This butterfly isn’t larking about in water
Top butterfly swimmer Jenna Rolston–Larking is not fazed by competing against older and taller girls – she beats most of them.
This month she again swam under the qualifying times for the national age grade championships, for teenage swimmers and top 12-year old qualifiers.
But the Tawa Swimming Club speedster won’t be competing at these nationals until 2016 – she has just turned 10.
Rolston-Larking will qualify for the national open champs before competing at national age grades if she drops her times by two seconds.
At the Junior National Championships in February, she picked up a silver medal at age nine, and won eight events at this month’s Wellington Swimming Championships at faster times than girls more than six years older.
Rolston-Larking’s 200m butterfly time, 2m 38.83s, was the fastest ever for a 10-year-old girl in New Zealand by a massive 13 seconds, according to online results from Swimming New Zealand.
It is also the fastest this year by nearly 20 seconds.
Rolston-Larking only decided what time she was aiming for when she got up that morning.
‘‘I was aiming for a 2m 37s. That’s the top 11-year-old time,’’ she said.
Her times at the Wellington event were faster than some 18-year olds at this year’s nationals. It is likely that, next year, Rolston-Larking will be the youngest girl to get a under-13 200m butterfly title at the junior nationals, the week after she turns 11, should she keep improving at her current rate.
Tawa’s head coach Jason McPhee will not be surprised if she does so.
‘‘She’s one of the most focused in the squad. She is natural talent, and has a level of time management one wouldn’t expect as a 10-year-old.’’
Rolston-Larking’s 100m time of 1.11.76 was the fastest ever for a girl her age in New Zealand, and incredibly, just 7 seconds shy of a Youth Olympics (under-19) B qualifying time.
She also swam a New Zealand 10-yrs best time – 21m 8.25s – in her first 1500m freestyle event last month in Palmerston North. No-one saw that one coming.
‘‘ I didn’t think I’d get Rolston-Larking said.
‘‘I was pleasantly surprised – it was her first swim,’’ McPhee added.
Rolston–Larking, who trains five times a week at Tawa, says the most enjoyable aspect of swimming is touring the country and swimming against the best.
that,’’