Bianca, 12, rewrites the record books

By Alastair Johnson

ROTORUA swimmer Bianca Donelley has starred at the annual Bay of Plenty Open Swimming Championships in Tauranga.

The Swim Rotorua athletes were in fine form at the annual event held at the BayWave swimming centre last weekend. Swim teams travelled from all over the North Island including Hawke's Bay, Taranaki and Waikato, ensuring a high standard of competition.

Bianca, 12, was on a relentless charge to win an amazing eight gold medals and establish eight Bay of Plenty age group records.

Bianca took an axe to the record book to take down the 50m, 100m, 200m, 800m and 1500m freestyle, 200m backstroke, 200m and 400m medley records.

Pick of the bunch was an exhilarating race in the 1500m freestyle, where she smashed the old record by more than a minute to set a new mark of 18m 14.85s.

Also in record-breaking form was breaststroke specialist Jack Weston, who established new BOP marks in the boys 17-years 50m, 100m and 200m events.

Emily Spear and Milla Theobald, both 12, showed their mettle to take the bronze medal and fourth place in the open 1500m freestyle.

Milla and Emily also showed their fighting spirit with a quick return to the pool to take the silver and bronze medals behind teammate Bianca to ensure an amazing clean sweep for the Swim Rotorua club.

Ana Nagera was full of confidence to take the top honours in the girls 13-14 years 200m breaststroke.

Not only did Ana smash three minutes for the first time, but nearly dipped under the 2m 50s mark with a stunning new best time of 2m 50.02s.

Jasmine Hagan, 10, enjoyed a fabulous debut to take gold in the 50m backstroke with a swift time of 39.05 seconds.

Jasmine also picked up a silver in the 200m backstroke and a bronze in the 100m backstroke. Other top performers included Sam and James Baldwin, Paddy Baylis and Lina Stalhut.

It was great to witness Bianca's powerhouse racing despite taking on a heavy schedule.

However, the whole team did a solid job, and it was particularly pleasing to see Jack Weston and Ana Nagera regaining their top form. We also had some great performances from our younger athletes which augurs well for the future.

- Alastair Johnson is the head coach at Swim Rotorua.

Rotorua Daily Post