Strong results for Albany Swim Club and Mt Barker Amateur Swimming Club at Great Southern Championships

Albany Swim Club and Mt Barker Amateur Swimming Club both made successful trips to York for the Great Southern Championship meet earlier this month, returning home with a stack of records and achievements. Albany was crowned champion club and several of its swimmers recorded personal best times at the February 11 event. A total of 19 Albany Swim Club competitors took part in the weekend-long competition, with Ashton Henrickson and Megan Pascoe as team captains. From 124 events and eight relays, the Albany team finished with 45 gold medals, 32 silver and 11 bronze. Henrickson won eight gold medals while also smashing the record for 15-and-over backstroke in 32.95sec., defeating the record of 33.26sec. set by Zac Wells in 2019. Cam Bavcevich finished with three gold medals, including a 52.68sec. in the 50m butterfly, while Thomas Bavcevich earned one gold medal and four silver medals with a terrific time of 3min. 12.21sec. in the 200m medley event. Jack Gledson (two PBs) won two silver medals from six races and took 7.84sec. off his 50m butterfly entry time (59.10sec.), while Koos De Jonge recorded three PBs across his five races. Seth Lawson (one PB) brought home two gold medals, two silver and two bronze and Summer Lawson earned five gold medals, a silver and a bronze. Laura Macniven finished the meet with one gold medal and five silver, while Lillian Molenda (two PBs) tallied up two gold medals and five silver. Eight-year-old Luke Molenda, at his first Great Southern Championship meet, finished the day with two silvers and a bronze while shaving off 8.33sec. off his 100m freestyle (1:47.16) entry time. Pascoe was at her usual best, snagging seven gold medals across her eight-race program, including a 37.63sec. in the 50m freestyle. Sophia Riddell (two PBs) took home two gold medals and four silvers, while Zachary Riddell claimed a silver and bronze medal on his way to a 100 per cent PB rate across his six races. Zach Riddell had three brilliant PBs, taking 15.73sec. off his 100m backstroke (1:58), 12.08sec. off his 100m breaststroke (2:09.95) and 12.47sec. off his 100m freestyle (1:35.43). Tessa Steer (four PBs) returned home with four gold medals and Jason Wenbourne achieved three gold medal finishes, along with two silvers and a bronze. Kalarney Williams finished with three PBs along with four bronze medals and Malachy Williams rounded out a brilliant outing for the team with three gold medals. Holly De Jonge raced well all weekend, highlighted by a time of 32.84sec. in her 100m freestyle event. Five Albany Swim Club athletes — Henrickson, Thomas Bavcevich, Lillian Molenda, Seth Lawson and Zachary Riddell — were in the top 10 achievers for the meet. Albany Swim Club head coach Nola Osborne said she was thrilled with the dominant showing. “We have been training hard leading up to this event and it certainly showed on the day,” she said. “On several occasions we had gold, silver and bronze medallists at the one time, which is a rare feat at a swim meet. “We had five athletes named in the top 10 achievers of the meet, which was the most out of any club, so that is another massive achievement. “Ashton Henrickson continues to shine in his backstroke events and set a new meet record with a finals time of 32.95sec. Zach Riddell had an outstanding meet, finishing with 100 per cent PBs. “Our two youngest competitors in Malachy Williams and Luke Molenda showed just what new talent is coming through our club, which is very exciting. “It was a pretty hot day and the events moved through very quickly, leaving our athletes with not a lot of recovery time, so to achieve such great results shows the character and resilience this team has.” The Mt Barker Amateur Swimming Club sent 12 swimmers to the meet at York, claiming the Handicap Trophy. Hannah Osborne, Madeleine Henderson and Dylan Zijlstra were named among the top 10 achievers for the meet. Mt Barker Amateur Swimming Club head coach Jeff Osborne lauded their efforts. “What an achievement; we really couldn’t be more proud of our 12 swimmers, our coaches, our volunteer time keepers, our swim families, training technical officials and cheer squad,” Osborne said. “The championships is one of the highlights of the long course season. “It was a massive day for some of our younger swimmers and it was back-to-back swimming and marshalling for some of the older kids. “We had some remarkable PB times and to come away with the Handicap Trophy with only 12 swimmers was such a wonderful surprise.”