Masterton Swimming Club continued its proud record of collecting silverware from national meets when a nine-strong team produced some outstanding performances at the New Zealand junior championships in Auckland last weekend.
The club's succession planning was plain to see, with four swimmers making their debut appearances among 500 of the country's best young swimmers alongside another five competing at junior level for the final time.
Fresh from her success at the Swimming Wellington summer championships last month, Siena Cockburn collected two silver medals as a key member of Wellington's relay teams. In the 4 x 50m freestyle event on the opening evening she recorded a rapid time of 28.81secs, the second fastest overall, as she anchored her team to second place. She backed up this success 24 hours later with another impressive sprint, holding off a stiff challenge from Hawke's Bay to come in just behind the Auckland combination once again.
Cockburn's sixth place in the 50m freestyle was Masterton's highest individual result, an honour she shared with 10-year-old Charlie O'Connell, who achieved the feat in the 50m breaststroke and was also in the top 10 in the 100m and 200m breaststroke. Fellow debutantes Louis Oliver, Isabel Bresaz and Hanna Cohr all swam personal best times, improving significantly on their performances in Wellington just three weeks ago.
Robert Rossiter-Stead, in his fourth consecutive appearance at national level, bettered his previous times in the 50m butterfly, 200m breaststroke and 400m freestyle, while Amelia O'Connell set new standards in the 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly. There were also strong swims from Gracie Donaldson in the 50m butterfly and Sam Dale in the 200m breaststroke.
