Seven star swimmers attended the Oamaru Short Course meet at Waitaki Aquatics Center on the 14th of October. The girls had a great day of racing in a field of over 100 athletes from around the region and returned with several top 3 placings, a raft of personal bests, and two new Columba College swimming records!

The youngest competitor, Emerson (Yr 5) built her racing confidence and had a spectacular day taking five 1st placings in the ‘9 and under’ age group.

Georgie (Yr 5), Méabh (Yr 6) and Eivi (Yr 7) showed strong race skills in a competitive field in the ‘10–11’ age group. Georgie shaved a solid 4 seconds off her 50m breaststroke time, Méabh picked up a 1st and 2nd place, and Eivi placed in the top three in all her races.

Our seasoned racers, Olivia (Yr 9), Sophie (Yr 7), and Annabelle (Yr 8), demonstrated grace under pressure over some longer distance races and collected an impressive 24 podium placings between them. To top things off, Sophie smashed two existing Columba College records for 50 Fly (set in 2015) and 50 Back. Congratulations Sophie!

The girls displayed exemplary sportsmanship throughout the competition. Emerson, Méabh, and Georgie rallied to pick up even more ribbons at the Neptune Club Champs the following day. A full record of the impressive results for each swimmer is listed below.

9 and under:

Emerson 
1st 25m Breast (PB), 50m Breast, 50m Back, 100m Free (PB) and 200m Free
3rd 50m Free and 100m IM

10-11 years:

Méabh

1st 200 Breast (PB)
2nd 200 Free4th 100 IM
6th 50 Fly (PB)
9th 50 Back

Georgie
4th 50 Free (PB)
7th 50m Breast (PB), 100 Free (PB), and 100 IM
8 th 50 Back (PB)

Eivissa
1st 200 Back
2nd 50 Free, 50 Back, 100 Back (PB), 100 IM (PB), 200 IM and 400 Free (PB)
3rd 50 Breast (PB) and 100 Free (PB)

12-13 years

Olivia
1st 100 Back, 100 Breast, 100 IM, 200 Back, 200 Breast and 200 IM
2nd 50 Back, 50 Breast, 100 Free and 13&O Mixed 4x50 Medley Relay
5th 50 Free and 13&O Mixed 4x50 Free Relay

Sophie
2nd 100 Back (PB)
3rd 50 Fly (PB) New Columba Record, 50 Back (PB) New Columba Record, 200 Back, 200 IM (PB)
4th 100 Free (PB), 100 IM
6th 50 Free

Annabelle
3rd 100 Fly
4th 100 Back (PB)
6th 50 Breast (PB)12th 100 Free (PB)
14th 50 Free

Congratulations to you all on these huge achievements!