Swimming: Pair hold Juniors' best chances

The boys' relay team consists of Henare Cherrington, Taihorangi Morgan-Edmonds, Elliott and Gaualofa. Photo / Thinkstock

A pair of 12-year-olds hold the hopes of the 22-strong Northland swim team at the New Zealand Junior Swimming Championships in Wellington starting today.

Jeremy Elliot of Bay of Islands and Whangarei's Samantha Bailey are Northland's highest ranked swimmers. Both are sitting second in their best events.

Also sitting pretty ahead of racing are 11-year-olds Mia Gordon, of Northwave, and Logan Gaualofa, of Bay of Islands. The pair are good chances of bringing home medals as they hold several top five seedings.

Gaualofa is ranked in the top 10 for another five events.

Others to rank in the top 10 include Ngawari Pio, 12, and Tai Murray, 11, of Nga Papahu, and Temepara Bristow, 10, of Dargaville.

To underline the strength of junior swimming in Northland, the boys' and girls' 12-and-under 200m medley relay teams are both ranked fifth.

The boys' relay team consists of Henare Cherrington, Taihorangi Morgan-Edmonds, Elliott and Gaualofa.

The girls' relay team is made up of Nalani Karena-Waenga, Matariki Moetara, Bailey and Aarai Makaore.

Other swimmers to travel to Wellington for the championships include Bay of Islands' Ruby Murray, Ben Gaualofa and Emilia Finer, Bream Bay's Conor Swords and Jordan Carswell, Whangarei's Kennedy Boswell-Smith and Katelin Milina, Kaitaia's Nina Rose, Northwave's Caitlin Ahlers, and Doubtless Bay swimmer Farry Channell-Wilson.

In previous years the event was held simultaneously in two locations, with the results merged to find the medallists.

This year, all competitors will race against each other at the championships.

The championships consist of four sessions, starting this afternoon and concluding on Sunday.