Canterbury teenager shows star quality

Fifteen-year-old Matthew Hutchins, of Canterbury, stamped himself as one of this country's hottest prospects during competition at Swimming New Zealand's tri-series meet at the Genesis Recreation Pool in Masterton on Tuesday.
Hutchins was a class above his opposition in three events, winning his 400m freestyle race by almost 8secs, his 400m individual medley by over 2secs and his 800m freestyle, again by almost 8secs.
Also securing a trifecta was Laura Quilter, 17, of Hawke's Bay. She demonstrated her versatility by winning her 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly races,
Two big wins over the longer distances were secured by another rising star in Otago's Steffanie Gillespie. Just 14 years of age she blitzed her 800m freestyle opposition by 16secs and then returned to win her 400m freestyle race by almost 5secs.
Achieving two wins as well were Aucklander Shaquille Vaotu'ua, 15, Natasha Lloyd, 14, of Canterbury, Jared Solomon, 16, of Waikato, Sophia Batchelor, 14, of Canterbury, and Hayley Edmond, 15, of North Shore.
Sole Wairarapa participant at the meet was Masterton's Isaac Foote, 16, and he did himself proud, picking up thirds in his 200m breaststroke and 200m individual medley events and fourths in his 400m freestyle and 800m freestyle races.
Foote also had the distinction of captaining the Red Indians to victory in the team's competition which saw the 60 swimmers separated into three squads. Red Indians finished with 241pts, followed by Concords on 230 and Smurfs 212.
The Masterton meet was the first of three in the tri-series internal tour with others being staged in Taupo and Wanganui over the next four days.
Results from Tuesday night's session at Masterton included:
Boys 200m freestyle: Jared Solomon (Waikato) 1.56.84 1, Elliot Crene 2.02.03 2, Thomas McCarthy 2.02.05 3.
Girls 100m freestyle: Laura Quilter (Hawke's Bay) 58.48 1, Sophia Batchelor 58.96 2, Bernadette Reidy 1.00.77 3.
Boys 100m backstroke: Ryan Holder (Auckland) 1.00.07 1, Tea Williams 1.00.96 2, Dylan Garrod 3.
Girls 200m backstroke: Sophia Batchelor (Canterbury) 2.19.48 1, Lauren Speer 2.22.93 2, Shelby Wilson 2.22.98 3.
Boys 800mk freestyle: Matthew Hutchins (Canterbury) 8.30.37 1, Nick Gillum 8.38.50 2, Adam Simpson 8.43.44 3
Girls 400m freestyle: Steffanie Gillespie (Otago) 4.26.18 1, Lil Clearwater 4.31.32 2, Shelby Wilson 4.33.10 3.
Boys 100m breaststroke: Shaquille Vaotu'ua (Auckland) 1.07.89 1, Tom Ward 1.08.69 2 Erik Kahr 1.09.81 3.
Girls 200m breaststroke: Natasha Lloyd (Canterbury) 2.40.80 1, Emily McGill 2.41.17 2, Hayley Edmond 2.49.63 3.
Boys 200m butterfly: George Eglesfield (Canterbury) 2.12.53 1, Jake Allen 2.16.46 2, Adam Simpson 2.16.84 3.4 3.
Girls 100m butterfly: Laura Quilter (Hawke's Bay) 1.03.23 1, Josie Kydd 1.04.36 2, Lauren Coetzee 1.05.65 3.
Boys 200m individual medley: Ryan Holder (Auckland) 2.14.73 1, Matthew Hutchins 2.15.79 2, Isaac Foote (Masterton) 2.16.74 3.
Girls 400m individual medley: Hayley Edmond (North Shore) 5.04.94 1, Phoebe O'Leary 5.08.30 2, Natasha Lloyd 5.12.39 3.