Teens are true champions

YOUNGEST PAIR: Mitchell Cockburn (left) and Noemi Leinfellner took out the champion of champions finals. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Two new champion swimmers were crowned on Sunday in a thrilling climax to the second day of the Swimming Wairarapa championships at Masterton's Genesis Energy Recreation Centre.

Mitchell Cockburn, 14, and Noemi Leinfellner, 13, both representing Masterton Swimming Club, are the youngest pair in recent memory to receive the top awards, after taking out the champion of champions finals which are contested by the fastest 50m freestyle swimmers from the region taking part in the annual meet.

Both finished ahead of much older swimmers in two thrilling finals, with the highlight being Cockburn's fingertip victory over 18-year-old Samuel Smith from the Carterton club, in an astonishing time of 25.99secs. With no electronic timing at the Masterton pool, credit must go to the precision of the manual time-keepers, two of whom clocked exactly the same time (25.99) for Cockburn's swim, with the third being within a couple of hundredths of a second.

Leinfellner, who holds the Wellington regional 4 x 50m freestyle relay record for swimmers aged 12 and under and a large number of Wairarapa age group records, produced another superb performance, holding off the challenge of her Masterton teammate Kate Sims to take the spoils with a time of 27.97.

Cockburn and Leinfellner capped off a highly successful weekend for the Masterton club, which was represented by a team of 44 swimmers who excelled in their home pool.

The Wairarapa clubs were grateful to the technical officials and administrators who gave up their time to make this meet possible, particularly those who travelled from Wellington and the large number who no longer have children involved in the sport.

Thanks to the efforts of some of Wellington's most senior officials, many Wairarapa parents underwent technical training throughout the meet and are well on their way to becoming qualified officials over the coming months. On many fronts, the future of Wairarapa swimming looks extremely bright.

The final events of the championships, the 800m and 1500m freestyle, will be held this week, with full meet results and the age group winners to be announced after their conclusion.

Meanwhile, the Harlequins, from Northland, Auckland and Counties-Manukau, took the honours in the second New Zealand zonal swimming championships held at the West Wave Aquatic Centre in Auckland on Sunday night.

This event put 160 of New Zealand's leading and up-and-coming swimmers against each other in an American-styled collegiate competition. Two Wairarapa swimmers, Joe Hammond and Jacob Smith, both from the Carterton club, were part of the All Stars senior line-up.

All regions were divided into four zones to compete in relay formats in two non-stop, two-hour sessions. Each zone team comprised 40 swimmers split into junior and senior teams.

The Harlequins finished well ahead in the points for the night on 1978 followed by the Makos (1750.5), Aquaknights (1678) and the All Stars (1646.5). Multiple winners in the senior competition included Emma Robinson in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle, Nathan Capp in the 400m and 1500m freestyle, Laura Quilter in the 50m and 100m freestyle, Bradlee Ashby in the 200m and 400m ind medley, George Schroder in the 100m and 200m breaststroke and Helena Gasson in the 100m butterfly, 200m and 400m ind medley.