Whanganui swimmers shine at West Coast champs

Paige Conley is about to start her medley at the West Coast Swimming Championships. The recent recipient of the Manawatu Junior Swimmer of the Year award, Paige took out first place in the 14 years 100m Backstroke, Butterfly and Freestyle events and 200m Backstroke and Freestyle, Photo / Bevan Conley

The atmosphere was buzzing for the Steelformers West Coast Swimming Champs held at the Splash Centre in Whanganui on Sunday, October 15.

There were 150 age group swimmers, some from as far afield as Hamilton, New Plymouth and Wellington, who entered.

“Spring is a busy season for short course (25m pool) swim meets, with a large number for clubs to choose from, but entry numbers to the West Coast Champs have steadily increased over the past two years and Whanganui’s team of 46 ranged in age from 7-17 years,” said Aaron Bunker.

It was the first “home” meet for a number of the younger swimmers and thanks to a large number of local sponsors, a fantastic array of spot prizes was awarded in addition to medals.

West Coast Swimming Championships 2023. Photo / Bevan Conley

All events were swum as time finals with medals awarded in banded age groups which varied depending on the event distance.

Whanganui took out both first and second placings in 12 events and celebrated full podium finishes in the men’s 15 and over 50m Breaststroke (Blake Candish 1, Keanu Marshall 2, Eli Abraham 3); women’s 12 and under 200m Freestyle (Rylee Earles 1, Ziva Bunker 2, Ryleigh Dorricott 3), and women’s 12 and under 200m Backstroke (Rylee Earles 1, Ziva Bunker 2, Araceli Marsh 3.)

Paige Conley, the recent recipient of the Manawatu Junior Swimmer of the Year award, took out first place in the 14 years 100m Backstroke, Butterfly and Freestyle events and 200m Backstroke and Freestyle, and Georgia Abraham (17), returning to the pool after a period of absence, was still fast enough in the women’s 15 and over division to take out first place in each of the 50m and 100m individual events she entered.

The Steelformers West Coast Champs gave swimmers of all levels a chance to showcase all they have been learning in training. Whanganui’s youngest swimmer taking part, Heidi Bennetts (7), took 6.5 seconds off both her 50m Freestyle and 50m Backstroke PBs, and 8-year-olds Taven Alderton and Maia Paki slashed their own 50m Freestyle PBs by 6.3 seconds and 4.4 seconds respectively.

“The junior swim team (12 and under) is particularly strong in numbers just now, growing under head coach Richard Gheel’s experience. Gheel has coached for more than 30 years, having represented Ireland at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games,” said Bunker

“He also held the 100m and 200m backstroke records for Northern Ireland for 30 years. Some of the junior squads are also coached by Verena Nowak whose passion for teaching children to learn to swim shines through during training sessions,” he said.

The next focal meet for junior swimmers is the All Stars Junior Festival in Wellington in November where last year the team took out the national award for the highest number of PBs in the 101-200 entries group.

The senior swimmers, aged 13 and over, are working towards December’s Hawke’s Bay Summer Long Course (50m) Champs, and are chipping away at qualifying times for the National Age Group Champs in April and Division II Competition in May.