FORSTER swimmers were a force to be reckoned with at the NSW Country Championships recently after returning home with a swag of medals.
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Sixteen local swimmers along with their coach Peter Sanders travelled to Sydney for the event last month.
Swimmers competed in 74 events and broke 61 personal best times.
Seasoned athlete Reece Turner picked up two gold medals in the pool – one in the 50 metre freestyle with a time of 23.9 and another in the 100 metre freestyle with a time of 51.99. Reece achieved national qualifying times in both events.
Thalia Kladis received two silver medals – one in the 50 metre backstroke with a time of 32.38 and brought it home for her team mates with a silver in the under 14 girls 50 metre relay. Other swimmers in the relay included Layne Grant, Hannah Hartup and Claire Van Kampen.
Dane Jeffery also received a bronze in the 100 metre breastroke as well as Claire Van Kampen who picked up bronze in the 50 metre freestyle.
Andrew Fisher and Jesse Wilkes also received national qualifying times in their events.
Coach Sanders said he was proud of his swimmers achievements.
“Overall, an excellent result with all swimmers achieving their best in the pool. The support to each other was outstanding. They made the larger clubs take notice of the force of Forster.”
National time for Wilkes
SWIMMERS Leah King and Jesse Wilkes joined a contingent of international swimmers at the NSW Open Championships recently.
Held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre in Sydney on February 27 to March 1, swimmers from all Australian states competed as well as international swimmers from countries like Japan, England, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Czech Republic, Sweden, New Zealand, Singapore and Canada.
King and Wilkes were among 12 North Coast swimmers who competed. King placed 44th in the 100 metre breaststroke, 50th in the 200 metre breast stroke and 36th in the 50 metre breaststroke while Wilkes placed 62nd in the 100 metre freestyle and 72nd in the 50 metre freestyle events.
Wilkes received national age qualifying times (15 years) for the 100 and 50 metre freestyle.
Swimmers are now in training for the National Age Championships which will be held in Sydney next month.
