THE NSW Short Course Country Championships are calling for 16 talented Bathurst City Amateur Swim Club (BCASC) members this weekend.
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The strong contingent of Bathurst swimmers have worked tirelessly over the past couple of months to meet qualifying times and book a ticket to the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre at Homebush.
BCASC’s team will travel to Sydney buoyed by their recent Mountains and Plains Short Course Championships runner-up result at Orange.
Head coach Steve Howell said his group of swimmers are in a determined mood thanks to that result.
“We’re pretty stoked to have 16 swimmers travelling to Sydney. They’ve all worked very hard to get themselves to this level. Myself, [co-coaches] Josh [Stapley] and Cynthia [Santos] are very proud of the work they’ve put in,” he said.
“Last weekend they managed to finish second at the Mountains and Plains Short Course Champs … which I think shocked a few people.
“It’s such a big result for the club. Previously Orange City and Jets have been right up there, but since Kinross brought in a new coach a lot of good swimmers have gone across there. The impressive thing is that we’re now making inroads on Kinross as well.
“For our kids to finish ahead of City and Jets is a huge achievement.
“Austin Letran got himself a big personal best for his 50 metre freestyle. Even in the 100m and 200m events at Orange we had some swimmers taking over 10 seconds off their personal bests.”
The M&P Championships were the final opportunity for swimmers to book a place at Homebush.
Mercede Cornelius-Feltus has the largest program of any BCASC member with 11 individual events.
Patrick O’Hara (seven) and Kate Edwards (six) will also be kept busy this weekend.
The remainder of the Bathurst is made up of Tommaso Cornelius-Feltus, Emilee Curran, Mitch England, Morgan Murphy, Jack O’Hara, Emily Press, Thomas Press, Ben Roffe, Patrick Saint, Taylah Wade, Angus Warne and Bridget Warne.
“Mercede is doing almost every event. Patrick O’Hara is in a large range of events, as is Mercede’s brother Tommaso,” Howell said.
BCASC will also be taking part in three relay events – the boys 12 and under 4x50 metre freestyle and medley relays plus the girls 13-14 years 4x50m medley relay.
In all, Bathurst will taking part in 48 events.
Kinross swimmers and BCASC dual members Collette and Lauren Lyons will also be present at Homebush.
