TWO of Tamworth City Swimming Club's fastest rising stars have shone at the Australian Age Swimming Championships recently.
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Connor Roberts and Alex Hayes battled it out with some of the best swimmers in the country at the annual championships in Adelaide.
Both achieved major success with Roberts claiming bronze in the under-17 200 metre breaststroke and the under-17 200 metre medley.
Meanwhile, Hayes also claimed bronze in the under-13 girls 200 metre breaststroke.
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The duo's coach Nicholas Monet told the Leader it was a successful week for the pair and for the club as a whole.
"It was fantastic to see all of the hard work these guys have put in pay off," Monet said.
"Their efforts were outstanding and it was such a special week for them."
The event also marked the first time the club had entered a relay team into the national event.
"It was very good to see our relay team do as well as they did," Monet said.
"As well as the medals won by Connor and Alex, it was really good to see the whole club succeed with personal best times and things like that.
"I think it will certainly give us a confidence boost going forward."
The week-long event saw all competitors tested both physically and mentally, with many competing several times on the same day.
"I thought Alex did so well given her stroke is quite a face-paced stroke," Monet said. "To see her record some personal bests and claim a bronze was very special.
"As for Connor, it was great to see him do so well across all of his swims and record some personal best times as well."
Monet said the club's performance throughout the championships was an "indicator of the club's culture".
"I think it is fair to say our club has got a very strong culture," he said.
"Everyone works really hard for each other and is always supporting each other.
"I don't think we would be in the position to compete at these types of events without that support, so it really was a great week for the club."
Monet said the next step for Hayes and and Roberts would be a "well-earned break".
"Essentially the Age Championships act as the end of a cycle for our swimmers," he said.
"So now they will have a couple of weeks off before we get into training for the start of the next swimming cycle.
"I think that will involve some work like running and weight training outside of the pool to start with.
"After that, we will look to get back in the pool and prepare for the next cycle of competition."
Billy Jupp
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
Billy is a Senior Livestock Journalist for the Queensland Country Life based in Toowoomba. He has worked for a variety of different ACM mastheads during the past five years including the Namoi Valley Independent, Northern Daily Leader and The Land.
