Gunnedah swimmers Cameron Sills and Josh Spinks put their talent on display and represented their club with pride at the recent NSW Junior State Short Course Swimming Championships in Homebush.

Sills threw down some credible personal best times to claim an impressive six top 10 finishes after qualifying for seven races. He came close to a state medal twice in the 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle where he touched the wall in two nail biting fourths. He also clinched finalist ribbons in the 100m breaststroke (5th) where he shaved 2.74 seconds off the mark as well as eighth in the 200m Individual Medley to show improvement by 2.20 seconds. The talented 10-year-old collected 6th in the 50m breaststroke, 10th in the 50m butterfly and dropped 0.76 seconds in the 50m backstroke to finish 12th.

In the 12 years boys, Spinks posted best times in four races that included the 50m backstroke and butterfly and 50m and 200m freestyle. He just missed a finalist ribbon in the 400m freestyle to claim a credible 11th place, however one of his best races was the 50m butterfly. Josh dropped his personal best time by 0.61 to stop the clock at 32.11 and claim a Gunnedah club record dating back to 1993. The record was set by William Lightfoot at 32.16. Spinks also eclipsed his own club record in the 200m freestyle to record a new personal best time of 2:19.34.

In the senior short course event, Gunnedah’s Sophie Rindfleish lined up to compete in the 13-14 years girls 50m freestyle. Sophie was just outside her personal best time of 28.73 seconds after finishing with a time of 28.77.

Meanwhile, Queensland has a new state swimming champion in Gunnedah’s Molly Ramien after she won gold at the state Short Course Championships recently, while Jacob Smith picked up bronze.

Molly won the state title in the 12 years girls 100m backstroke in a time of 1:09.96. She also claimed silver in the 50m backstroke and bronze in the 400m freestyle, as well as three other top ten finishes in the 50m and 100m freestyle and 100m Individual Medley.

St Peters Western club mate and Gunnedah swimmer Jacob Smith was the third Queenslander to touch the wall in the 13 years boys 50m backstroke. He claimed a bronze medal with a best time of 29.39. Jacob clinched seven personal best times from seven races and finished in the top 10 with two sixth placings in the 100 and 200m backstroke.

Cameron Sills (10) won six top ten finalist ribbons at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

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