Wairarapa swimmers make big impact

Wairarapa swimmers made a big impact on the opening day of the national short-course swimming championships in Wellington.

A highlight was the setting of a new Wairarapa record in the boys 200m freestyle relay by the Carterton quartet of Sam Smith, Jacob Smith, Jock Cudmore and Nick Smith, who made it into the B final and eventually finished with a national ranking of ninth.

Their best effort of 1min 47.51s was well inside the previous record of 1min 49.13s held by Masterton's James Pope, Tim Smith, Teina Hullena and William Prior.

Joe Hammond broke his own Wairarapa record of 59.55s for the 100m backstroke when he clocked a personal best of 58.88s, an effort that placed him in the B final in the 16-years-and-over age group.

There he was second with yet another PB and broke his own record again.

Bella Biggs, 13, returned a personal best time of 1min 9.44s in the 100m backstroke and finished seventh in her age group. She also picked up a bronze medal for her age group in the 400m individual medley (5min 23.12s), an event in which she made the B final of the 15years-and-over age group where she finished fourth.

Jacob Smith, 15, clocked a personal best of 1min 11.78s in the 100m breaststroke and placed 13th in his age group and also qualified for the B final in the 15 years division. He also recorded a PB of 1min 5.9s in the 100m backstroke.

Nick Smith, 15, managed a personal best of 1min 3.96s in his 100m butterfly and was 16th in his age group and Taylah Mawson qualified for the 400m individual medley B final in the 15-years-and-under section with a time of 5min 23.89s.