Silver medal at youth state age swimming

Swimming Gunnedah posted some outstanding results at the NSW Youth State Age championships in Sydney last weekend, with a silver medal and a superb 11 top 10 finals placings.

Competing against the best in the state, 10 Gunnedah swimmers had to meet tough qualifying times for the championships at Homebush where they contested 43 individual events and achieved 21 personal best (PB) times.

Banjo Fitzgerald won silver in the 11 years boys 50m backstroke with a cracking time of 33.70.

Banjo also came fourth in the 200m backstroke, fifth in the 100m butterfly, sixth in the 100m backstroke and seventh in the 50m butterfly.

Banjo’s brother Jimmy (9) posted five top 10 finishes, having placed seventh in the 50m backstroke, ninth in the 50m breaststroke and butterfly, and 10th in the 50m and 100m freestyle.

Cameron Sills (12) placed sixth overall in the gruelling 800m freestyle, while Tayla Thompson (12) finished ninth in the 12 years girls 200m individual medley (IM).

Swimming Gunnedah coach Colin Marley said, “It was a big success for the club to have that many individual swimmers qualify which was more than double last year’s numbers.

“This year we also took two boys and girls relay teams which reflects the depth within the club, along with the fact we competed in a number of distance events right through to the 800m freestyle.”

The relay teams also had to meet strict qualifying times.

Banjo, Cameron, Nathan Reeves and Wyatt Shorter made up the boys 11-12 years team which finished an impressive 14th and 18th in the medley and freestyle relay events respectively out of more than 50 teams.

Gunnedah’s 11-12 years girls team of Tayla, Macey Dalessandro, Georgia Abra and Matilda Ramien finished a credible 23rd and 36th.

The state squad included swimmers aged between nine and 12 years, with Aiden Sills and Jimmy the youngest competitors at nine years of age.

The club will look to increase the qualifying numbers for the NSW short course state championships later this year.

Banjo Fitzgerald won a silver medal in the 11 years boys 50m backstroke.