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Howick Pakuranga tops at New Zealand junior swim championships

Howick Pakuranga has taken out the honours as the leading swimming club at the New Zealand Junior Championships that concluded in Auckland on Sunday.

The club from the Counties Manukau region won the title for a second straight year in convincing fashion at the Sir Owen G Glenn National Aquatics Centre at AUT Millennium.

They finished with 1154 points ahead of United (Auckland) on 705 and SwimZone Racing on 595.

Counties Manukau also celebrated with the leading individual female Janaye Burns with 10 medals  coming from the Pukekohe club.

The leading male was Whakatane’s Tarquin Magner with six golds in his eight-medal –haul with Papatoetoe’s Quinton Wong earning the most medals with 10.

The female competition showed considerable depth with four Howick Pakuranga swimmers among the medals, led by 11-year-old Laura Wesseling with two wins and a third. There were 19 different swimmers to win gold medals and 44 on the podium.

Burns had a busy final day with two wins and a third placing to complete an outstanding championship for the Pukekohe 10 year old. She won the 200m individual medley and the 100m freestyle and was third in the 100m breaststroke.

Last year’s leading individual, United’s Alice Waldow, 12, also finished with six wins plus two silvers with a win today in the 200m individual medley and second in the 100m freestyle.

Third on the individual standings was Mount Maunganui’s Ruby Helm, 10, who earned six medals, finishing today with a win in the 100m breaststroke and second in the 200m individual medley.

Howick Pakuranga earned much of their points tally in the male competition where they had six swimmers among the 31 to medal, led by 12-year-old Ryan Oliver with seven medals.

Magner, 11, finished with the most gold medals in the male competition with six along with a silver and a bronze. He finished today with a win in the 100m freestyle and second in the 200m individual medley.

Wong, from South Auckland’s Papateotoe club, enjoyed the most individual medals with 10 from five gold, three silver and two bronze. The 10-year-old had a busy final day with a victory in the 200m medley, and third placings in the 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle.

United’s Abhinav Makam was third with eight medals, comprising three gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze. He had two second placings in the 200m medley and 100m breaststroke and third in the 100m freestyle in the final session.

Final club points: Howick Pakuranga 1154, United (Auckland) 705, SwimZone (Wellington) 595, North Shore 592, Coast (Auckland) 428, Capital 340, Pukekohe 326, Oamaru 316, Swim Rotorua 309, Papatoetoe 262, Tawa 244, Mt Maunganui 235, Whakatane 206, Fulton Swimming (Counties Manukau) 203, Papamoa 197, St Peters (Waikato) 194, Greerton (BOP) 192, Wharenui (Christchurch) 192, St Pauls 177, Porirua City 175, Aquagym (Christchurch) 159, Greendale (Hawkes Bay) 158, Kings Swim Club (Auckland) 144, Napier Aquahawks 127.

CAPTION: Tarquin Magner at the New Zealand Junior Swimming Championships.

Photo credit: BW Media

NZ Juniors