Sharks set to make a splash
Horsham Swimming Club members are preparing to compete at Victorian Country Short Course Championships at the weekend.
Hugo Hopper, 10, Lily Bolton, 11, Deacon Briggs, 13, Claudia Lanyon, 13, and Matthew Ough, 16, will be up against the state’s best young swimmers at Wangaratta.
Ovens and Murray District Swimming Association will host the meet at Wangaratta Indoor Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Swimmers will compete events across two days.
The events are timed finals, meaning the fastest time for all heats wins the event.
To compete in Victorian shortcourse championships, swimmers need to achieve strict qualifying times at designated qualifying meets.
The new season officially started in July, however, swimmers have been back in the pool since the end of May getting themselves competition fit.
Megan Hutchinson, Georgina Staples, Des Bolton and Mackenzie Connelly have been guiding Horsham Sharks swimmers at training, helping athletes fine-tune techniques so that they can achieve qualifying times. in 81
Publicity officer Helen Wills said Deacon, Lily and Matthew had all previously competed at short-course country championships, while Claudia and Hugo would compete at this level for the first time.
“All the swimmers have worked really hard to achieve their qualifying times and are looking forward to competing at Wangaratta,” she said.
“Enjoying the experience and gaining personal best times will be the aim.”
Horsham competitors are – 11 and under: Hugo Hopper, 50m breastroke; Lily Bolton, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 100m individual medley, 100m freestyle. 12-13 years: Deacon Briggs, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m individual medley, 200m individual medley; Claudia Lanyon 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke. 16-17 years: Matthew Ough, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 100m individual medley, 200m freestyle, 200m individual medley.