Buoyant day for Tigersharks

By Gavin Staindl
THE Metro Championships for seven to 10-year-olds were held on Sunday at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, kick-starting an exciting month for the Casey Tigersharks.
All urban swim clubs are split into one of four districts – North, South, East and West – and for the 10 young Tigersharks who qualified to represent South Metro on Sunday the championships became the pinnacle in their swimming calendar.
Leading the way was Jake Duggen, 10, the standout at the event with one gold, two silvers and a bronze.
Meanwhile Matthew Faoro (two fourths) and Eric Crawford (two fifths and a sixth) both had surprising results.
“When you take out the club and point scores it becomes more about kids, which is what this event does,” Casey coach Ben Hiddlestone said.
“Districts don’t exist in the real world but the fact that the kids have to qualify for the event and they’re up against elimination makes them feel something,” Hiddlestone said.
Hiddlestone said the high number of Tigershark qualifiers and their resulting performances was an indication of the club’s depth at the junior level.
“Having 10 kids qualify puts us at the same kind of state ranking that we achieved at state champs (2009 State Age Championships) … around third or fourth,” he said. “We’re a not-for-profit club without a corporate structure or swim school so we’re doing pretty well for a family-run club. It is a common misconception that because we do so well that we’re an elite kind of organisation but we’re just a well-run family club … that gives kids the chance to go on to representative levels.”
While the youngest of the Tigershark swimmers were getting their first taste of competitive swimming, the rest of the Casey squad remain deep in training with the State Age Championships only one month away.
Only a limited number of qualifications are left to qualify for the event, meaning this month becomes crucial.
“There are two more meets left for qualifying … the next five weeks are very serious and nervous,” Hiddlestone said.