After a seven month COVID-19 shutdown, athletes from across the State have picked up their goggles and caps once again with the return of competitive swimming at both a state, regional and local level.

Two Forster athletes made the trip to Sydney last weekend for a Swimming NSW Qualifying Carnival at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

Nineteen-year-old Nash Wilkes and 15-year-old Emily Rowel both swam PBs in many of their events, with Nash scoring four podium finishes, including firsts in the 200m and 50m breaststroke.

Emily also achieved podium finishes in the 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke.

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Closer to home, the club also had a strong presence at the first regional carnival of the season at Port Macquarie earlier this month, with some outstanding results and many state and country qualifying times achieved.

Once again, Nash Wilkes led the way with five first place finishes, while young guns Harrison Tancred, Eva Keen and Hannah Carmichael also took top spots in several of their races.

Forster Aquatic coach, Peter Sanders, said it was a credit to the athletes that they had come out of the COVID lockdown stronger than ever.

"During lockdown these kids weren't sitting around playing computer games and being idle," Mr Sanders said.

"They did whatever it took to maintain and improve their fitness so that they could be ready once racing returned.

"They were swimming in the lake, the ocean, the bullring, running, biking, surfing, whatever it took to stay fit.

"It is an absolute credit to them that they have come back to racing after such a long break and are training hard and achieving PBs and qualifying times. I can't wait to see what the rest of the season brings."

And there is a busy season ahead, with several more regional carnivals in coming weeks leading into the North Coast Long Course Championships at Banora Point in November.

"We are hoping that the increased interest in swimming that we are seeing from the community since COVID leads to more kids getting involved in competitive swimming at all levels," Mr Sanders said.

"We have had an influx of new members at swim club which started back last Tuesday so hopefully that translates to a bigger and stronger team attending these big regional events like the North Coast Championships.

"I encourage kids of all ages and abilities to come along and give it a try - they have heaps of fun and we would love to see them there at the YMCA Forster each Tuesday from 6pm."

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