Gunnedah Memorial Pool was host to the first combined primary and secondary school Armidale Diocesan Swimming Carnival at the beginning of the month.
More than 300 students coming from the North Western region competed in Gunnedah.
Both St Xavier’s Primary School and St Mary’s College attended with multiple students smashing personal best times with some even breaking the swimming carnival records.
The junior boys St Xavier’s relay team, which included Lewis Mainey, Max Smith, Rafe Denovan and Banjo Fitzgerald, broke the carnival record with more than six seconds to spare which had previously been held by St Joseph’s Primary School in Walgett.
St Mary’s College swimmers: Katie Spinks, Alexis Whitton, William Jansen, Zacheriah Akinyemi, Jake Hausfeld and Evan Hausfeld.
Josh Spinks is always a name expected to break records and it was no different for this swimming carnival.
He touched the wall at 39.67 seconds in the boys 12-13 years 50-metre breaststroke and at 2 minutes and 43.91 seconds in the 200-metre individual medley, effectively breaking both records.
Belle Nichols was in fine form to take the girls nine year 50-metre freestyle record at 36.37 seconds, previously being held by predecessor Alexis Whitton at 38.19 seconds.
Banjo Fitzgerald set a new record for the boys eight-10 years butterfly at 36.73 seconds, which shaved just more than one second off of Josh Spinks’ previous record.
Gunnedah’s catholic senior school swimmers benefited from the new carnival format as their downtimes between events prepared them for a better score.
St Mary’s College’s swimmers brought home six senior champion titles while the primary school had four champions and three runners up.
Seventeen swimmers from St Xavier’s qualified for the NSWCPS Swimming Championships and 11 from St Mary’s for the NSWCCC Swimming Championships.
Both will be held next month in Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.
