Georgia strong in AIMS Games

Georgia Abraham with her spoils from the AIMS Games in Bay of Plenty last week.

St George's School's Georgia Abraham had a strong week in the pool at the Anchor AIMS Games in Bay of Plenty.

Abraham was the pick of her three schoolmates and team mates in the Wanganui Toyota Swim Team after she qualified in four finals and came home with two medals in the 11-year-old girls grade in the highly regarded national intermediate schools sporting festival.

She picked up silver in the 50m Butterfly and bronze in the 50m backstroke, while her sixth placing in the 100m butterfly was less than 0.5 of a second away from another bronze.

Those were personal best efforts as Abraham set new Whanganui swimming records in the 50m butterfly, breaking her own mark, and the backstroke, surpassing the time set in 2012 by New Zealand junior representative Shannon Schimanski.

Abraham finished eighth in the 200m backstroke.

Fellow St George pupil Cayden Earles swam several personal best during the heats on day 1, but not qualify for any 12-year-old girls finals.

Andrew Hay qualified for the 13-year-old boys 100m breaststroke final with a personal best, but decided not to race the following day.

The group found the competition very strong at the meeting, because as well as schools from around the country there were representatives from Australia, Indonesia and the Pacific.

It was a good followup for Abraham as the Wanganui team had been to the Wellington Club Championships the previous week.

She won 200m backstroke gold and three silvers.

The club standout Shannon Schimanski, 17, was at her best with gold in the breaststroke of the 50m, 100m and 200m, while taking a silver in the 50m backstroke

Aria Bannister was in great form in the 9-years and under grade, winning five golds and two silvers while setting several new Whanganui records.

Ethan Bryers earned one gold and set three new Whanganui records, while Amelia Cronin, 14, claimed bronze in the 200m freestyle.

Alex Forlong won bronze for the 400m individual medley, while Allan Thongskul, 10, broke two Whanganui records.

The Carver brothers - Henry and Regan - set new local records in the 400m IM and the 50m butterfly respectively.

Schimanski, Forlong, Cronin and Bryers will now set their sights on the New Zealand Short Course Championships in Auckland on October 3, where they have all entered multiple events.