Bianca Donelley (14) and Paddy Baylis (16) from Swim Rotorua have been selected for the New Zealand team heading to the State Teams Age Short Course Championship in Canberra while head coach Alastair Johnson is part of the squad's coaching team. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER 020916sp1.JPG
Bianca Donelley (14) and Paddy Baylis (16) from Swim Rotorua have been selected for the New Zealand team heading to the State Teams Age Short Course Championship in Canberra while head coach Alastair Johnson is part of the squad's coaching team. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER 020916sp1.JPG
A coach and two swimmers from Swim Rotorua will be part of an age group New Zealand team competing in Australia later this month.
Swim Rotorua head coach Alastair Johnson and swimmers Bianca Donelley and Paddy Baylis will be at the 2016 State Teams Age Short Course Championship in Canberra that starts on September 23.
The team is made up of 40 swimmers and five coaches and will be guided by head coach Gary Hurring, who was at the Rio Olympics with the New Zealand swimming team.
Baylis, 16, was part of the New Zealand team at the event last year.
''It means I know what the pool's like and how the meet's set up, so I can get straight into it when I get there,'' he said.
Specialising in the 1500m, in a 25m pool, turns can be crucial.
''It does mean you have to have quite good turns, which the Australians do, so it's something I need to work on so I don't lose a lot of ground on the turns.''
Donelley, 14, will be attending the short course age group event for the first time, although she competed at the Australian Long Course Age Group Championships in April and the Victorian State Age Group Swimming championships with the AquaKnights late last year where she won six of her seven events.
The AquaKnights are the top young swimmers from the Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay and Waikato.
''I think it will be a different experience (than the long course event) because the team's going to be a lot bigger. It's good that we have Alastair there and Gary Hurring, who went with me to the Aussie age champs,'' said Donelley.
Baylis qualified for the team by posting the fastest time for the 1500m nationally in the zonal championships, one of four meets across the country where qualifying times were set.
But he had to wait until the final, South Island, event before hearing whether he had made it into the team for the second time.
''I'm really rapt about it, representing New Zealand. Hopefully now I can set a new best time and get some more experience of competing internationally.''
Donelley's preference is for the shorter sprint distances, but as yet she does not know which distance she will be swimming in in Australia.
Swim training is notoriously hard and can be tedious.
''But it's something you have to do if you want to win at those levels and it does become worth it when you get news like this,'' said Baylis.
''It does get boring, but there's always some kind of determination keeping me going. And now I've got something to really look forward to in training,'' said Donelley.
''I'm hoping to get more experience because Australia's really, really good at swimming - I found that out at Aussie Age (Group). Hopefully I'll get some really good times out of it and build some confidence.''
Johnson said he hadn't anticipated being named as one of the team's coaches.
''But it's very exciting and it's a great honour to be a coach for New Zealand,'' he said.
He has previously coached at the World Championships in Melbourne in 2007 and at the Commonwealth Games in 2006, as well as coaching internationally with English and Scottish teams.
Bianca Donelley (14) and Paddy Baylis (16) from Swim Rotorua have been selected for the New Zealand team heading to the State Teams Age Short Course Championship in Canberra while head coach Alastair Johnson is part of the squad's coaching team. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER 020916sp1.JPG
''It's just great that I've been selected and we've got two promising athletes from Swim Rotorua in the team at the same time,'' he said.
''It's quite a cool thing to have the three of us travelling together - it's fantastic for the sport and the club and its profile.''
''They've both been involved before, so they are not going to get fazed, it's something they've strived towards and they'll just take it in their stride and be competitive on the day.''
Johnson will be working under head coach Hurring, with three other coaches.
