Around 200 swimmers representing 28 clubs competed over Saturday and Sunday across a full spectrum of events from 50m through to 1500m.

One of the highlights was the appearance of 2015 World Championship 4 x 200m relay bronze medallist Kurt Herzog, who was a special guest at the carnival and proved an inspiring presence for the young swimmers.

“It was a great highlight to have him here,” Tamworth City vice-president Michelle Bolte said.

“He walked around and gave advice to the kids.”

“All the kids got photos taken with him and he had his World Championship medal which he brought along with him.”

She said the looks on the kids faces were amazing.

“He was such a good sport with them,” she said.

“He just inspired them to say ‘you can do it’.”

It was a first for the club staging the carnival over two days, but worked well Bolte said.

They ran the longer distance races on the Saturday, which gave the kids time to recuperate and focus on the shorter swims on the Sunday.

It also meant those travelling were also able to get home at a reasonable hour with the carnival wrapping up just after lunch-time on Sunday.

Another big change this year was disbanding with the Dash for Cash races they have traditionally run for a challenge relay.

As Bolte explained they took the 28 fastest under-12, and 13-and-over swimmers (based on their 50m freestyle time) and split them into seven relay teams.

She said it added a fun element and brought swimmers from the different clubs together.

It also gave every kid in the respective age group a chance to win the cash prizes on offer with all the teams within two seconds of each other when all the times were added up.

The carnival drew swimmers from as far away as Sydney, Newcastle and the Hunter as well as all the clubs around the region.

The host club was well-represented with 49 swimmers taking to the water, and registering some good results.

“Across the board every swimmer jumped in and swam a personal best in at least one of their swims,” Bolte said.