A squad of 12 Gunnedah swimmers came home with cash prizes from the Coolah short-course meet on Saturday – a small 25m pool but a hugely popular carnival attracting swimmers from across the district.
Josh Spinks (10) continued his outstanding run in the pool, picking up first place in 11 races, including the 50 and 100m in all strokes, the 100m individual medley and the 200m butterfly fly where he shaved more than seven seconds off his personal best time. Winner of 25m Dash for Cash, the youngster took on older competitors to claim second place in the 12 and under 200m backstroke, 200m medley and 400m freestyle.
Josh recorded a blistering time of 1:24.74 for the 100m individual medley and is improving at every meet in breaststroke stopping the clock at 44.69 seconds for the 50m event. A versatile swimmer, the youngster performs well over both short and long-course distances and has qualified for the NSW Country Championships.
Matilda Denovan (11) had a successful meet winning the 50m freestyle, backstroke and fly and the 200m medley. She also came second in the 200m and 400m freestyle and 50m breaststroke, rounding off the day with third place in the 100m backstroke. During the carnival, Matilda registered eight personal best times, including an improvement of 8.89 seconds in the 200m medley and more than four seconds in the 25m Dash for Cash, 100m medley and 100m fly.
Competing in the 12 years events, William Jansen showed huge improvement, placing in every one of his eight races, and achieving seven personal best times. He finished the day with second place in the 50m and 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle and 50m breaststroke and third in the 50m fly, 100m medley, 50m freestyle and 100m breaststroke where he took 8.54 seconds off his entry time.
It was a promising carnival for nine-year-olds Camden Many and Cameron Sills with Camden improving in all five strokes.
Camden Many won the 50m freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and fly. He also swam strongly into second place in 100m medley, 25m Dash for Cash and the 100m backstroke and freestyle where he improved by more than five seconds. Club mate Cameron wasn’t far behind him, coming in second in the four 50m races, as well as 100m breaststroke. He finished third in the 100m fly and 25m Dash for Cash.
The Mainey brothers continue to improve at every meet, with Darcy (11) posting seven personal best times. He came third in the 100m backstroke, with an improvement of 4.07 seconds on his entry time, also showing huge improvement in the 100m breaststroke where he stripped 16 seconds from his best time – and third in the 50m fly and 100m medley.
Brother Charlie (10) just missed a medal in the 50m freestyle but gained a personal victory with five improved times, while Lewis (8) won silver in the 50m freestyle and breaststroke, and bronze in the 50m backstroke and butterfly, registering improved times in six races.
In the junior ranks, Wyatt Shorter (8) won gold in the 50m backstroke, freestyle and butterfly, while Rafe Denovan (8) collected gold in the 50m breaststroke with an improvement of 9.39 seconds and bronze in the 100m breaststroke. He also slashed 17.22 seconds from his personal best in the 100m freestyle. Brother Campbell showed improvement in the 25m freestyle and breaststroke, while
Fletcher Many (7) improved his 50m breaststroke time by seven seconds.
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