MIKAELA Short has swum herself into a NSW team after blitzing the field at the State Championships last week and bringing home gold.
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The St Edward’s Primary Year Six student and MacKillop house captain qualified fastest in the 11 year 50m backstroke with a blistering time of 35 seconds flat.
It was a PB for the Tamworth City swimmer, although not for long.
Short lined up in the final and smashed her own PB and the field to swim a 34.14 seconds and take the gold.
It was a very tight race, with the second-placed swimmer from Blacktown only 0.11 seconds behind her.
There was no time to celebrate for the young swimmer who had to jump straight out of the pool and line up again for the 50m butterfly.
Short won her heat in another PB of 32.52, although could not emulate the time in the final, swimming a 32.63.
That time was still fast enough for a bronze medal and a place on the podium.
Short didn’t stop there, taking sixth place and another PB in the final of the 50m freestyle, and eighth in the final of the 100m freestyle final.
She also swam in the heats of the 50m breaststroke, and had to pull out of the 200 IM because she couldn’t fit it in.
The successful meet means that Short will now represent NSW at the national championships in Melbourne in July.
Short will swim in the 50m backstroke and butterfly, as well as the 100m in both disciplines.
Short has also been selected to swim the backstroke leg of the medley relay.
It is nothing new for the swimmer who brought home gold last year as well in the 50m fly, and then got silver at the nationals in Adelaide.
She is hoping to go one better this year and get an individual national championships gold to go with her medley relay gold from last year.
This was her fourth year at the state championships and second at the nationals.
“I am very excited to go to Melbourne,” Short said.
“I have never swum there before and we are also going to the zoo.”
Until then, the Tamworth superfish will be hard at training at Scully Park and then the new 360 complex as the weather gets colder.