2015 SA Country Championships

Broken Hill Aquatic has success at the Country Championships

The 2015 Country Swimming Championships were held in Mount Gambier from the 9^th to the 12^th of January. A squad of 9 swimmers from the Broken Hill Aquatic Stingrays, represented by Will and Harry Campbell, Isabella, Savannah and Brett (the fox) Morris, Zac Murray, Maighan Mashford and Georgie and Lauren Kuerschner, their families and support crew made the long trip south for the Championships.

The first day of events saw the Super Fish competition take place; these events are for the younger swimmers that were unable to qualify for the championships. This competition is a great introduction to competitive swimming for the younger swimmers. With the BH Aquatic squad not having any swimmers competing in the Super Fish session it allowed the squad to have a fun morning checking out the many tourist sites of Mount Gambier before attending an open training session held prior to the Super Fish events. The squad had a great session in preparation for their first events on day two.

The competitors on day two were greeted with cold overcast conditions and the squad struggled early in the morning’s events, but responded well late in the session to claim the squad’s first medal. A bronze to Maighan Mashford, Georgie Kuerschner, Savannah and Isabella Morris in the Open Female 400m Medley Relay.

The afternoon’s finals session saw the squad’s first individual medal, won by Georgie Kuerschner. Bronze in the 14/15 years, 100m Breaststroke final.  This seemed to spark everyone on the squad into action the medals started to flow with the squad winning 8 medals for the session.

Day three saw the swimmers from BH Aquatic once again achieving great success over a wide range of events. In cool and overcast conditions in the morning session, all of our swimmers again proved their best was equal to any in Country SA with every athlete making finals or bettering their Personal Best times. Lauren Kuerschner achieved a PB in the 50m Backstroke by over 2 seconds and Maighan Mashford set a 20 second PB in the testing 200m Breaststroke as well as another PB in the 50m Backstroke. The finals session saw Harry and Will Campbell win their first medals for the championships, a close finish in the 14 year old 50m butterfly final between Georgie and Savannah claiming gold and silver. Isabella winning gold medals in the 18 and over 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke and Zac Murray claiming silver in his 50m butterfly final.

Finally sunny conditions greeted the squad for the preliminary session on day four, the final day of the 2015 Country Championships. The squad didn’t waste any time making the most of the warmer conditions either with the first event being the 50m Breaststroke with all the squads swimmers competing in the event making it through to their respective finals.

The events that were contested on the final day were the 50m Breaststroke, 100m Freestyle, 100m Butterfly, 200 Backstroke, 200 Breaststroke, 400IM, 4 x 50m Freestyle and Medley relays. The relay teams were well supported by Lauren Kuerschner and Brett Morris and both set personal best times in their swims. The final day turned out to be the most successful for the BH Aquatic squad at the championships winning an impressive 13 medals.

The swim of the day would have to go to Will Campbell for his swim in the 100m Butterfly final. Will qualified 5^th fastest for the 11&U final. For the first 50 metres in the final, Will and the swimmer in lane 5 were equal first and nothing separated them as the approached the 75 metre mark. Will dug deep over the last 25 metres and found some extra speed and slowly pulled in front and finished on a full stroke half a body length in front, taking a whopping 15 seconds of his previous best time. The crowd went made and I’m sure I could see tears rolling down the checks of his parents. Well done shark, a fantastic result.

Over the course of the championships the team won an impressive 10 Age Country Championships, two Open Country Championships, 34 medals (12 gold, 12 silver and 10 bronze) and 46 personal best times. At the end of the competition a major awards presentation was held and at this presentation Savannah Morris was presented with the Team Persons Award and David Kuerschner was presented with the Teams Support Person Award. Congratulations to the whole squad on this fabulous result.

At a gathering after the completion of the championships the clubs president Heath Mashford congratulated all of members who made the journey to Mount Gambier. He went on to say that the clubs swimmers, competed with pride, sportsmanship and enthusiasm, representing the club and its values at the highest level.  The swimmers efforts and techniques were applauded by the SA State coach and recognized by other competing clubs. Our officials, their skills, honesty & integrity were acknowledged by the carnival directors and were given senior officiating roles throughout the event. Our head coach, Steve supported and encouraged all of our swimmers during the entire carnival; his dedication to our swimmers during the short period as head coach is greatly appreciated by all. He also thanked the support crew, the parents who travelled and supported the team, Marina Morris for her efforts as team manager, Brett Morris for his massages and also a special thank you to Marissa Webb who made the journey to support the team and share with them her experience.

Heath also presented the President’s Award to Will Campbell for his sportsmanship throughout the championships and his fantastic swim in the 100m butterfly final. Congratulations Will.

Squad Results

Gold

Georgie Kuerschner -     13/14yrs 200IM, 14yrs 50m Butterfly, 14yrs 50m Breaststroke, Open 50m Breaststroke, 13-16yrs 400IM.

Savannah Morris -           14/15yrs 100m Backstroke, Open 100m Backstroke, 13/14yrs 200m Freestyle

Isabella Morris -                50m Butterfly, 50m Backstroke, 18/O 50m Freestyle

William Campbell -           11&U 100m Butterfly

Silver

Savannah Morris –          14yrs 50m Freestyle, 14yrs 50m Backstroke, 14yrs 50m Butterfly, Open 200m Backstroke, 13/14yrs 100m Butterfly, Open 100m Butterfly, 14-16yrs 400IM.

Isabella Morris -                18/O 50m Breaststroke, Open 50m Butterfly, Open 50m Free

Zac Murray-                        13yrs 50m Free, 13yrs 50m Butterfly

Bronze

Georgie Kuerschner-      14yrs 50m Free, 14/15yrs 100m Breast, Open 50m Butterfly, 13/14yrs 100m Butterfly, Open 100m Butterfly.

Will Campbell-                   11&U 50m Butterfly

Zac Murray-                        13/14yrs 100m Butterfly

Savannah Morris-            13/14yrs 100m Freestyle

Harry Campbell-               14yrs 50m Backstroke

Isabella Morris-                 Open 50m Backstroke

400m Medley Relay -      Maighan Mashford, Georgie Kuerschner, Savannah & Isabella Morris

Broken Hill Aquatic Stingray’s

Back Row - Steven Moore (Coach), Georgie Kuerschner, Harry Campbell, Brett Morris, Zac Murray

Front Row – Will Campbell, Maighan Mashford, Isabella Morris, Savannah Morris, Lauren Kuerschner