Geraldton take home slew of medals and records from Country Championships

Despite the continued closure of its long course pool, Geraldton Amateur Swimming Club put in an impressive performance at January’s State Country Long Course Championships.

The club fielded 16 swimmers (eight girls and eight boys) over 113 events, with many young club swimmers qualifying for the first time and 77 of the club’s swims resulting in a new personal best time.

In the individual events, 84 per cent of the boys’ times were personal bests and 57 per cent of the girls’ times were personal bests.

Several Geraldton swimmers medalled at the event, including Mathijs Travasso (15), Ben Naisbitt (14), Alex Travasso (13), Angus McDonald (12), George Giudice (11), Oliver White (10) and Thomas Steele (9).

Club coach Mary Lynas was thrilled with the performance of all the swimmers attending the event.

“We took a relatively young team to this event and for them to secure qualification in the circumstance shows the level of commitment of the swimmers and their families, as we can no longer run long course time trials at our home pool,” Ms Lynas said.

“The first quarter of the year is always a busy time for the club.

“Now that Country Championships are out of the way, we are looking forward to the regional Moora Meet in early February and then State Country Pennants, a clubs event, in Northam on March 4 and 5.”

Geraldton kept its A-grade Club status at the 2022 Pennants in Carnarvon.

“While the club is going through a period of renewal currently, with some of our older team members having ‘retired’ and a number of new swimmers now competing in our junior squads, we nonetheless expect to take one of our largest teams to the Pennants event,” Ms Lynas said.

Club president Marijke Travasso said term 1 tended to be an extremely busy time for the club.

“We typically see participation in training lift ahead of the school swim carnival season,” she said.

“Nonetheless, we are always open to new members and would encourage keen young swimmers to come and try out.”