Swimming New Zealand homepage

The start of something extraordinary

Howick Pakuranga prove tops at junior swim championship

Howick Pakuranga proved the top club after the final day of the New Zealand Junior Swimming Championships in Wellington.

The Counties Manukau club, a stronghold of age group swimming, raced away with the top club trophy with 1032 points at the Wellington Regional Aquatic Centre today.

The key was depth in numbers for Howick Pakuranga across the board, with their best individual swimmers  being 11-year-old Ryan Oliver with nine medals in all, 10-year-old Gordon Mei with three gold medals, and Grace Chang, 12, with four medals.

Howick Pakuranga finished ahead of North  Shore on 700 points, with Wellington’s SwimZone Racing on 577 just ahead of United (Auckland) on 567 points.

The championships proved the perfect 10 for Auckland’s Alice Waldow and Whakatane’s Tarquin Magner.

Waldow, 11, from the United club, won 10 medals over the three days, comprising seven gold medals, one silver and two bronze.

Her three medals in the final session today included golds in the 200m individual medley and 100m freestyle with a bronze in the 100m breaststroke to complete an outstanding meet.

Magner, 10, also earned seven gold medals with two silver and one bronze. He also claimed three medals in the final session today in the same events – wins in the 200m medley and 100m freestyle and bronze in the 100m breaststroke.

Waikato 12 year old Georgina McCarthy from the Ace club also enjoyed an outstanding meet with four gold, two silver and two bronze medals, grabbing wins today in the same two events at Waldow and Magner.

The strong North Shore club were well served with 11 year old Andy Cheong winning four gold medals and a bronze and Sungju Kim, 12, earning six medals including three gold.

Top club points were: Howick Pakuranga 1032, North Shore 700, SwimZone Racing 577, United 567, Capital 483, Tawa 475, Ace 355, Kiwi West Aquatics 313, St Paul’s 295.5, Coast 278, Pukekohe, Whakatane and Kings 243.

CAPTION: Alice Waldow in action on day three of the NZ Junior Championships.