Swimming: Teen smashes own pool record

Stanley O'Toole can scarcely believe the time he set in winning the 100m butterfly final at the NZ Division 2 Swimming Championships held in Invercargill.

The 17-year-old Greerton Swimming Club member last week swam 1:01.42, which was 4.4 seconds quicker than the time he swam in the heat and a staggering six seconds quicker than his personal best.

O'Toole, who is a Year 13 student at Aquinas College, was shocked to find out how fast he had swum.

"It was pretty unbelievable. I didn't realise I could go that fast," he said.

"I really just focused before the race and I remember finishing and looking up to see my time and I started laughing. I couldn't believe it really.

"It must have been in there somewhere."

Butterfly is O'Toole's main stroke but he is also a quality freestyler, as the silver medals he won in Invercargill in the 200m freestyle (2:04.21), 100m freestyle (56.27) and 50m freestyle (26.21) indicate.

He has been swimming since he was 4 and competing since the age of 12 but, with university looming next year, O'Toole has a big decision to make about his swimming career.

"I am not too sure as swimming is quite a big commitment and I have to decide whether I need to focus on schoolwork or whether I can do another stint in the pool."

O'Toole has worked with Greerton Swimming coach Tai Daniela for five years and credits him with playing a major role in his development.

"He is a really good coach. he works with us a lot and he knows what we need to do our best, I guess. He knows what I can do and has always said I had some potential."

Daniela says he thought O'Toole was capable of swimming such a sharp time but he has underperformed in butterfly. "There is no doubt he has a lot of potential and if he wanted to he could reach that next level, where he starts looking at international stuff, but it is whether he really wants to or not."

"Over the last five years, probably the biggest thing would be his consistent improvement in technique the whole way through. He did really well about three years ago and he was a national age group swimmer, but he has had a bit of a break since then and is just getting back into it now."

The swim meet was a huge success for Greerton, with the club finishing 14th from 72 clubs to be the Bay of Plenty's top performing club.