After months of waiting the OGHS swimming girls were finally given the opportunity to represent themselves on the National stage once again at the start of this term. An early Thursday morning start with flights up to Auckland then a drive to Hamilton, the squad of five: Madison Wills, Caitlin Hewson, Andie McGrouther, Sophie Sam, and Holly Wright, were all firing to get back into the competition pool.

After a long morning of travel, and a wee birthday celebration for Andie, the team headed to the pool for the first session of racing. A few hours later saw OGHS collect its first medal, and some speedy relays had been swum, with the whole team having the chance to compete in the first of six sessions. There were a large number of competitors from secondary schools around the country represented which contributed to very competitive and fast races. The next five sessions were full of personal best times, laughs, team bonding and for a few people some new togs!

Throughout the four days at Nationals we became a close family unit and made several friends that joined us for the ride. It was the first time competing at this level of competition for Sophie and Holly, but they did not let their nerves get to them, bringing home many incredible results.

Placings in the top 10:

Madison Wills - 2nd 200m breaststroke, 3rd 400m freestyle, 4th 100m breaststroke, 7th 200m individual medley, 10th 50m breaststroke

Andie McGrouther - 5th 50m breaststroke

Sophie Sam - 7th 200m backstroke, 9th 100m backstroke

Holly Wright - 10th 100m backstroke

Insert by Miss Young: Special congratulations to Madison Wills for her silver and bronze medal achievements.

A big thank you on behalf of our team goes to Gina for managing and caring for us during the week, we couldn’t have done it without your ongoing support. We think you’re the best!