Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle / Sport

Record-breaking swim

By Staff Reporter
Whanganui Chronicle·
6 Oct, 2013 05:50 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Wanganui's Shannon Schimanski claimed a bronze medal in the 100m Breaststroke for her 13-year age group at the NZ Short Course championships in Wellington. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Wanganui's Shannon Schimanski claimed a bronze medal in the 100m Breaststroke for her 13-year age group at the NZ Short Course championships in Wellington. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She was the youngest member of the Wanganui team but 13-year-old Shannon Schimanski overcame her early nerves to win a bronze in the 100m breaststroke at the NZ Short Course Championships in Wellington last week.

Coach Jane Lowe said Schimanski's swim set a new Wanganui record, which she would surpass in the dual-age group final with her one minute, 17.58 second time breaking Bianca Vettise's time by more than 1.5 seconds.

"Initially overawed by the meet, Schimanski warmed up with some great relay swims assisting the girls 4x50m medley relay to reach the finals," said Lowe.

"In her favoured event, the 50m breaststroke, a nervous Schimanski placed seventh in 35.88 [a personal best], then went on to set a new Wanganui record for the 200m in 2:51.15, to place 8th."

Schimanski was relaxed by her final event, the 100m breaststroke, where she claimed her third placing.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Overall, Lowe was pleased with the Wanganui results at the championships where out of the nine-person team, six swimmers reached the top 10 of their grades, while breaking 11 Wanganui records.

"Laura O'Keeffe, 15, was consistent with personal bests in 11 of 13 events, plus a further seven relays, for the club and the Wellington region," said Lowe.

O'Keeffe set a new open record in the 100m freestyle, dipping under the coveted one minute mark to post 59.92 seconds.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In the 800m freestyle, with 14-year-old team mate Elena Forlong sitting close on her heels, O'Keeffe set a new local mark of 9:28.86, while Forlong set a new age group record of 9:30.53.

O'Keeffe posted a 1:06.94 in the 100m butterfly to eclipse Bianca Vettise's open record.

In total O'Keeffe's top 10 placings included 100m backstroke (1:07.23), 800m freestyle, 100m butterfly (seventh), 50m backstroke (eighth in 31.43) plus a strong 400m medley to finish sixth in the 15-16 year evening final in 5:13.48.

Forlong achieved personal bests on all her swims including placing fifth in the 200m butterfly in 2:30.96, an outstanding 9-second improvement.

She also placed eighth in the 800m freestyle.

"Fifteen-year-old Jacob Smith has shown impressive improvement across all strokes in the past five months and placed fifth in a new Wanganui Age record in the 200m breaststroke in 2:28.14, just 0.11 outside the open record," said Lowe.

Smith also placed seventh in the 100m breaststroke in 1:09.94.

Fergus Smith, 14, had some solid performances with a sixth in the 50m backstroke in 29.63, seventh in 100m backstroke in 1:04.80, then eighth in 100m medley in 1:04.41.

Sophie Couper, 15, led out the Wanganui girl's medley relay with a strong 50m backstroke of 31.47. "Couper achieved an eighth in the 200m backstroke and went into the 15-16 years final in the evening, looking very comfortable, took almost four seconds off her best with a 2:22.25 to place sixth," said Lowe.

O'Keeffe and Jacob Smith backed up from the 5-day meet to compete in the Zonal Championships on Friday, swimming for the Lower North Island 'All Stars' team.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

In this inaugural team event the All Stars placed second to the South Island Mako's team, with Central Aqua Knights third and North Harlequins fourth.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Sport

Sport

Rugby: Tough preseason ahead for Steelform Whanganui

Sport

Rugby: Marist Clovers reclaim title with dominant win

Whanganui Chronicle

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Sport

Rugby: Tough preseason ahead for Steelform Whanganui
Sport

Rugby: Tough preseason ahead for Steelform Whanganui

Whanganui face former All Blacks in their preseason Classics game.

17 Jul 05:00 PM
Rugby: Marist Clovers reclaim title with dominant win
Sport

Rugby: Marist Clovers reclaim title with dominant win

17 Jul 05:00 PM
Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running
Whanganui Chronicle

Endurance ace ready for 'Wimbledon' of trail running

15 Jul 05:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP