The two-day BOP Age Group swim meet concluded on Sunday with some fine results for the Greerton swim team.
The long course (50m pool) meet was held in Rotorua and aimed to cater for swimmers up to the age of 17. However it was some of the younger swimmers who upstaged their older counterparts with some top performances. Logan Horne (11), who has been training the last couple of weeks with a cast on due to a broken thumb, relished the removal of it with two New Zealand Junior qualifying times over the 50m and 100m butterfly distances. Mia Pugh also hit the 50m butterfly target along with the 100m freestyle. The national junior 50m butterfly time took its final beating from Jessica Martin (10) who swam an impressive 42.35sec.
Head coach Tai Daniela remarked that Martin's time was testament to the work of outgoing junior coach Sharon Hough. Daniela, who heads up the new Swimming Opportunities coaching firm, does not target junior nationals - preferring instead to instil sound technique and a love of swimming in the junior swimmers - but was nevertheless pleased with the current Greerton tally of seven qualifiers, with a number of others right on the cusp.
One of those who just missed out was Ezra Cashmore (12) who swam a personal best 32.42sec for the 50m freestyle. Cashmore added a further four personal bests to cap a strong meet for him.
The more senior team members were led by some excellent swimming from Hannah Philpot (15), who swam a total of eight personal bests from eight starts across the weekend.
Philpot won the 100m and 200m backstroke, the 200m medley and the 400m freestyle. She backed those placings up with three seconds and a third.
In terms of finishing position it was hard to beat Libby Bradley (13), who won eight races from her eight starts. She then combined with fellow Greerton swimmers Hannah Philpot, Claudia Capp (15), Stacey Muir (15), Ciara Derecourt (14), Olivia Philpot (10) and Danielle Waiari (15) to win both the 400m freestyle relay as well as the 400m medley relay.
Blake Horne (13) continued his rise up the rankings with some fast swimming. Especially pleasing for the coaching staff was his freestyle sprinting taking out the 50m in a sharp 29.30sec and the 100m in 1:01.86. Horne also added the 200m medley to his list of national events, swimming 2:36.66, and to prove he could do long distance as well he won the 1500m for good measure.
Ciara Derecourt won six events in the 14-year age group swimming a personal best in the 50m freestyle.
Ella Browne (12) ended the meet with four best times from seven starts, as did Stacey Muir and Olivia Philpot.
Other swimmers to swim best times were 15-year-olds Emma Harding, Claudia Capp, Lucy Happe, Libby O'Toole, Gaia Pini and Danielle Waiari as well as Tessa Bradley (12) and Keeley Johns (14).
Twenty-one Greerton swimmers are remaining in Rotorua for a week of intensive training ahead of their national championship competitions beginning mid-February.