AN impressive total of 20 Bathurst club swimmers will be making their way to Sydney Olympic Park this Friday for the NSW Country Swimming Championships.
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Seventeen competitors from the Bathurst City Amateur Swim Club and three swimmers hailing from the TiTANIUM Swim Club managed to book their spot at the Homebush meeting thanks to their performances over the past two summers of racing.
Bathurst City head coach Steve Howell is overwhelmed by the amount of club swimmers who have qualified for the championships.
“Myself and fellow coaches Josh [Stapley] and Cynthia [Santos] are absolutely thrilled. They’ve all worked hard and it’s paid off.
“They really lifted at the Bathurst carnival and we’re hoping they can do well here.
“With the kids they either win or they learn – they don’t lose. As long as they go there and perform to their best then we couldn’t be happier.”
Patrick O’Hara (10 events), Molly McCrossin (nine) and Mercede Cornelius-Feltus (eight) have packed programs.
Bathurst City have also qualified for three relay events, the boys under 12s 200m freestyle plus the 13-14 years girls 200m freestyle and medley relays.
“Toby Partridge is third in the state for 50m freestyle so he’s going to have a go at improving that. Pat should make the top 10 for a few events, and Molly and Mercede should come close as well,” Howell said.
“This event is more about our swimmers achieving their own bests, as opposed to gunning for a place. It’s all about looking back at how much they have achieved since January.”
The other BCASC members competing will be Keira Copeland, Tommaso Cornelius-Feltus, Emilee Curran, Kate Edwards, Kirrily Edwards, Mitch England, Morgan Murphy, Jack O’Hara, Emily Press, Ben Roffe, Patrick Saint, Taylah Wade and Bridget Warne.
TiTANIUM Swim Club will be represented by Mitch Nelson, plus Sophia and Zara Grout.
Club co-coach Emilie Miller said the trio go to Sydney with excellent recent results to their names.
“Mitch broke seven records at his school swimming carnival, so he was obviously trying very hard there. He’s competed at state as well and now he’s ready to give country a go,” she said.
“Zara and Sophia had their school carnival this week and they posted some records as well, and their times looked very good.
“They’ve all been fortunate enough to qualify over a few different strokes, which shows a lot of depth, and that’s very exciting for us.”
Bathurst sisters Collette and Lauren Lyons – competing for the Kinross Wolaroi Swim Club – will also be at the championships, taking on a combined 17 events at SOPAC.
