by Supplied

Swimmers' summer success

St Paul’s had several swimmers in action over the December to February period.

Queensland State Age Group Championships

Ben Littlejohn and Thomas Griffin competed in the Queensland State Age Group Championships held in Brisbane as members of the Waikato swimming team. Queensland is recognised as the powerhouse of Australian swimming, so the meet attracted several international teams. Ben Littlejohn took out the gold medal in the boys 16 years 100m fly in a thrilling race, setting a new Waikato record. He also finished fourth in the final of the 400m freestyle and swam personal best times in six other events. Thomas Griffin performed very well to make the final of the boys 16 years 200m fly, finishing 10th and swam in six other events, achieving some excellent swims.

Victorian Age Group Championships

Boston Tordoff competed in Melbourne at the Victorian Age Group Championships as part of the St Paul’s Swimming Club team. He swam in seven events, making three finals to finish sixth in the 200m fly, seventh in both the 100m fly and 200m breaststroke. This was a great experience and Boston performed well in his first overseas meet.

New Zealand Open Water Champs

In early January, St Paul’s had six swimmers compete in the NZ Open Water Champs at Lake Taupo, achieving seven top 10 finishes in individual events. Competition distances ranged from 1km to the endurance 10km swim which takes about 2.5 hours. Relays were also included for the first time this year. It was a fantastic result overall for the St Paul’s Swimming Club, finishing third in New Zealand for the club points trophy. Individual results were as follows:

Full results

Thomas Griffin: 1st boys’ 15-17 years 7.5km, 4th boys’ 15-17 years 5.0km, 1st 4x1km 16 and under boys’ relay

Kaitlyn Sosa: 6th open women’s 10km, 3rd girls 15-17 years 10km, 1st 4x1km open relay

Ben Littlejohn: 3rd boys’ 15-17 years 2.5km, 16th boys 15-17 years 5.0km, 2nd 4x1km mixed relay

Sam Peoples: 10th boys’ 13-14 years 5.0km, 14th boys’ 13-14 years 2.5km

Ben Haskell: 11th boys’ 12-14 years 1.0km

Boston Tordoff: 4th boys’ 12-14 years 1.0km, 9th boys’ 12-14 years 2.5km

New Zealand Secondary Schools Open Water Swimming Championship

St Paul’s Collegiate School had a squad of six swimmers entered for this championship held at Mt Maunganui on Saturday, 9 February, in the 500m, 1.25km and 2.6km races to count as points for NZ Secondary Schools ranking.

Boston Tordoff and Matthew Chanwai also entered the “Amphibian” - an event involving a 500m swim and a 4.5km run.

Although the day was initially overcast and comfortable, sea conditions were very challenging with course changes being necessary. There were 58 secondary schools represented along with many adult competitors who were racing in the national open water series.

Ben Littlejohn and Thomas Griffin had to change their event schedules owing to sickness and injury. However, all of the squad found their events challenging.

In the 500m event and competing in the 16-19 age group, Kaitlyn Sosa was 4th and Ben Littlejohn was 5th.

In the 1.25km event and competing in the 12-13 age group, Boston Tordoff was 6th and Matthew Chanwai was 8th.

In the 2.6km event Kaitlyn was 4th in the female 16 – 19, and in the male 14-15 age group, Sam Peoples was 12th and Isaac Reay was 15th.

In the Amphibian race (Open Men), Boston and Matthew were 1st and received a gold medal.

St Paul’s finished the day with an NZ Secondary Schools ranking of 11th out of the 58 schools competing. A tremendous accomplishment for all those students involved.