Wairarapa reps well placed for finals contention

A team of eight Wairarapa swimmers aged between 13yrs and 18yrs will contest the New Zealand age group championships to be held at Christchurch's Queen Elizabeth II complex from March 4 to 8.
This competition attracts the top one per cent of swimmers in this particular age range in the country and Wairarapa have a number of strong seedings which suggests several of their representatives are well placed for finals contention. Overall the province will participate in 53 individual events as well as two boys" relays.
A brief preview of the Wairarapa line-up is:-
n ISAAC FOOTE, 14, Masterton: Isaac is heading into his second national age groups and has qualified in nine events. His strengths are in butterfly and over distance, including the 1500m freestyle and the 400m individual medley. He is coached by Anna Kitching.
n TESSA FOOTE, 13, Masterton: This will be Tessa's debut at national level and she will compete in the 400m and 800m freestyle events as well as the 200m butterfly. She too is coached by Anna Kitching.
n GRACE HAMMOND, 13, Carterton: Grace has swum competitively for four years and this will be her third year competing at national level. Coached by Russell Geange she has qualified in four freestyle events which reflects her strength in that stroke.
n HAMISH HAMMOND, 17, Carterton: Coached by Russell Geange since the age of 13, Hamish has swum at national level for the past four years. He has qualified in 12 events and has chosen to swim in 10 of these with backstroke his main stroke. He has also qualified for Olympic trials to be held later this month.
n TALIA HULLENA, 13, Masterton: Talia steps up to national age groups this year after competing at national junior level last season. She has qualified in four events with her strengths being backstroke and breaststroke. She is coached by Anna Kitching.
n JAMES POPE, 18, Carterton: James has swum at national level for no fewer than nine years. He has qualified in eight events and his biggest impact is expected to come in sprints and breaststroke. James has also qualified for next month's Olympic trials and is coached by Russell Geange.
n CARLIN PETERSON, 16, Carterton: Carlin has been a member of the Carterton club since the age of nine and this will be his fourth national competition. Also coached by Russell Geange he has qualified in four events with butterfly and freestyle his main strokes.
n NEIL van WIJK, 14, Masterton: Swimming at his second national age groups Neil will contest eight events and is ranked highly in three of his breaststroke assignments. Neil, who is coached by Anna Kitching, will be heading to the Olympic trials next month.
A former Masterton Swimming Club member in William Prior, now with the West Auckland Aquatics Club and studying at Auckland University, will also be competing in Christchurch. He will have a busy eight event schedule and is ranked highly in many of his races. Prior too has the Olympic trials as a short-term focus.