Baywave hosted the 2013 Swimming Bay of Plenty relay championships on Sunday with a number of teams pulling out all the stops in order to claim regional bragging rights.
The Greerton Swim club dominated the title chase, winning 10 of the 16 titles on offer - a huge improvement on the five of 2012.
Superbly led by international Nathan Capp and returning US Collegiate swimmer Taylor Armstrong, and backed up by the likes of national age group champion Blake Horne and division two stars Lucy Happe and Stanley O'Toole, the team proved unbeatable at times.
Relay swimming is however all about team racing and with points awarded down to seventh place, all 60 Greerton swimmers swam their hearts out for each point.
The highlight was taking out the prestigious Jim Gardner Trophy over 10 x 25m Freestyle swum by one male and one female in each age group from open down to 9 and under. Tactics also came into play with swimmers able to start in any order. Coach Daniela Front loaded the Greerton team who gained a sizeable lead on cross town rivals Otumoetai only to see that slowly eroded over the final few lengths.
In an exciting finish, eight-year-old Sarah Cummings showed all the determination of her mum (former Olympian Liz van Welie) and just held on under immense pressure from the fast closing older swimmers.
Similar tactics were employed in the Mikaere Shield 6 x 25m freestyle event. The shield is an ornate Maori carving that the club was determined to retain in the trophy cabinet and the team did not disappoint with 12 year old Tessa Bradley controlling her nerves to bring that event home.
Relay swimming is also very technical with starts and changeovers critical and requiring much practice in training. This was no more evident than in the Life Members Trophy mixed 9-and-under event. The Greerton team of Jacob Browne, Evie Game, Sarah Cummings and Ian Pugh swan to a creditable third place only to be promoted to title winners on disqualification of both the leading teams.
Although the overall points for the Gladesville Trophy were still be collated at the time of writing, it looked to be a close run thing between Tauranga powerhouse clubs Otumoetai and Greerton.
Otumoetai through sheer weight of numbers, an impressive 90+ athletes ranging in ages from 8-46 years old, and an ability to call on surf stars such as Ironman champion Andrew Newton, were able to clock up multiple points in every event.
Many of Otumoetai's younger swimmers were making their debut at a swim meet and showed that this would not be their last. The team performed exceptionally well under the guidance of the excellent team managers and coaches bringing home four first places, nine second places and six third places as well as a first and third with their two parent teams.
The winning Otumoetai swimmers were George Culling, Josh Pickett, Damien Potts and Rhianna Maxwell (Mixed 12-14 100 Medley), Emily Cairns, Isabella Akroyd, Grace Blissett and Nikayla Bradley (Female 10-11 Medley), Thomas Hacker, Daniel Shanahan, Tristen Eiselen and Nik Donovan (Male 10-11 100 Free), and Selby Filipo, Emily Cairns, Isabella Akroyd and Nikayla Bradley (Female 10-11 100 Free).
Host club Mount Maunganui also competed well, with plenty of surf stars of their own, along with the always competitive Swim Rotorua team. It was also pleasing to see Taupo competing in force this year.