The 2013 Greerton Winter swim meet held at Baywave during the weekend was dominated by a handful of top clubs from outside the region but a number of swimmers from Otumoetai and Greerton clubs stood out.
Otumoetai, under head coach Stefan Swanepoel, arrived with a healthy squad of 41 swimmers- the biggest contingent of any club attending.
By the end of the weekend their swimmers had secured six first places, eight second places and 11 third places in a very competitive meet.
The action started on Friday night with the gut-busting 800- and 1500-metre freestyle events. Jess Miller came up against a strong field including American collegiate swimmer Taylor Armstrong and she prevailed over Taylor when finishing second in a fraction over 9 minutes. In the 14/15 year age group, Rhianna Maxwell swam credibly in a strong line-up to snare a podium finish. In the 1500m, Benji Rowe smashed his previous personal best set only a month ago by nearly 40s going under 18 minutes to claim the win.
Josh Pickett broke two Bay of Plenty records in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events and he also won the 50m breaststroke.
Libby Bradley, 14, took out the 50m backstroke in 32.06 and backed that up with a second placing over 100m freestyle in a personal best 1:00.80, just ahead of teammate Claudia Capp (15) in third. Capp was second over the 200m freestyle in 2:11.22 and third in the 200m backstroke. She also swam a strong 200m individual medley touching in third.
Blake Horne (14) won the 1500m freestyle in a new personal best 17:12.79. Ezra Cashmore celebrated his 13th birthday with a number of personal bests, including 31.13s for the 50m freestyle.
