Swim Rotorua grabs haul of medals at Stratford meet

VICTORIOUS: The Swim Rotorua team had a great meeting in Stratford. Photo/Supplied

Swim Rotorua have brought home a treasure trove of 115 medals from their annual pilgrimage to the Taranaki Winter Championships.

Despite the tough pool conditions and the relentless cold in Stratford over the weekend, the Rotorua outfit demonstrated their strong teamwork and can-do attitude in bucketloads.

Rising star 13-year-old Josh Balmer produced a stunning series of races to win nine gold medals in the boys' 13-14 years age group. Josh remained undefeated in all his events with the best coming in the 200m freestyle final with a best time of 2 minutes 09.84 seconds.

Another star on the rise is Jasmine Hagan, 12, who was unbeatable in her favourite backstroke events to win a clean sweep in the 50m, 100m and 200m races. Jasmine managed to grab another four golds in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle and 200m medley.

Bianca Donelley made her season debut with a satisfying capture of six gold medals. These all came in the freestyle, backstroke and medley sprints. Bianca almost broke the one-minute barrier in the 100m freestyle with a time of 1min 00.97sec.

Sam Baldwin continues to impress with his skills and speed to take home a haul of five gold medals and one bronze in the boys' 11-12 years age group. In the 200m freestyle, Sam stormed away to record an excellent time of 2min 16.41sec. Older brother James competed in the 15 and older age group, and showed his sprinting prowess to snatch two gold medals in his favourite 50m freestyle and in the 50m backstroke.

David Boles got stuck into his signature distance events and came away with an impressive catch of four golds, one silver and two bronze medals. Pick of the bunch came in the open 1500m freestyle with David evading his opponents with a strong last 100m sprint to take the win with a solid time of 17min 28.71sec.

Sam Trass dug deep to fully deserve his four gold medals. These came in the boys' 11-12 years 50m and 100m backstroke and butterfly. The latter was his best race where Sam won in 1min 24.36sec.

Showing increasing versatility was 13-year-old Kapua Warbrick who climbed the top of the podium in her signature breaststroke events. These came in the 50m and 200m races, plus three silvers in the 200m and 400m medley and 100m breaststroke.

Alex Cameron, 12, persevered right to the end of the meet to win her first gold medal in the girls' 100m butterfly. Alex dropped her best time by seven seconds to finish in 1min 22.82sec. Alex also took home a further five medals which all came in the freestyle, butterfly and medley events.

Miki Joyce caught the coaches' eye with a triple gold haul in the boys' 10 and under age group. Miki showed great tenacity to pull off victories in the 50m and 100m breaststroke and in the 200m medley. Teammate Aaron Muchirahondo, competing in the same age group, managed to go one better. Aaron took home four gold medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke, 200m breaststroke and 100m freestyle, plus a further four silvers and two bronze medals.

Milla Theobald had a gruelling programme in the girls' 13-14 years age group but still managed to top the podium with victories in the 50m and 100m butterfly. Lina Stahlhut underlined her growing reputation by bagging seven medals including a solo win in the girls' 11-12 years 50m butterfly.

Head coach Alastair Johnson was happy with how the team fared.

"Racing at Stratford is all about bringing the team closer together, having fun and finding ways to race fast under harsh conditions. I was really impressed how the team performed under a heavy race programme which was in addition to our recent training boot camp.

"The results bode well for the rest of the season as we prepare for the Bay of Plenty Champs and then on to the nationals which are being held in October."