Northland swimming prodigy conquers Auckland

Northland swimmers had a successful Auckland Age Group/Open Championships last weekend, with eight swimmers winning 23 medals from the three days of action at Henderson's West Wave Aquatic Centre.

The Northland contingent surprised many in Auckland with some excellent performances in the heats and finals.

Northland's outstanding swimmer in terms of her medal count was 15-year-old Melita Raravula, who swims for Northwave Swimming Club and brought home nine medals.

Raravula contested four open finals and was only eclipsed in this respect by 17-year-old Carla Marsh, who made open finals in an impressive five separate events. Being 17, however, the Bay of Islands swimmer was not eligible for age group medals.

Raravula brought home five gold, two silver and two bronze medals. She won six of her medals in two events - in the 50m breaststroke she won gold in the 15-year age group in the heats, then in the open A final she claimed gold in the youth category (15-years and under) and a silver in the open category (all swimmers).

In the 100m breaststroke she did the same, except won a bronze in the open category.

Her other medals came in the 50m butterfly, where she won gold in the 15-years age group in the heat and silver in the youth category of the open final, and in the 100m freestyle where she claimed bronze in her age group.

Ashlee Crane and Shane Smith (both BoI Swimming Club) also achieved significantly in open finals - Crane again won gold in the 200m butterfly open A final to match her victory in 2010, and Smith won silver in the 50m breaststroke and bronze in the 100m breaststroke open A finals.

Bay of Islands's Jayne Clarke brought home four medals in the 16-years age group and made three open finals. She won gold in the 100m freestyle, two silvers (50m freestyle and 50m butterfly) and a bronze in the 100m butterfly.

Maddison Eastwood from Whangarei Swimming Club was the youngest Northlander to make an open final, winning the open B final in the 100m breaststroke and making two A finals. She also won three medals in the 14-year age group, claiming silver in the 100m breaststroke, and bronze in the 50m and the 200m breaststroke events.

Other Northlanders to win medals were Whangarei Swimming Club's Holly Duckmanton, who won bronze medals in the 16-years 50m and 200m backstroke events (as well as making one open final), Bream Bay's Chad Walker who won a silver in the 15-years 100m butterfly, and Snapper Gulick (Northwave) who brought home a bronze medal in the 13-years 400m individual medley. Bay of Island's Haydn Jurisich also made two open finals.

Next on the calendar for local swimmers is the Whangarei Swimming Club's second meeting of the year on Saturday, at Dargaville Swimming Pool, starting at 9.15am.