Swimming: Opportunity knocks for talented swimmers

Opportunities is the name of the new organisation in charge of coaching at the Greerton Swim Club (GSC), and their swimmers took every opportunity available at the national age group championships in Wellington last week.

The GSC was the dominant club from the Bay of Plenty, taking home six medals, three fourth places and making 19 finals (top 10 in New Zealand). They were ranked as 24th club nationally from 79 clubs - well ahead of any other Bay club.

Simply outstanding for the GSC was Blake Horne (13). The promising young swimmer announced himself on the national scene for the first time, winning one gold medal, two silver medals and three bronze medals.

Horne qualified for the 400m freestyle final before swimming 4:26.51 to claim third in the final and knocking a staggering 16 seconds off his personal best.

He then won silver in the 200m backstroke and gold in the 200m freestyle. Horne won the gold with his time of 2:05.65, wiping two seconds off the long-standing Bay of Plenty record.

Horne also achieved his personal goal of swimming a sub 60sec 100m freestyle, a time that coach Tai Daniela joked means he can now call himself a swimmer. Horne then went sub 59, taking the bronze medal in the final. Horne's fifth and sixth medals, a bronze and silver, came in the 50m and 100m backstroke.

Claudia Capp (15) was twice denied a medal by the closest of margins. Her 100m freestyle time of 1:00.22 was a big personal best for fourth place and she also placed fifth in the 200m freestyle, sixth in the 200m butterfly and seventh in the 800m freestyle.

The GSC freestyle relay team of Capp, Danielle Waiari, Stacy Muir and Hannah Philpot (all 15) came fourth in the final.

Calum Gilmour (15) made two finals in his favoured butterfly disciplines. The pick of his races was a strong sixth place in the 100m butterfly in a personal best 1:02.33. Libby Bradley (14) came ninth over the 50m freestyle in a personal best 28.78s, while Dannielle O'Connor (18) finished seventh in 28.07.