Carterton's Joe Hammond provided the highlight for Wairarapa on the closing day of the national short course swimming championships in Wellington.
Hammond returned an outstanding swim in the A final of the 16 years and over 200m backstroke, placing second in a time of 2min 4.59s which was inside his own Wairarapa record by a remarkable 3s.
There was a strong effort from Nick Smith (Carterton), 15, in the 200m backstroke who finished fourth in the B final with a personal best time of 2min 21.51s.
Taylah Mawson (Carterton), 14, clocked a personal best in the 100m breaststroke to qualify for the national age group championships and Bella Biggs (Carterton), 13, finished eighth in her division in the 200m freestyle with a personal best of 2min 15.30s.
Overall Wairarapa swimmers did a marvellous job at the nationals and so did their officials with Margaret McGregor, Julie Hamilton and Barbara Smith spending many hours on the pool deck officiating.
