A group of Thames Amateur Swimming Club (TASC) swim stars made more than a splash at a recent competition.
Twelve Thames swimmers competed at the Junior XLR8 Programme from May 31 to June 1, which was hosted by the Taupō Swimming Club at the AC Baths, where some of the young athletes not only achieved personal best results but also landed in top spots.
TASC committee member Rebecca Greene told The Profile all but four swimmers earned a first, second, or third placing in at least one of their events, and said it was “such an impressive effort from the whole team”.
Young aquatic athletes Haven Sawyer, 11, Devyn Greene, 9, and Chloe Scott, 13, achieved podium placings, while Levi Dowty, 13, achieved personal best results for all 10 of his events.
Haven said he was “happy and a little shocked” when he found out he placed third for the 11 year age group.
One significant race for the swimmer was the 200m individual medley, which he said he hadn’t done in a while but “all four strokes felt really good”.
Meanwhile, Devyn, who placed second overall for the nine year age group, said her most challenging event was the 200m individual medley.
“I’ve only raced it once before. It’s long, but I just focused on my strong strokes and gave it everything.”
Devyn and her teammate Chloe both said they supported their squad by standing poolside and yelling their hearts out. “My voice is usually gone by the end,” Chloe said.
Chloe placed third overall for the 13 year age group, and went equipped with a pre-race mindset to think about how many lengths she needed to swim, end with a strong finish, and achieve a good personal best.
Fellow swimmate Levi said the toughest event for him was the 200 individual medley.
“It was the last race of the weekend, and I was exhausted, but I really wanted a PB (personal best),” he said.
“I just kept telling myself to kick hard and keep going.”
His favourite race was the 100m individual medley.
“It’s fast and I’m pretty good at it. I also got a huge PB in the 400 free[style], which was really cool.”
One thing was certain, the Thames athletes enjoyed their swimming community and advised young swimmers to “come and give it a go”.
It wasn’t always serious, and there was a great mix of ages, they said.
