Highlights from Aus Age Champs

29 April 2019
2019 Aus Age Champs VIC
Written by: Swimming Victoria

The next wave of swimming stars put on a show at the recent 2019 Hancock Prospecting Australian Age Swimming Championships at the SA Aquatic Centre.

It was a medal spree for Victoria, our swimmers returning home with 26 Gold, 33 Silver and 27 Bronze medals, a promising glimpse into the future for Victorian swimming.

Swimming Victoria’s Coach Development Director, Wayne Lawes was thrilled with the significant swing of success. “Once again, the Victorian coaches have worked cohesively to raise the bar and our results reflect this. I look forward to continuing to grow together as a team.” said Lawes.

Here are some of the highlights…

Nunawading’s Yanning Zhang (coached by Sarah Scott) pulled off an impressive double with wins in the Boys’ 14 Years 200m IM (2:07.72) and 200m Backstroke (2:08.96) events within the same hour. He was also part of Nunawading’s Bronze medal winning team in the Boys’ 14-15 Years 4 x 50m Medley Relay.

Gabriella Peiniger (MLC Aquatic, coached by Nick Veliades) was unstoppable, also claiming two national titles in less than an hour. She was triumphant in the Girls’ 16 Years 100m Butterfly (59.14) and 200m IM (2:14.31). She also added another 3 Silver and a Bronze medal to her haul throughout the Championships.

Aimee Grella (coached by Tim Mulvihill) was electric in the Girls’ 15 Years 200m Butterfly. The Bayside swimmer went two seconds faster than her qualifying time to secure the win, touching the wall at 2:14.10. She went on to win Bronze in the Girls’ 100m Butterfly, swimming a PB of 1:00.87.

Bayside young gun Sienna Shepherd (also coached by Tim Mulvihill) made a name for herself with an impressive 3 Gold and a Silver medal. She dominated the Girls’ 13 Years 1500m Freestyle, demolishing the competition by 20 seconds and gliding to victory in a time of 17:43.39.

Nunawading teammates Evan Chee and William Petric had an epic battle in the Boys’ 14 Years 400m IM. The pair, who are coached by Sarah Scott, had the crowd on the edge of their seats as they went stroke for stroke, but it was Chee who clawed his way to victory in a time of 4:34.15. It was an all Victorian affair on the dais with Petric securing Silver (4:35.45) and Traralgon’s Jordyn Cargill (coached by Dean Gooch) shaving a massive 13 seconds off his qualifying time to claim Bronze (4:38.38).

In the multi class events, everything Col Pearse touched turned to gold. The Melbourne H2O swimmer, coached by Matt King, had victories in the Boys’ 15-16 Years 100m Butterfly, Backstroke and Breaststroke and in the Boys’ 11-15 Years 400m Freestyle.

For full results click here.

Off the back of some outstanding performances at the Championships, 5 Victorian athletes were selected on the Australian team to compete at the 2019 World Junior Championships in Budapest in August. Congratulations to Cameron Jordan (Bendigo East, coached by Chris Geyer), Tara Kinder (DVE Aquatic, coached by Brian Miller), Noah Millard (MLC Aquatic, coached by Nick Veliades), Ollie Nash (Melbourne Vicentre, coached by Craig Jackson) and Gabi Peiniger (MLC Aquatic, coached by Nick Veliades). They will be joined by coaches, Brian Miller (DVE Aquatic) and Nick Veliades (MLC Aquatic

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