Glennie swimmers make a splash at short course championships
SWIMMING: An “educational” change paid off for The Glennie Swim Club at the Queensland Short Course Championships.
Taking the Darling Downs largest team to the titles, the club’s swimmers bought home four bronze medals and a gold.
Of the 82 swims completed by athletes, 25 were top ten finishes and 53 were personal best times.
Club coach Gary Shorter attributed the club’s success to a change in focus over the course of their preparation.
“The thing that really impressed me the most is how all of our swimmers constructed their races,” Shorter said.
“We changed our focus from an educational perspective this season.
“A lot of training was teaching them about building their races.
“In the past we’ve had swimmers who have competed at similar levels and didn’t quite swim at their best because they didn’t swim their own race, they didn’t stick to their plan.”
While impressed by the performances of his whole team, Shorter did reserve special praise for two of the club’s younger swimmers.
“The short course is one of the hardest championships to qualify for,” he said.
“So to have such a large number of swimmers qualify and to then have them do so well was very pleasing.
“I was really impressed with how everyone swam and a little bit surprised by the number of top ten finishes we recorded.
“Tahli Wilson and Sophie Gray did standout to me.
“They’re two of our younger members and both swam excellent races.”
Medal winners: Jessika Bliesner (18 years 50m backstroke gold and 100m backstroke bronze), Ashlea Gray (15 years 100m breaststroke bronze and 100m individual medley bronze), Isabella Kings (15 years 200m breaststroke bronze).