights from the event for some of our newcomers …
Our new youngster, Maddie Fleming, put in some tremendous swims and significantly bettered her well-thought out entry times for her first official outing as a Vikings “Master” at the age of only 19! She also absolutely loved wearing her nice new blue Speedo LZR race suit!!
Another newcomer to racing, Kyle McLean, showed his sprint ability in the 30-34 age group in the 50m Freestyle and Butterfly as well as the 100m Freestyle, although the last 10m of the 100m event certainly took it’s toll and Kylie will certainly be working on sustaining his sprint speed over the full distance!
Rachel Harrison-Wyatt punched out quality and quick swims in the 35-39 female 50m and 100m Freestyle, 50m Butterfly and 100m Individual Medley in her first ever State Championships and realised that racing is good!
Ed Linder showed us more of his potential as a 50-54 year-old male, bettering the times he set in 50m and 100m Freestyle from his first races as a Viking at The Tuggeranong Challenge in September. He also showed us that he is a pretty good Breaststroke swimmer too.
Many of our regular competitors displayed excellent swims as always …
In the 20s age groups, Kade Burgess showed us some good swims in the fastest heats of the days and swam an excellent 50m Backstroke leg in the youngster’s Mixed Medley relay at the end of the first day of competition.
In the 30s age groups, Marianne Tweedie swam on the Sunday only but set three new significant PBs in the 200m Freestyle, 100m Individual Medley and 100m Breaststroke. Tara Olsthoorn was back racing properly after having a baby in January and showed she has worked hard in and out of the pool to regain her form with good swims across her five events, and showing her strength in the 200m Backstroke.
Nick Dando came home strongly in his 200m Breaststroke and went out quickly in his 200m Butterfly producing solid performances in both swims. Atsuko McGowan swam on just one day and as usual looked graceful in her two Backstroke swims and swam a nice 100m Freestyle.
In the 40s age groups, David Bale showed us how solid a Butterfly swimmer he is with a nice time in the 100m event and backing up with a good 200m Butterfly at the end of day 2, looking strong the whole way through.
Caroline Makin‘s quick 200m Individual Medley produced a time that was over three seconds faster than her PB set at Nationals in April and then she followed that up by bettering her 100m Freestyle PB yet again this year. Katrina Burgess‘s 200m Backstroke was a superbly executed and fast swim knocking four seconds off her PB and then she took her 200m Individual Medley swim below three minutes for the first time, for another PB.
In the 50s age groups, Nicolee Martin displayed her Freestyle skills and speed in the 100m and 200m events matching her times from Nationals in April and finished off the meet with a one and a half second 100m Breaststroke PB. Donna Campbell showed her cross-training in the gym is paying off, with five more PBs in her 50m swims and 100m Individual Medley and Ann Reid swam excellent 100m and 200m Freestyle swims recording times quicker than any recorded in the last three years by her in those events. Suzie Gunning swam on just one day completing three events including a good 100m Individual Medley which highlighted that Suzie is not just a Freestyle swimmer!
Jane Waddleton overcame the nerves of competing in her first State Championships and displayed some lovely swimming in her favourite stroke, Breaststroke across all three distances and achieving a 100m PB time and even taking on a relay leg, which normally Jane does not like to do. Jeanette Droop showed what a solid all-round swimmer she is and bettered her entry times on all five swims. Anne Smyth looked as powerful as ever, and showed smart swimming and consistency across her events as usual, including the 200m Butterfly! Tom Boyce was suffering from a recent rotator cuff injury so had to withdraw from his individual swims, but still turned up to do four relay swims for his club … what a great effort from Tom!
In the 60s age groups, Richard Flockart was pretty much on par with his form from Nationals six months ago with some equally good times and swimming his quickest 100m Individual Medley time since 2013. Cecelia Kaye showed consistent performance across her swims with a nice time in the 50m Breaststroke event whilst Denise Druitt was another newbie competitor who took on the challenge of her first State Champs swimming the 50m and 100m events plus a Freestyle relay swim and thoroughly enjoying the whole experience. Seasoned competitor Jon McRae punched out nice quick swims in the 100m Freestyle and 100m Individual Medley. Brenda Day swam a lovely 200m Individual Medley to start off her weekend of swimming and also a good 100m Backstroke. It was great to have our “Veteran Master” of swimming, Ian Hampton back racing with us after much travelling and his usual winter break from the pool, and we saw a him putting in solid swims as always, with a nice 50m Breaststroke in particular.
What a fantastic weekend of swimming at a magnificent venue. We loved welcoming all our swimming friends from all the clubs around NSW to the Nation’s Capital for what proved to be a great State Championships.
CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL YOU VIKINGS!!!
Full results are available.
