STAFF WRITERS
SWIMMING
Traralgon swimmers represented the club with distinction at the annual All Junior semi-finals and finals.
A total of 42 Traralgon swimmers took part in competition held at the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre.
With 55 swimmers originally qualified and 13 having to pull out due to COVID reasons the depleted team still came away from the meet with the most finalists (27) and medals (25) from any country team competing for a total of 10 gold, eight silver and seven bronze.
Fifteen of the 27 finalists won medals with Chloe Szkwarek, aged 10 and Olivia Baillie, aged 14 the standouts with two gold medals each.
Traralgon Swimming Club senior head coach Brian Ford was enthusiastic about the team’s performance.
“This was a great meet for the club given the circumstances that we had,” he said.
“With illness before the event, the attitude of the swimmers was one of racing and racing fast and at no time did any of the swimmers compete below their best effort.
“The preparation was fantastic, the racing was fast and the end result with times and medals extremely pleasing.”
The final meet of the season is the National Age Championships in Adelaide where Traralgon will have over 13 representatives competing at the highest level in Australia.
This meet will run from April 11 to 18 and is the pinnacle of age group swimming in Australia.
Any adult or child looking to get into swimming at a competitive level should phone Ford on 0419 584 145.
