NYAH Two Bays Swan Hill swimmers were part of the biggest Victorian country championships in years at Wodonga.
NTBSH took 39 swimmers — 25 who had qualified to compete in individual events — to the carnival which saw 40 clubs participating last weekend.
Head coach Shirley Swan said this year’s championships were the biggest for a number of years.
She said organisers would move to ensure a more manageable event next year.
“The qualifying times will need to be cut for next year to streamline the event, otherwise they can’t get through the program,” Swan said.
Swan said the numbers — about 70 swimmers had qualifying times for each event — pointed to high achievement for those who swam in finals and those who claimed medals.
“It’s a 10-lane pool at Wodonga, so 10 out of 70 make the final and then three out of 10 get a medal,” she said.
The event has grown in recent seasons to require a facility that can cater for 3000 people.
Swimmers from metropolitan Melbourne are now permitted to enter provided they have membership of a country club.
The NTBSH results of note included Nick Hodgson’s silver medal in the boys’ 11-year-old 50m breaststroke and Brittany Dunstone’s fourth placing in the girls’ 11-year-old 50m breaststroke.
In the 18 and over women’s butterfly, 43-year-old Jenni Harris finished seventh with a time of 32.64s.
Swan also pointed to the club’s strength in the relay categories, where the women’s 17 and over freestyle was probably unlucky not to medal.
“Each swimmer was under 30s except for one who was 32s. You’d expect a medal for that normally, but the standard was so strong,” she said. While Swan was happy with her team’s results she said it wasn’t necessarily the club’s best performance at a country championships.
“Some years we do better it just depends. This was one of the biggest programs for a long time,” she said.
The event will be held in Geelong in 2015.
