After the success of hosting last year’s Barwon South West Swimming Association (BSWSA) Championships/All Junior Trials, this year we headed to Warrnambool! The two day event was held last weekend and our Portland contingent represented us well with every swimmer qualifying for the All Junior Semi Finals held next month.
I was lucky enough to see everyone in action on Saturday and as always was blown away by how our athletes conducted themselves in and out of the pool. Vossie, Matilda, Oliver, Leo, Riley, Gwyneth and Rebecca all gave their absolute best across the weekend.
Vossie, who has been training through an injury, placed first in his 400m freestyle and set several Personal Best (PB) times. He dropped 2.46 seconds from his 100m freestyle to place third and a massive 11.23 seconds from his 200m freestyle to place second!
Oliver used his meet experience and competitive nature to set a great example for our younger swimmers all day, making a 0.17 second improvement in his 50m freestyle to place fifth. His hard-fought 200m freestyle was a great race to watch, with Oliver finishing in third place.
Matilda, our long distance specialist, opted to focus mainly on the longer races with great success! She placed second in the 200 IM and freestyle events, and set PB times in the 100 freestyle and breaststroke, as well as taking first place in her 100m butterfly.
Gwyneth always displays great poise and consistency on meet days, and this weekend was no exception. She placed eighth in her 100m and 200m freestyle. Our younger swimmers are lucky to watch Gwyneth’s fluid, strong technique give her great results.
Riley is one of the youngest swimmers in his age group, having only aged up last month! He set three PB times over the weekend in his 50m butterfly, 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle. Taking 2.06 seconds from his butterfly time earned him a well-deserved seventh place and he competed in the Men’s’ Open 200m breaststroke where he also placed seventh.
Rebecca set PB times for every event she entered! Shaving 2.28 seconds from her 50m freestyle was a huge moment for her swimming career, as was taking 1.42 seconds from her 100m freestyle in order to finish fourteenth.
Leo competed in an event for every stroke, showing his versatility and composure. He placed third in four events- 50m butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle and backstroke- and second in his 100m freestyle.
Written by Kayla Gorry
All Junior Semi Final Qualifiers
- Rebecca DeCampo- freestyle and backstroke
- Gwyneth Homer- freestyle
- Matilda Andrews- butterfly
- Leo Healy- freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly
- Riley Healy- backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly
- Laurens Vosloo (Vossie)- freestyle and breaststroke
- Oliver Homer- freestyle