Swimming: Gaualofa leads Northland charge

Although most of Northland's top swimmers returned from the New Zealand Open Championships without medals, plenty of improvements were made.

Bay of Islands' disabled swimmer Daniel Gaualofa was the highlight for Northland swimmers as he returned a medal from all of his seven events.

Gaualofa, 15, won five silver medals and two bronze in his races in the athlete with a disability (AWD) category - along the way setting seven new personal best times.

Silver medals were won in the 200m individual medley, 50m and 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke. Gaualofa won bronze medals in the 400m freestyle and 100m butterfly.

Gaualofa said he was pleased with his results, especially in the 50m and 100m freestyle events as he met the qualifying standard for the IPC World Long Course Swimming Championships later this year.

However, Gaualofa is not guaranteed to make the team after a former Paralympics New Zealand senior team selector told him he should focus on bringing his times down and team selection will come later.

Twenty-five-year-old Auckland-based Bay of Islands swimmer Shane Smith broke his Northland open record twice as he record personal bests in the heats and finals of the 50m breaststroke on his way to finishing sixth overall.

Northwave swimmer Melita Raravula, 16, swam six freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly events making three A finals in the 50m, 100m and 200m butterfly events.

Raravula finished with sixth and seventh placings as she broke her own 100m butterfly Northland age group and senior records.

Fellow Northwave swimmer Freyah Ruri, 14, swam eight freestyle, backstroke, butterfly and individual medley events, making the A final in the 200m backstroke to finish in a credible eighth place.

Northland's final swimmer at the event was Northwave's Haydn Jurisich, 17, who finished with two personal bests from his three events.

New Zealand Opens Swimming Championships is the pinnacle event for swimming in this country and was swum in Auckland over six days in mid-March.