The first two days have brought success for several Otago swimmers at the Otago-Canterbury championships.
The event, held at Moana Pool, pits swimmers against others from their region for medals in the morning session. They then race against everyone in the evening’s finals. Prize money is awarded to the top three finishers in each super final, made up of the fastest eight qualifiers from the morning session.
Zenith’s Tame Govaerts-Paul (17) claimed three first placings in super finals, winning the men’s 50m and 100m breaststroke, as well as the 200m freestyle. He swam 1min 07.23sec to win by nearly 3sec in the 100m breaststroke and backed up by winning the 50m race in 30.72sec. In the 200m freestyle he showed his versatility, swimming 1min 58.97sec for a narrow win.
It is Neptune that has been the dominant Otago club at the event, however. Leading the way is Caitlin Deans (17), who won the women’s 200m and 400m freestyle super finals in 2min 09.42sec and 4min 31.42sec respectively. She also managed a third in the 50m butterfly, but was unable to add the regional 800m title to that, due to her disqualification for breaking at the start line. Fellow Neptune swimmer Cecila Crooks took home that title.
Neptune proved too strong in the women’s 16 and over 4x100m relay. It won the title in 4min 11.16sec, almost 3sec ahead of second-placed Wharenui.
On the men’s side, Jeremy Tasker (22) comprehensively won the 400m IM super final in 4min 46.04sec. He claimed second place in both the 50m butterfly and 400m freestyle. Courtland Ellis (17) finished third in the 50m butterfly.
Another session of super finals was held last night. The event concludes tonight.
