By Peter White
There were 36 Greerton Swim Club swimmers in action at the two-day Taupo XLR8 meet last weekend.
The meet rewards young swimmers for their allround ability by requiring a 200m medley, a long-distance freestyle, a 200m non-freestyle and one own choice event.
Amongst strong competition from as far afield as Wellington and Auckland, the Farrell siblings Connor (14) and Caitlin (11), along with Thomas Wilkinson (13), managed top-three XLR8 placings. Caitlin won gold medals in five events while Connor and Thomas did not finish worse than bronze and silver across the entire weekend.
The blue riband 100m freestyle was the most hotly contested individual event and the Greerton club's most successful. Connor Farrell won the boys' 14 in 56.56 while Lochlainn O'Connor edged out training partner Cai Jager in 53.73 to take the top two podium slots in the 16 and over division. Caitlin Farrell won the girls' 11 in 1:07.03 and Marijke Hattingh took out the 16 and over in 1:00.00.