Swim Rotorua shines at BOP junior champs

STANDOUTS: Swim Rotorua's Aaron Muchirahondo (left) and Annelyse Cowie (right) stood out in the pool for their side at the Bay of Plenty junior swimming championships. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Swim Rotorua shone this weekend at the Bay of Plenty junior swimming championships held at the Rotorua Aquatic Centre.

The club had a team of 21 swimmers aged 12 and under, with 13 winning medals and every team member racing to at least one finalplacing meaning Swim Rotorua now have the Bay of Plenty age group champions in 14 events.

The side also had the only 8-year-old at the competition - Ava Tremain - while there were standout performances from Annelyse Cowie and Aaron Muchirahondo.

Cowie, 12, won nine medals in her age group. She won six gold medals - to be Bay of Plenty 12-year-age group champion in the 400m individual medley, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 200m and 400m freestyle and the 100m butterfly.

Cowie also won a further two silver medals and a bronze - she raced a powerful 400m free to break the five-minute barrier for the first time.

Muchirahondo, 10, blazed on to the scene at his first Bay of Plenty junior championships by winning six gold medals in the 50m butterfly, 100m and 200m breaststroke, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and the 200m individual medley.

Recent coaching work from head coach Alastair Johnson on Muchirahondo's breaststroke led to a big time improvement across all his breaststroke races but particularly his 200m breaststroke where he dropped more than 10 seconds to finish in a time of 3m 40s.

Theo Harvey became the 11-year-old Bay of Plenty champion in 400m freestyle in a nail-biting race against a top swimmer from Tauranga's Otumoetai Club. Harvey managed to hold on, winning by less than two seconds in a time of 5m 23 s. He backed this up with five silver medals and two bronzes.

The ongoing rivalry between Swim Rotorua's Joshua Balmer, 12, and Otumoetai's Tarquin Magner continued at this competition with close racing, particularly in 100m freestyle but Tarquin set a New Zealand record in the race.

The 400m freestyle was similarly close with Balmer taking the silver and he went on to win a further three bronze medals.

Dion Wright, 10, has worked his way back to fitness after a break from swimming, winning the gold in the 200m freestyle with an 11-second improvement on his time. He also won silver medals in the 200m individual medley and 200m backstroke.

Lina Stahlhut's gutsy racing style won her two silver medals in 200m individual medley and 400m freestyle and three bronze in the 50m free and back and 100m backstroke.

Samuel Trass impressed in his butterfly winning silver in 50m butterfly and bronze in 100m butterfly, and a bronze in 400m freestyle.

Jasmine Hagan continued her strong form in her signature backstroke events, claiming silver in 200m backstroke, and two bronzes in the 50m and 100m backstroke.

Karolina Joyce, 9, at her first Championships won silver in 200m breaststroke and bronze in 50m freestyle.

Sam Baldwin won bronze in 400m free, Elise Creswell won bronze in 100m butterfly and Stella Weston bronze in 100m breaststroke.

The Swim Rotorua girls medley team won silver, while the boys took the bronze in both the medley and the freestyle relay.

With the New Zealand Aquaknights Junior Festival being held in Rotorua in February, Swim Rotorua are shaping up not only to have a big team, but to have some top performers.