New Zealand 2018 National Round-up (February to April)

A record number of 14 swimmers attended the NZ Junior Festival in February, notching up a massive 82% personal best rate. Leon Duke, Calee Dally, Drew Burrett, Lily Madill, Abigail Stewart and Harry Williams bettered their entry times in all their events. Leon also placed 5^th in 200 back, 6^th in 200 breast and 7^th in 50 back and 100 breast. Other top ten place getters were: Jessica Cochran, 7^th 100 fly; Calee Dally, 8^th 50 back; Remy Burns, 10^th 200 back and 100 free; and Talia Chaney, 10^th 200 back. Ryan Elliott, Jenna Fletcher, Kyan Potter, Charlise Ruddell and Olivia Waddell also had a great meet. Overall, FAST placed 16^th out of all clubs attending.

A month later, seven senior swimmers headed to Rotorua for the NZ Division II competition. FAST placed 47^th in NZ. The overall personal best rate was 70%, with Spencer Menzies improving his times in all his events. Keegan Neate was the standout swimmer, getting a silver medal in the 200 fly as well as placing 5^th in 400IM; 6^th 400 free; 7^th 200 free. Keegan also qualified for the NZ Age Group Championships. Leon Duke placed 5^th in 200 back and 7^th in 400IM. Mikaela Hawley picked up a 5^th place in 100 fly as well as qualifying for NZ Age Group Championships and Spencer Menzies came 8^th in 1500 free style. Shontelle Dally, Ethan Langit and Alexander Murphy also picked up several personal bests.

Finally, in April, four swimmers attended the NZ Age Group Championships, with some outstanding results. Keegan Neate,15, and Mikaela Hawley,13, attended for the first time, swimming extremely well in the 200 fly and 100 fly respectively. Nathan Hickmott, 15, had an awesome meet, qualifying for 3 finals, placing 5^th in 50 free; 6^th in 100 free and 10^th in 50 back. Libby Murphy, 13, had an exceptional meet. She entered 9 events, qualified for 9 finals and had the following results: Gold, 100 fly; Silver, 200IM; Bronze, 100 free, 200 free and 400IM; 4^th, 50 free and 50 fly; 5^th 200 fly and 6^th 50 back. Libby gained the highest points of any Counties Swimmer, was the sixth ranked female swimmer out of 382 at the meet and was the 9^th placed swimmer in NZ, male or female of all age groups. She has also qualified for seven events at the NZ Open Championships in July.

Overall, FAST placed 35^th out of 88 clubs attending, an awesome result for such a small club.