Young Kiwi Swimmers Complete Record Haul Across the Tasman

New Zealand swimmers finished with a record 31 medals when the Australian Age Group Championships wound up in Adelaide last night.

Kiwi swimmers won a further six medals on the final night, including gold medals to Corey Main and Sophia Batchelor along with four national records at the Adelaide Aquatic Centre.
It brought the final tally to 10 gold medals, 11 silver and 10 bronze as well as 19 national records.

The final night was led by Christchurch’s Batchelor (AquaGym), who won the 15 years 100m butterfly. Going into the competition ranked seventh, Batchelor, coached by Leanne Speechley, produced a superb performance to win in 59.48, which set not only a new national age record but an open record, going under the time she set at the recent World Championship Trials.

Main (Howick Pakuranga), coached by Gary Hollywood, took out the 16 years 200m backstroke. He found himself behind at the 150m mark but turned up the heat to win by more than a body length in 2:02.76. This broke the national age group record held by Kurt Bassett.

The other medals on the final night went to Alex Pampalone (Swim Zone), Abbie Johnston (AquaGym), Michael Mincham (Waterhole) and Wilrich Coetzee (Coast).

Mincham, ranked only 15th going into the competition in the 14 years 200m freestyle, took more than a second off his previous best to finish third in a time of 1:55.78 to set a new national age record. It completed a superb championship with the young Aucklander winning five medals.

Johnson (AquaGym), coached by Speechley, won a silver medal in the 14 years 200m breaststroke in 2:37.96 after taking a massive 5.5 seconds off her previous best in the morning heats.

Wellington’s Pampalone, coached by John Ross, won a silver in the 12-13 years girls’ 100m backstroke in 1:05.58 which was three seconds faster than she had gone before.
Coetzee, coached by Mihai Mandache in Whangaparaoa, finished third in the finals of the 12-13 years 400m individual medley in 4:509.84 to win his second medal and a national age record in the 200m butterfly.

Mincham, coached by Gwen Ryan, led the way for the New Zealanders with five medals with three each to Corey Main and Callum Sinclair (Tawa) while Batchelor, Bradlee Ashby (Hamilton), Jeffrey Arona-Tuifana’e (Howick Pakuranga), Natasha Lloyd (north Canterbury), George Schroder (Hokitika), Johnston and Coetzee each won two medals.

Full details: www.swimmingnz.org.nz