Roncalli swimmers training hard and competing seeing Matthew Gray and Luka Foy qualifying for National Short Course Champs in October.

Canterbury West Coast Short Course Championships

At the end of the holidays, three of our Roncalli swimmers (Matt Gray, Luka Foy and Toby Taylor) competed in the short course champs in Christchurch. This is an annual event and one of the targeted meets for Matt and Luka as preparation for the National Short Course Champs in Auckland in October. All three swimmers had six events:

• Matt achieved four PBs and a bronze (and a national qualifying time) in the 200 Free. He has now qualified to swim eight events at nationals.

• Luka achieved four PBs and a silver in 50 breast, silver in 100 fly, and silver (and a national qualifying time) in 100 IM. He has now qualified to swim 10 events at nationals

• Toby swam six events with three PBs and a silver in 200 fly

Canterbury West Coast Tri Series

Every year Swim Canterbury West Coast run a three day swimming competition for a select group of swimmers (only open to those 15 and under) in the July school holidays. There are three teams each with two coaches. The coaches then work on a strategy for how they can get the most points for their team, given the strengths and weaknesses of each swimmer. Each swimmer must swim a specified number of events as directed by their coach. Toby Taylor was selected for this year’s Tri Series (top left in photo) and here is his summary:

“I had a great experience getting different coaches ideas and knowledge to help with my swimming. I really enjoyed going away with different people from all over the Canterbury West Coast region and catching up with friends. I ended up coming out on top with the most pb percentage with a pb rate of 58% and also taking out five out of six breaststroke events. It was a great opportunity to race some of my non preferred strokes alongside some fantastic swimmers.” – Toby