The team, one of the largest Forster has sent to the Country Championships in recent years, placed 13^th overall out of 99 regional swimming clubs from across NSW.

Even just qualifying for the championships was made difficult this year as Covid restrictions meant that there were a limited number of qualifying carnivals and also qualifying times for many events were slashed in order to keep numbers down.

Young guns Harrison Tancred (12) and Eva Keen (12) were stand outs in a very competitive field, with Harrison winning four medals and three other top 10 placings, while Eva won three medals and five other top 10s, including a gold in the girls 12 years 50 freestyle.

She also achieved a qualifying time for the 2022 Australian National Age Championships which is an exceptional achievement at such a young age.

Up and coming swimmer, Sophie Scislo (11), medalled in the 100 butterfly and also walked away with a top 10 finish, while team-mate, Hannah Carmichael (13), placed top 10 in the 100m breast-stroke.

National swimmer, Nash Wilkes (19), was also in fine form and reasserted his dominance in all of the breast-stroke events, taking home the gold medal in the 50m, 100m and 200m for 17 over as well as a medal in 50m butterfly and two other top 10 placings.

Three Forster swimmers were attending their first Country Championships and managed to hold their nerve and achieve some great results.

Hamish Carmichael (10), the youngest member of the team, was 20th in the 10 years boys 50 freestyle; and Piper Bamford (11) and Eva Greenway (13) contributed to the success of the girls relay teams with both the U12 and 13-14 4 x 50 Freestyle teams achieving top 10 finishes with great personal best times.

Piper and her U12 team-mates also achieved a qualifying time for the upcoming NSW Junior State Championships in March.

Other notable personal achievements included Sophia Lee (12) achieving a qualifying time for the upcoming Short Course Country Championships in the girls 12 years 50m freestyle,

Emily Rowell a NSW Senior State Qualifying time for the girls 16 years 100m freestyle, Braydan Lee a Short Course Country Championships qualifying time in the 16 years 100m backstroke and Tanna Davey achieving an excellent personal best time in the girls 14 years 50m freestyle taking her under 30 seconds for the first time.

Forster head coach, Peter Sanders, said the teams' performance was beyond his wildest imagination and that he couldn't be happier with their results.

"Once again Forster swimmers have shown that they really have got the goods - even when competing against some of the best and biggest clubs in NSW," he said.

"We have walked away with 40 personal best times from 47 events, that's a rate of 85 per cent 28 top 10 finishes, four gold medals, seven silver and three bronze, three NSW Country records and one National qualifying time.

"How good is that?

"Our athletes are focused, they are determined but most importantly they have demonstrated exceptional technical skills and technique gained from the many hours of training and hard work they put in.

"I couldn't be prouder of them all.

"We have some exceptional talent coming through the ranks in our younger swimmers and we have the likes of Nash Wilkes who is top 10 in Australia for breast-stroke events, and is also a great role model for the kids.

"I can't wait to see what the future brings for these kids - this really is one of the best teams we've ever taken to Country Championships."

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