Over the Australia Day weekend, clubs from around Victoria came together at the Warragul Leisure Centre for the 2021 Victorian Country LC Championships. During the three days of competition, we saw some excellent performances from Victoria’s best country swimmers, with just under 50% of all swims faster than their entry times.
Although the Championships looked a little different this year and high temperatures made for challenging conditions, it was great to see that the wonderful atmosphere and team spirit that we have come to expect from this event was still going strong.
A timed finals format was introduced for this competition. This gave athletes the chance to compete in a short and fast format of competition for the first two days before a final day of relay only racing for all clubs, which made for a fun and exciting end to the Championships!
Traralgon Swimming Club continued its dominance, once again claiming the Alan Monaghan Shield for the highest aggregate point score for all events. It was the club’s 21st title in 22 years, with a combined aggregate point score of 2233, closely followed by Geelong with 2011. Ballarat Gold (1369), Bendigo East (923) and home team Warragul (667) rounded out the top five clubs. For team scores click here.
A number of other awards were presented at the conclusion of the event. Congratulations to the following winners:
Australia Day Medallion
Awarded for the best male and female performances, based on the highest FINA point score.
Cameron Jordan, Bendigo East Swimming Club
Madison Cooper, Geelong Swimming Club
Australia Day Perpetual Trophy
Awarded to the club that scores the highest aggregate point score on Australia Day, or on the day that Australia Day is celebrated at the Championships.
Traralgon Swimming Club
Bruce Carter Trophy
Awarded for the best performance by a 14/O Victorian competitor based on the highest aggregate points.
Layla Day, Bendigo East Swimming Club
Rob Godfrey Memorial Trophy
Awarded for the best performance by a 13/U competitor based on the highest aggregate points in 13/U events.
Matilda Byrnes, Geelong Swimming Club
Herb Jeffrey Award
For outstanding service to country swimming for a period in excess of 20 years.
Jane Mitchell, Gippsland Official & Traralgon SC Member
For full results click here.
A huge thank you to Gippsland Swimming, Warragul Swimming Club, Baw Baw Shire and the Warragul YMCA for a fantastic Country Championships. It was a great effort by everyone involved with limited preparation time.
We now look forward to the 2021 Victorian Qualifying Competition from 13-14 February. For more information click here.
