SWIMMING - Young swimmers impress at champs

NORTHLAND age group swimmers have again impressed, this time at the national division two swimming championships, held at the Wellington Aquatic Centre in Kilbirnie over Easter.
The division two championships followed on from the success of Ashlee Crane, Carla Marsh and others at the recent NZ Age Group Championships (NAG) in Christchurch. The event is aimed at the swimmers who just missed out on qualifying for the nationals and is designed to give them the experience they need to qualify for next year's age group championships.
There were 37 Northlanders at the Wellington meeting, the largest team Swimming Northland has sent to any national competition. Collectively they made 91 finals places, winning 16 third place ribbons, nine second place ribbons and eight first place ribbons. The relay teams made eight finals, bringing home a third place ribbon in the Boys' 14 & under 200m medley relay and firsts in both the Girls' 15 & over 200m freestyle & 200m medley.
The 15 & over girls' results may be a first for Northland Swimming, as none of the coaches or managers could remember a team winning both titles.
Top individual male was again Bream Bay's Bradley Kemp, who had two firsts, two seconds and three thirds and also swam NAG qualifying times. Other top performers were Whangarei Swimming Club's Kadince Christensen, who had one first, a second and a third place, along with Kamo's Sam McCahon with one first and a third, and Manaia's Logan Howe with three seconds and two thirds.
The top individual female was Manaia's Sarah-Jay Screen, who had two firsts and a third place, followed by Northwave Swimming Club's Alannah Cate with one first, a second and a third place. Whangarei's Lizzie Cotton was another outstanding performer, with one first in the under-15 50m breaststroke and a second in the 100m breaststroke.
The successful 14-year boys' medley relay team were Christensen, Howe, McCahon and Manaia's Te Piha Niha.
The 15-year girls' freestyle relay team were Northwave's Mia Haywood, Northwave's Renee Ryan, Mako's Rebecca Ferris and Screen. The successful 15-year girls' medley team were Cate, Cotton, Screen and Ryan.
Clubs represented were Kaitaia, Doubtless Bay, Kerikeri, Bay of Islands, Whangarei, Northwave, Kamo & Manaia.
Other members of the Northland team: Ashleigh Barker, Hillary Derrick, Brooke Eastwood, Shannon French, Taryn Gillespie, Sarah Gorman, Haylee Jensen, Hannah Leaming, Oceane Maihi, Melissa Marsh, Alice Massey, Holly Millan, Tarrah Nichols, April Nordstrom, Laura Parker, Caleb Ace, Dylan Baker, Jimmy Bodle, Logan Ferguson-Rudolph, Thomas Gillespie, Haydn Jurisich, Te Piha Niha, Jordan Pene, Darren Travers, Lars Vogel-Heid, Nicholas Wheaton and Alastair Wild.