Fourteen Wānaka swimmers won gold to become Otago champions in their various age groups at last weekend’s (July 2-3) annual Otago Short Course Championships held in Dunedin.

The champions are Max Bagley, Hana Carnie, Catarina David, Stella Harper, Vincent Lamb, Coast Morland, Luisa Palmer, Maya Parker, Nevaeh Reddy, William Schurink, Benjamin Silipo, Cameron Stanley, Hinato Watanabe and Maddie Young.

Wānaka Swim Club (WSC) sent a squad of 22 swimmers to the Otago swim clubs’ short course (25m) meet at Moana Pool.

“We have had close to 20 [attend] in the past but this could be a record,” WSC coach Cameron Stanley said.

“The team had some outstanding results with over 100 medals won by Wānaka swimmers across a range of events and ages [and] there were heaps of personal bests [times] which was great,” he said.

Cameron said there were also a few surprise results too.

“There were definitely some surprises with swimmers stepping up and doing performances they have never done before.” 

Coach Belinda Donaldson has been working hard on the skills of the junior swimmers, he said, and it was particularly pleasing to see the way they performed under competition pressure with Wānaka swimmers standing out for their technique and turns. 

The senior swimmers also made good progress in their skills and pacing with the meet serving as good race practice for the upcoming South Island and National Championships, Cameron said.

Based on results from throughout the season to date, senior swimmers Ben Silipo, Kate Bennie, Coast Morland, Catty David and William Schurink have qualified for South Island Champs which will be held in Christchurch at the end of July.

PHOTO: Supplied