"This meet was great for the swimmers' development and encourages younger swimmers."
The junior festival is not a typical national meet, the fifth and final session is in theme. This year's was cartoon characters and best dressed went to Rotorua's own Leonard Rankin.
One of the club highlights was winning the 6x50m mixed freestyle relay and boys' 4x50m freestyle relay.
Noah Lomas, 9, was the youngest member on the team and swims in the club's Junior Academy. He won the 50m freestyle kick for the 10-and-under age group and had five other top 10 finishes.
Zairah Lomas, 10, also had some outstanding swims, finishing third in the 50m butterfly, with five other top eight finishes, four of them being fourth.
Charlotte Tremain, 10, faced some tough competition in the 200m breaststroke but still managed to finish third and had one other top eight finish.
Ariel Muchirahondo's, 11, hard work and training paid off when he set seven new regional records. He won all his races - the 50m and 100m butterfly, 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke and freestyle and 100m backstroke and medley.
Kai Jung-Ishida, 11, another strong Swim Rotorua swimmer, won the 200m medley, 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle kick, came second in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle, 50m butterfly and 100m medley and third in the 100m backstroke.
Hone Curtis, 12, executed his swims well and was second in the 200m backstroke and had three other top eight finishes.
Ava Tremain, 12, setting personal best times in all her swims, achieved third in the 100m fly and 200m backstroke and had eight other top 10 finishes.
Other swimmers with top eight finishes were Tamzin Joy and Leonard Rankin. Other Swim Rotorua representees were Matilda Kiss and Kate Staunton. A big thanks to Tiana Hill who was lead coach for this meet.
