Another day, another win.
Meg Sycamore continued her strong start to the Otago championships by winning the girls 13-14 years 100m breaststroke at Moana Pool yesterday morning.
It was the fifth gold medal of the competition for the 14-year-old Neptune swimmer, and she could still add to that tally before the event wraps up tomorrow, at noon.
Sycamore won the 100m breaststroke in 1min 22.71sec yesterday, the second-fastest time across all age-groups behind Neptune's Devon Familton (16), who won the women's 15-16 years race in 1min 21.63sec.
It came after Sycamore won the girls 13-14 years 50m breaststroke, 50m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 400m freestyle and 200m breaststroke during the first two days of the annual championships.
With a lack of swimming facilities in post-earthquake Christchurch, the Canterbury championships are also being held in Dunedin this week.
While the Canterbury and Otago swimmers do not compete against each other in the mornings, Otago, Canterbury and West Coast swimmers go head to head in the evening sessions.
The top eight swimmers across all age-groups compete for prize money, while races for 13-14 and 15-16-year-olds from all regions are also held.
Sycamore has also performed well in these races.
She won the girls 13-14 years 50m breaststroke and 200m individual medley, and was third in the 50m freestyle and 400m freestyle.
Caitlin Deans (16), who won gold in the Otago women's 15-16 years 200m individual medley, 50m freestyle and 400m freestyle the first two days, added three more wins to her name yesterday.
The Neptune swimmer won the 100m butterfly, the 200m freestyle and 50m backstroke in style. Only the 100m butterfly went down to the wire.
She edged fellow club swimmer Gabrielle Trotter (15) by 0.46sec, and Cecilia Crooks (15), of Neptune, was third in 1min 11.01sec.
Deans has often found herself in the top eight swimmers across all age-groups for the evening sessions, where she recorded a second-place finish behind Kate Godfrey (22), of Neptune, in the women's 400m on Thursday night.
Godfrey has been racking up the wins in the women's 17 years and over section.
She has won seven gold medals, while also impressing in the evening sessions in more competitive fields.
She won the open women's 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley over the first two nights, winning $75 in prize money in the process. Godfrey also finished fourth in the 50m freestyle.
Courtland Ellis (16), of Neptune, has also been dominant in the 15-16 years section over the first three days of competition.
He has racked up seven gold medals, including three yesterday.
Ellis won the 50m backstroke in 29.02sec, the 200m freestyle in 1min 59.31sec and the 100m butterfly in 1min.99sec.
The three gold medals were on top of the four he won in the 400m freestyle, 200m breaststroke, 50m freestyle and 200m individual medley the first two days.
Competing in the feature men's race in the evening sessions, he has managed three impressive second-place finishes in the 50m breaststroke, 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley.
Neptune's Kou Kitahara (14), who won four gold medals during the first two days, added three more gold to his tally yesterday, when he won the boys 13-14 years 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 100m breaststroke.
Cameron James (21), of Neptune, outgunned the Canterbury and West Coast swimmers to win the men's open 200m individual medley and 100m backstroke in the evening feature races on the opening two nights.
Matthew Glassford (25), also of Neptune, did the same on his way to winning the men's open 200m breaststroke on Thursday night.
The closest race yesterday was the girls 13-14 years backstroke, which was won by Molly Law (13), of Queenstown.
Law touched the wall in 34.43sec, 0.17sec before anyone else, but Nicole Heaton (14), of Neptune, and Tiana Mansfield (14), of Oamaru, touched the wall at the same time (34.60sec) to finish second equal in a thrilling finish.
The third evening session of the championships was held last night.
More medals will go on the line when the penultimate morning session starts at 8.30am today.
