Although it was a slow start due to the outdoor pool opening a bit later, the club finally managed to get a team of twelve swimmers to the Albury Pennant held Sunday, November 12 at Albury Swim Centre and were able to show off some of their existing and new talent.
First mention must go to young-gun Mona Liu. Mona, despite being new to the club and to swimming as a sport, has already competed at three meets this season, went to the Wangaratta Stingray’s Pennant and the Albury Open before competing at the Albury Pennant.
Coach in training Imogen Letchford accompanied Mona to the Stingray’s meet and was awed at Mona’s first competitive race efforts where she bagged a respectable 5th in the 50m breaststroke for ten year olds-a very competitive age group.
Mona followed up at the Albury Pennant with a PB in the same event clocking another 5th in a huge field at 55.30. For the uninitiated, swimming this event in under a minute at ten years old at your first meet is a pretty bug deal.
Ditto for the 50 freestyle and swimming under the 50 second mark which Mona has achieved three meets in a row with a PB of 42.30. Mona also pegged a 4th at the Albury Pennant in the 100m breaststroke.
For the club’s 11 remaining swimmers, the Albury pennant was their first interclub meet for the season. There were some solid PB’s and some awesome efforts, particularly in the longer events.
Coach Sharon has been working her winter squad towards tackling longer events and at the Albury Pennant two swimmers from those squads put their first 400m freestyle time on the board, Ethan Marks and Marshall Lees, both boys achieving a second place in their events.
Ethan also PB’d in 50 freestyle and butterfly with Marshall improving by a massive 17 seconds in the 50m backstroke.
Marshall’s brother Austin also pulled a big PB of 8 seconds in the backstroke and a first place in the 200m freestyle.
Sisters Abbey and Matilda Park are also clearly getting back into form as they clocked up individual PB’s in 50m and 200m Breaststroke (Abbey) and 50m butterfly (Matilda).
Neither girl was far off last season’s best times in their other events. Matilda also attempted her first 100 butterfly at Club Night last Friday – arguably one of the hardest events run at club events, and she aced it alongside newcomer Lily Kiely.
Sisters Lily and Violet Kiely are showing the kind of grit and determination the club loves to see. New to the sport last summer the two girls are 10 and 9 respectively but swim like, well, Sharks. Already mentioned is Lily’s 100 fly which she followed up at the Albury meet achieving first place. Both girls put in solid performances at their other, shorter events, but it is the longer events in which they will likely shine.
Violet is technically a junior swimmer but has a great deal of stamina, so she trains with the intermediate/senior group regularly.
Sam Bellette is a key breaststroke swimmer at the moment and it as pretty obvious he was out to smash his own PB’s at Albury achieving a PB and first place in a field of 21 in the 50m breaststroke, first with a 9 second PB in the 100m and a second in the 200m. Older brother Lucas is likewise a pretty good breaststroker achieving a 14 second PB in the 50m and a 4th place in the 100m. Lucas also PB’d in the 50 free and backstroke.
Two of the club’s more recent newcomers Chelsea Sutton and Rusull Lin have now chalked up their first times at an interclub meet.
The next Open meet is the Wangaratta Amateur/Wodonga City clubs open this coming weekend at Wangaratta, and the next Pennant Meet is hosted by Wodonga Amateur club at Wodonga on December 3.
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