Outstanding medal haul for Wairarapa swimmers

Five gold, two silver and four bronze was the outstanding medal haul for Wairarapa at the New Zealand age group swimming championships which drew to a close in Wellington over the weekend. Two stars of the boys 15yrs section Neil Van Wijk (Carterton) and Isaac Foote (Masterton) shared the golds between them, with Van Wijk winning three and Foote two. All of Van Wijks came in the breaststroke, placing first over 50m, 100m and 200m while Foote showed his versatility by winning the 400m individual medley and the gruelling 1500m freestyle. Foote also grabbed a silver medal in the 200m individual medley and actually reached finals in each of his nine events, clocking personal best times in all but one. He heads to Australia at Easter to compete in the Australian age group championships where he has qualified in five events. The other silver medallist for Wairarapa was Joe Hammond (Carterton) in the boys 13yrs 100m backstroke and he also picked up a bronze medal for his third in the 200m backstroke.
Also finishing third and coming away with bronze medals were Talia Hullena (Carterton) in the girls 14yrs 50m breaststroke, Ben Ruback (Masterton) in the boys 13yrs 1500m freestyle and Grace Hammond (Carterton) in the girls 14yrs 100m freestyle. Not surprisingly both Masterton coach Anna Kitching and Carterton coach Russell Geange were thrilled to see their charges perform so well against such high quality opposition with their delight being increased by the huge number of Wairarapa records which fell during the meet not to mention the huge number of personal best times which were recorded.
The major results for Wairarapa were:-
BOYS 200M BUTTERFLY: Ben Ruback (Masterton) 13yrs 8th in 2.35.12; Isaac Foote (Masterton) 15yrs 4th in 2.14.20.
GIRLS 400M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: Katrina Simmonds (Carterton) 13yrs 7th in 5.24.64.
Boys 400m freestyle: Ben Ruback (Masterton) 13yrs 7th in 4.38.87.
BOYS 50M BREASTSTROKE: Neil Van Wijk (Carterton) 15yrs 1st in 31.09secs.
GIRLS 100M FREESTYLE: Katrina Simmonds (Carterton) 13 6th in 1.02.61; Grace Hammond (Carterton) 14yrs 3rd in 1.01.01.
BOYS 200M BACKSTROKE: Joe Hammond (Carterton) 13yrs 3rd in 2.23.58; Ben Ruback (Masterton) 6th in 2.28.20; William Hamilton (Masterton) 13yrs 10th in 2.39.50; Hamish Hammond (Carterton) 17-18yrs 10th in 2.20.23.
BOYS 200M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: Ben Ruback (Masterton) 13yrs 10th in 2.38.41; Isaac Foote (Masterton) 15yrs 2nd in 2.16.68; Neil Van Wijk (Carterton) 15yrs 4th in 2.18.25.
GIRLS 50M BREASTSTROKE: Talia Hullena (Carterton) 14yrs 3rd in 35.85
BOYS 50M BACKSTROKE: Joe Hammond (Carterton) 13yrs 4th in 31.46; William Hamilton (Masterton) 13yrs 9th in 33.47
Girls 200m backstroke: Talia Hullena (Carterton) 14yrs 5th in 2.33.15.
GIRLS 200M FREESTYLE: Charlotte Pope (Carterton) 13yrs 10th in 2.18.41.
BOYS 400M INDIVIDUAL MEDLEY: Ben Ruback (Masterton) 13yrs 7th in 5.17.91, Isaac Foote (Masterton) 15yrs 1st in 4.48.16.
Girls 100m backstroke: Talia Hullena (Carterton) 14yrs 4th in 1.09.17.
BOYS 50M BUTTERFLY: Isaac Foote (Masterton) 15yrs 7th in 27.70.
GIRLS 200M BREASTSTROKE: Hannah Hammond (Carterton) 14yrs 10th in 3.04.97.
BOYS 100M FREESTYLE: Neil Van Wijk (Carterton) 15yrs 9th in 57.93secs.
GIRLS 200M FREESTYLE: Charlotte Pope (Carterton) 13yrs 10th in 2.18.41.
GIRLS 800M FREESTYLE: Katrina Simmonds (Carterton) 13yrs 6th in 9.43.55.
BOYS 1500M FREESTYLE: Ben Ruback (Masterton) 13yrs 3rd in 17.56.95; Isaac Foote (Masterton)15yrs 1st in time not listed.
BOYS 100M BACKSTROKE: Joe Hammond (Carterton) 13yrs 2nd in 1.06.00.
BOYS 100M BREASTSTROKE: Neil Van Wijk (Carterton) 15yrs 1st in 108.01.
BOYS 200MK BREASTSTROKE: Neil Van Wijk (Carterton) 15yrs 1st in 2.32.00.