Report by Jenna Freeman
On Sunday 13 November 2016, three swimmers made the journey to Blacktown Aquatic Centre to compete at the NSW State Long Distance Championships. This included Donna Campbell, Jenna Freeman and Katrina Burgess. While the indoor 50m pool was slightly warm, it was a beautiful day with the sun shining and a cool breeze. The swim meet ran smoothly and ahead of schedule, and as shown in the picture below a few surprise times were swum!
The meet commenced at 9am with the 1500m Butterfly which was a great inspiration to all who watched. This was followed by the 1500m Backstroke which both Katrina Burgess and Jenna Freeman participated in. Katrina finished in first place in her age group, breaking the club record from 2006 by 8 minutes. She underestimated her prowess and after the race realised that she had in fact also broken the 800m Backstroke record. Jenna Freeman also took out first place and smashing the NSW state record from 1994, and also taking the national record from 2003 and setting new club records in the 400m, 800m and 1500m distances. The 1500m Breaststroke was the next event where Donna Campbell placed first, happily swimming a great time and setting a new club record.
Jenna Freeman then competed in the 400m Butterfly coming first and setting new NSW state and club records. This was followed by Donna Campbell in the 400m Backstroke who was just off her entry time and showed amazing strength to finish third. Katrina Burgess rounded off the day in the 400m Breaststroke with an amazing effort, finishing in first place.
Overall, it was an excellent day with new club, state and national records being made. All swimmers took home medals and showed yet again how much Tuggeranong Vikings dominate in the pool amongst the NSW swimmers!
Full results are available.
