Eight members of Busselton Swimming Club took part in the Australian National Age Swimming Championships in Gold Coast this month.
Marcus van Rooyen made an A final and came 9th in Australia in the boys 14 years 200m Breaststroke, together with a B final coming 13th in the 100m breaststroke.
Brooklyn Rayne came 16th in the girls 14 years 50m freestyle, also earning herself a place on TV in the B final.
The club had a number of swimmers with 100 percent PB's include Pamoana Pirikahu (14), Archie O'Beirne (16) and Violet Reynolds(16), as well as a fantastic swim by the girls 13-17 4x 50m relay team comprising Violet Reynolds, Madison Rayne (14), Lily O'Meara (17) and Brooklyn Rayne, which came 18th against the best clubs in the country.
It is brilliant to see our young swimmers face the nerves and pressure of elite competition...
- Andrew Sexton
Coach Andrew Sexton expressed his happiness with the results and camaraderie within the team.
"It is always wonderful when a group of young athletes come together to share an experience at a national championship. It is brilliant to see our young swimmers face the nerves and pressure of elite competition and to surprise themselves with their results, especially our finalists.
"But equally, Pamoana was seeded 93rd in the 50m freestyle before his race and improved to 38th. Brooklyn was 46th in 2023 and this year came 16th in the 50m freestyle.
"Other swimmers had similar improvements, and while it is always most exciting for the entire Busselton support crew to watch swimmers in finals, it is equally gratifying to know that all our swimmers are learning and growing in order to be more successful in the future".