MORE Bathurst swimmers earned their spot at the upcoming NSW Country Championships thanks to their performances in the weekend’s Mountains and Plains Championship at Lithgow.
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Competitors from both the TiTANIUM Swim Club and Bathurst City Amateur Swim Club had reason to celebrate against some of the region’s best swimmers.
Leading the way for the TiTANIUM club’s 23 competitors were Zara Grout (13 years) and Tahlia O’Connell (9 years), who finished as overall champions in their respective age categories.
One of the other highlights for the club was their second place finish in the girls 10 years 200m freestyle and medley relays.
"We were so pleased with how the girls performed. A lot of those doing the relays hadn't even done a competition before so we couldn't be more stoked with how they went," club coach Emilie Miller said.
"We've had quite a few kids qualify for the Country Championships at the end of February. Mitch Nelson took over three seconds off his personal best in the 100 metres breaststroke, and Tahlia and Zara made great progress with their times.
"The kids have been so committed to their training. They've been busy too, doing school carnivals throughout this week, have had the Mountains and Plains champs at Lithgow and before that had the Regional Country Championships at Wellington.
"We have around eight swimmers going on to the Country Championships later this month. There’s lots of exciting times coming up and plenty of hard work to be done.”
Nelson also wiped four seconds off his 100m backstroke personal best on his way to winning the event.
It was a great day of racing for BCASC who claimed third place overall in the club standings.
In dramatic finishes both Emilee Curran (13) and Toby Partridge (11) managed to place first in competitive 50m freestyle events.
“I’d say 60 to 70 per cent of our swimmers got a personal best in at least one of their races, so they’re still improving and still growing with every meet,” BCASC head coach Steve Howell said.
“Mercede Cornelius-Feltus swim quite well and qualified for a few more [Country Championships] races. Her brother, Tommaso, also swam well.
“On the whole, it was a great effort by the kids who went.
“Mercede and Molly [McCrossin] I believe have nearly qualified in every event they attempted for the Country Championships, which is very impressive.
A total of 10 BCASC members have so far qualified for the NSW Country Championships, which take place on February 25 and 26 at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.
