Wanganui swimmers picked up a silver and a bronze medal on day one of the National Age Group Swim Championships in Wellington on Tuesday night.
Shannon Schimanski got the ball rolling with a gutsy swim in the 13-year-old girls' 100m breaststroke to finish third in 1.17.50 behind Conor Tarrant ofUnited in Auckland and Mikayla Dance of Howick-Pakuranga, both of whom recorded significant personal bests in the final.
Wanganui Swim Team coach Andy McLay said Schimanski's time was 0.12 seconds outside her personal best and she showed grit to hold off some fast-finishing competition to secure her position on the dais.
Elena Forlong was a surprise package in the 15-year-old girls' 200m butterfly.
Going into the event seeded 8th, she swam a two-second personal best in the heats to break the Wanganui age record in 2.28.10 and qualify third for the final.
Going out in a controlled first 100m Forlong stormed home over the last 100m to pass several swimmers and finish second to North Shore's Yeonsu Lee in 2.26.99, knocking another 1.11 seconds off the Wanganui record.
Both Wanganui swimmers have now qualified for a national age group camp in Rotorua in October.
