Carterton swimmer Joe Hammond continues to make big waves at the national age-group championships in Wellington.
His third placing in the boys' 16yrs 200m backstroke final on Wednesday produced Hammond's second bronze medal in as many days, the first coming in the 200m individual medley.
Once again, too, Hammond showed the ability to rise to the occasion, his time of 2mins 10.22secs in the backstroke final being well inside the 2mins 14.74secs he returned in the heats.
Hammond went into the final as the fifth-fastest qualifier and was beaten only by Gregory Tarasevich of Mt Wellington (2mins 3.79secs) and Julian Weir of Taranaki (2mins 9.39secs)
Another Wairarapa swimmer to make a final on Wednesday was Bella Biggs (Carterton) who finished fourth in the girls' 12-13yrs 400m individual medley in 5mins 23.43secs, a sharp improvement on her heat time of 5mins 31.23secs.