SWIM Rotorua enjoyed another excellent weekend of racing at the Bay of Plenty short course championships.
The event was held at Baywave in Mount Maunganui, in their 25m pool, last weekend and attracted swimmers from Waikato, Hawke's Bay, Poverty Bay, Taranaki and Bay of Plenty.
New kid on the block James Baldwin produced a phenomenal tour de force to take home six medals and one Bay of Plenty 12-years age-group record. Despite being a relative newcomer to the sport, Baldwin displayed his competitiveness and skill to win the 100m breaststroke in 1min 22.02sec.
Baldwin collected four silver medals to demonstrate his versatility in the 50m and 100m freestyle, 50m breaststroke and 200m medley. His heat time of 27.51 seconds in the 50m freestyle smashed the BOP record. Not quite done, Baldwin also captured a bronze medal in the 100m medley with 1min 13.87sec.
Jack Weston, 16, continues to shine on his trademark breaststroke events. In what proved to be a competitive age group, Weston had to settle on this occasion for one silver medal in the 200m breaststroke and two bronze medals in the 50m and 100m breaststroke.
Weston had the consolation of breaking his own Bay of Plenty record with times of 31.06 seconds and 2min 24.57sec in the 50m and 200m events. Weston underlined his improvement with top-eight placings in the finals of the 100m and 200m medley and the 200m backstroke.
Josh Balmer was in superb form in the boys 10-year events. The Lynmore School student celebrated his recent sport scholarship award from the popular Swim2XL Programme to bag three medals.
Balmer really attacked the 100m breaststroke to beat his best time by over seven seconds to take joint gold in a very fast time of 1min 37.76sec.
Balmer also had podium finishes in his favourite 50m and 200m breaststroke where he took second place in both.
Another top performer included John Paul College student Jude Carpenter who won a silver medal in the boys 11-12 years age-group 200m backstroke.
Teammates David Boles and Paddy Baylis duelled all weekend in the boys 13-14 years events.
Boles won a silver medal in the 200m backstroke one place ahead of Baylis. The tables were turned in the 400m medley with both boys within touching distance of breaking five minutes. They linked strongly with teammates William Spear and Jack Weston to take a well deserved bronze in the open 4 x 100m freestyle relay.
Other notable performances came from Huntar Clarke, Samantha Irving and sisters Kaira and Skye Cox.
Club stalwarts Emily Spear, Milla Theobald, Tara Chemis, Rachel Mead and Joe Nagera all recorded best times to round off a highly satisfying weekend for the Swim Rotorua Club.
Last year, the club won six medals and this time it was 16. It has been particularly pleasing to see more and more younger athletes coming through and making an impact.