When Orange Aquatic Club president Michael Thornhill found out the swimming centre would play host to one of three NSW Country Regional meets this year, he was very excited.
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But not nearly as excited as the competitors themselves.
Prior to Christmas, there was a cap of 250 participants allowed to take part in the event. That number filled up within 45 minutes of registrations opening.
Eventually that number was able to increase to 400, which once again, filled out for this past weekend's event.
"While it was a bit inconvenient for some, with the pool closed to the public over the weekend, it gave 400 kids the opportunity to compete at a really high level when due to Covid restrictions they have missed out on a lot of racing already," Mr Thornhill said.
"Overall there was probably about 850 people in the aquatic centre and we've had some really good feedback from the visiting clubs.
"It's a fairly high level meet and we get a lot of high quality swimmers and officials."
A total of 47 clubs from regional NSW and the ACT were there on the day, with athletes vying for medals, personal bests and even a shot at nationals.
"The Country Swimming Championships are in February, so a lot of kids are chasing qualifying times for that as well as state and national championships," Mr Thornhill added.
"Our coaches are really focusing on improvements.
"You're always after a PB because it means you're improving. It was really pleasing to see a lot of the good work that's gone into training actually deliver in the pool."
That good form manifested in the overall competition.
Of those taking part, the Orange Aquatic Club came in third place, while Kinross Wolaroi Swim Club finished in fifth. It was the visiting team from Albury who were the eventual winners.
The top five was rounded out by Dubbo City who finished second, and Bathurst City in fourth.
"For both Orange clubs to be in the top five out of a meet that had some really strong competition was a great result and shows the depth of swimming in Orange," the president said.
"From the Orange Aquatic club we probably had four standout swimmers.
"They were Georgia Clunas who got some great country qualifying times and some PBs. Young Abby Williams is nine and had a strong meet and she's been swimming well, as did Ava Thornberry and those three girls excelled.
"Out of our boys, the pick of the crop was probably Josiah Dirs. He had a fantastic meet with a bunch of PBs, a heap of country and state qualifying times and really showed the benefit of the training we've been putting in the pool."
The next time the two Orange clubs will be swimming competitively will be the weekend of February 13 and 14 before Junior State Age titles in March
The February event is being held in Lithgow.
This will be a more regionally focused event with clubs like Dubbo and Albury not taking part.
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Riley Krause
I am a senior journalist for the Central Western Daily. A jack of all trades, I cover everything from sport, to human interest stories and crime. Drop me an email at riley.krause@austcommunitymedia.com.au
I am a senior journalist for the Central Western Daily. A jack of all trades, I cover everything from sport, to human interest stories and crime. Drop me an email at riley.krause@austcommunitymedia.com.au
