Report by Web Editor – Al Byrne
Over a recent three week period, our Vikings resident Multi-Class S9 swimmer, David Bale, made the big trips to Sydney and to Adelaide, respectively, for the 2019 NSW State Open Championships and then the 2019 Hancock Prospecting Australian Swimming Championships. David is an enthusiastic (and quick!) swimmer for both the Tuggeranong Vikings adult swim squad and the Tuggeranong Vikings Masters swimming club.
The NSW event, held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) 15-17 Mar 19, saw David competing in five events, and qualifying for three finals. In the process, he managed to improve two of his personal bests: for the 200m IM (by 3.0 seconds) and the 100m BU (by 2.5 seconds). Event results are on the Swimming NSW website.
This was a great lead-in for David’s participation in the Australian Championships a few weeks later (07-12 Apr 19) at the SA Aquatic & Leisure Centre in Adelaide. David qualified for three events – 50m BA, 50m FR and 100m FR – and, this time, racked up another two personal bests, including an improvement by a full second in the 50m BA for a very respectable 36.26 seconds! The winner of this event was obviously pushed very hard, setting a new world record for the S9 classification. Full results are available on the Swimming Australia website.
