At the recent NSW Country Championships, held over the 27^th and 28^th of February 2010 at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, the Tuggeranong Vikings swimmers continued their outstanding form.

Our team 44 swimmers entered, the largest of any Canberra-based club and the 3^rd largest team overall.  The club placed in the top-10 for the first time in a number of years with swimmers in all age-groups performing well and setting new personal best times.

Fourteen Tuggeranong Vikings swimmers made finals in the able-bodied events. Leading the charge was Rebecca Cross (10yrs) who won gold in the girls 100m breaststroke and silver in the 50m breaststroke and made 5 other finals.  Other medallists included Lachlan Colquhuon with two silver and two bronze and 5 other finals, and Angus Funnell with 1 silver and 1 bronze and 5 other finals.

Other finalists included: Bianca Pitts (6), Asheligh Streatfield (5), Breanna Gilroy (4), Tizana Fiorese (4), Rebekah McCoy (4), Natha De Meillon (3), Kate Tabke (3), Luke Abberton (1), Emma Gillinham (1), Nic Phillipa (1) and Milla Wolf (1)

One of the clubs senior swimmers, Bianca Pitts (19) achieved a life-time goal of qualifying for the Commonwealth Games trials when she smashed her life-time best time in the 100m breaststroke and 50m breaststroke events.  The swims were especially sweet for Bianca who dislocated her shoulder during a race in the 2009 NSW Open Championships and has had a tough road back to full fitness.  Lachlan Colquhuon also achieved his personal goal of qualifying in every freestyle event for the upcoming national age championships in April.

Head Coach Jaan Murphy summed up the meet:

“We are were very please to have produced so many finalists and to have achieved our goal of placing in the top-10 teams for the first time in many years.  It was also pleasing that despite the club only growing by about 15% we got close to our goal of doubling our pointscore from last year, with most of our swimmers in the younger bracket of their respective double-age groups.  To see a whole stack of 11 year old and 13 year old swimmers getting up and scoring points – even winning medals – against the 12 year old and 14 year olds – was fantastic and bodes well for the future”

List of Finalists and Medalists

1. Rebecca Cross (10yrs)
1. 1^st 10/U 100m breaststroke
2. 2^nd 10/U 50m breaststroke
3. 5^th 10/U 50m butterfly
4. 6^th 10/U 100m backstroke
5. 7^th 10/U 100m butterfly
6. 7^th 10/U 50m backstroke
7. 10^th 10/U 100m freestyle

2. Lachlan Colquhuon (13yrs) –
1. 2^nd 13-14yrs 100m breaststroke
2. 2^nd 13-14yrs 50m Breaststroke
3. 3^rd 13-14yrs 200m Breaststroke
4. 3^rd 14yrs /U 400m IM
5. 4^th 200m IM
6. 4^th 13-14yrs 400m Freestyle
7. 6^th 13-14yrs 200m freestyle
8. 7^th 13/14yrs 100m freestyle

3. Angus Funnell (12yrs)
1. 2^nd 11-13yrs 200m breaststroke
2. 3^rd 11-12yrs 100m breaststroke
3. 4^th 11-12yrs 200m IM
4. 4^th 11-12yrs 50m breaststroke
5. 5^th 11-13yrs 50m freestyle
6. 7^th 11-12yrs 200m freestyle
7. 7^th 11-12yrs 100m freestyle

4. Emma Gillinham (11yrs)
1. 5^th 11-12yrs 200m butterfly

5. Tizana Fiorese (11yrs)
1. 6^th 11-12yrs 200m butterfly
2. 7^th 12yrs /U 200m breaststroke
3. 9^th 11-12yrs 100m butterfly
4. 10^th 11-12yrs 100m breaststroke

6. Kate Tabke (10yrs)
1. 6^th 10/U 100m butterfly
2. 7^th 10/U 50m freestyle
3. 8^th 10/U 100m freestyle

7. Rebekah McCoy (11yrs)
1. 6^th 12yrs /U 200m backstroke
2. 8^th 11-12yrs 200m butterfly
3. 10^th 11-12yrs 100m backstroke
4. 10^th 11-12yrs 200m IM

8. Ashleigh Streatfield (15yrs)
1. 6^th 15yrs & over 400m IM
2. 9^th 15yrs & over 200m breaststroke
3. 10^th 15yrs & over 200m IM
4. 10^th 15yrs & over 100m breaststroke
5. 10^th 15yrs & pver 200m backstroke

9. Nic Phillipa (15yrs)
1. 6^th 15yrs & over 1500m freestyle

10. Bianca Pitts
1. 8^th 15yrs & over 200m butterfly
2. 8^th 15yrs & over 200m breaststroke
3. 8^th 15yrs & over 100m breaststroke
4. 9^th 15yrs & over 200m butterfly
5. 10^th 15yrs & over 50m breaststroke
6. 10^th 15yrs & over 400m IM

11. Breanna Gilroy (10yrs)
1. 8^th 10/U 100m butterfly
2. 8^th 10/U 50m freestyle
3. 9^th 10/U 100m freestyle
4. 10^th 10/U 50m butterfly

12. Nathan De Meillon (12yrs)
1. 8^th 12yrs /U 200m backstroke
2. 9^th 11-12yrs 100m backstroke

13. Luke Abberton (16yrs)
1. 10^th 15yrs & over 400m IM

14. Milla Wolf (10yrs)
1. 10^th 10yrs /U 100m breaststroke