Swim Rotorua relay team Karolina Joyce, left, Ngamihi Simpson, Ariel Muchirahondo and Mikulash Joyce. Photo / Supplied
Swim Rotorua relay team Karolina Joyce, left, Ngamihi Simpson, Ariel Muchirahondo and Mikulash Joyce. Photo / Supplied
A Rotorua swimmer has broken a New Zealand age group record that's stood for 16 years, adding to an already impressive list of achievements in the water.
Swim Rotorua athlete Ariel Muchirahondo, 13, broke the record in the 200 metres individual medley at the Swimming New Zealand National Secondary SchoolSwimming Championships in Hamilton last weekend.
The record of 2 minutes 14.69 seconds was previously set in 2006 by Mitchell Donaldson, who represented New Zealand in the race at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Muchirahondo, competing for John Paul College (JPC), broke Donaldson's record by nearly two seconds, recording 2m 12.85s to take the gold.
The 200m individual medley involves 50m of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle and is a race Wellington's Lewis Clareburt won bronze in at the Commonwealth Games this week.
Ariel Muchirahondo, 13, with Swim Rotorua head coach Aidan Withington. Photo / Supplied
Muchirahondo picked up five gold medals over the competition including the 200m individual medley, 100m butterfly, 200m butterfly, 100m individual medley and 400m freestyle, which he won by nearly 25m - dropping nine seconds off his personal best time.
He also won two individual silver medals, in the 100m freestyle and 200m breaststroke, and two individual bronze medals, in the 100m breaststroke and 50m butterfly.
Muchirahondo raced personal best times in nine of his 10 events over the four-day competition and also set six Bay of Plenty age group records.
He currently holds 44 Bay of Plenty age group records across all strokes.
Muchirahondo competed with three other John Paul College swimmers to win silver in the 4x50m mixed medley relay, leading the team off in backstroke, followed by Mikulash Joyce swimming the breaststroke, Karolina Joyce swimming butterfly and Ngamihi Simpson anchoring the team in the freestyle.
The same team competed in the 4x50m mixed freestyle relay winning the bronze medals in the 15 and under age group.
Overall the Swim Rotorua team of 16 athletes from three schools came away with five gold medals, six silver and six bronze, and a further 20 top 10 finishes.
Ariel Muchirahondo, centre, after winning gold and beating the NZ age group record in the 200m Individual Medley. Photo /Supplied
Kai Jung-Ishida, competing for Western Heights High School, placed in the top 10 in six individual events, Ngamihi Simpson (JPC) in five, Dion Wright (JPC) and Mikulash Joyce (JPC) in three, Aaron Muchirahondo (JPC) in one and Stella Weston (Rotorua Lakes High) in one.
Swim Rotorua head coach Aidan Withington said since coming to Swim Rotorua from Capital Swim Club in Wellington, he had really been focused on creating a strong foundation and high quality skills.
"Refined swimming skills are immensely important to be efficient in the water. The improvement swimmers like Ariel have made have been huge and has led to his success this weekend," Withington said.
"I am very excited for the bright future both Ariel and the club has."
