Ariel Muchirahondo, left, Aidan Withington, Noah Lomas and Leo English.
Ariel Muchirahondo, left, Aidan Withington, Noah Lomas and Leo English.
Teen swimmer Ariel Muchirahondo has smashed a 33-year-old age group record held by swimming legend Danyon Loader while qualifying for a major world competition.
Ariel, 16, from Rotorua, will swim in five events in the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships in Romania in August.
The first Kiwi to meet the qualifying time standards, Ariel qualified in the 400m individual medley, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 200m butterfly, and 200m individual medley.
He also broke three New Zealand age-group records during recent championships in Hawke’s Bay.
In the 200m butterfly, he smashed Danyon Loader’s 33-year-old record by over a second, with a time of 2:00.02, and in the 400m individual medley and 200m individual medley broke Luan Grobbelaar’s previous records.
For his 400m individual medley, Ariel was presented a joint Life Members Trophy for the most outstanding performance in the championships.
As well as breaking a Bay of Plenty regional record in every one of his events, Ariel also took out the open age BOP records in 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle, and 200m individual medley, having to be helped out of the pool in that final event.
He came home with six gold medals and one silver, and personal best times in every event.
Head coach Aidan Withington said the teen reached a new level at the competition.
“This was an outstanding event for Ariel, really just some world-class swims.
“Everything we were targeting and had planned fell into place perfectly.”
Ariel said it meant a lot that he could “get up there and swim faster than some of the greatest swimmers in New Zealand history”.
“It definitely shows me that I do have the potential to keep on improving and getting up there with some of the top swimmers in the world … I might have to start learning some Romanian.”
Withington said it was great a provincial club in a town the size of Rotorua had been able to produce a swimmer such as Ariel.
“We are very fortunate to have a great outdoor 50m pool, but it does show that it can be achieved anywhere.”
Other outstanding performances by Swim Rotorua athletes included Leo English, 15, who took gold in the 1500m freestyle, the 800m freestyle, the 400m freestyle, and the 200m freestyle despite being sick.
Ariel Muchirahondo broke Danyon Loader's 200m Butterfly age group record. Photo / Andrew Cornaga/PHOTOSPORT
Withington said his 1500m freestyle was “very well executed” and his 200 free was especially exciting, with Leo only taking the lead in the last 50 metres.
“His 100m Freestyle was an awesome finish and he sneaked in to get the bronze.”
Leo was “really proud of getting in there this week and giving it my best”.
Withington said Leo and Ariel lifted each other’s performance.
For three Swim Rotorua swimmers, this was their first National level competition — Noah Lomas, 13, Anaru Ftizell,14, and Giselle Yee, 13.
Giselle and Elizabeth Pool, 14, were both finalists in their respective age groups for multiple events, and all four set some strong new personal best times.
Noah had some outstanding swims, for his first [national age groups], with an “especially well-executed” 200 backstroke, taking gold.
He set personal best times and qualified for finals in all eight of his events, ending the week with two silver medals in 50m and 100m backstroke as well as the gold.
