Back from left: Trent Lindsey, Brad York and Craig Watson, front, Matthew Charlesworth and Jemma Phillips were all medallists at the Victorian Short Course Age Swimming Championships.Picture: Meagan Rogers.By Marc McGowan
A MAGNIFICENT final weekend of the Victorian Short Course Age Swimming Championships rocketed the Casey Tiger Sharks into ninth position overall.
Head coach Ben Hiddlestone predicted a medal bonanza on day two and three of the championships, and his swimmers did the rest.
Fourteen-year-old Craig Watson was brilliant as usual, racking up three gold and three silver medals despite battling a virus and missing several training sessions during the week.
Watson was victorious in the 100m and 200m backstroke and the 100m individual medley.
He had a great support cast, with 17-year-old Brad York scoring two gold and one bronze, 13-year-old Jemma Phillips recording a silver and two bronze, 11-year-old Matthew Charlesworth picking up a silver and a bronze, and 15-year-old Trent Lindsey winning two bronze.
Hiddlestone was also impressed with 14-year-old Dylan Warren’s effort to finish eighth in the 400m freestyle, with the teenager slashing more than 11 seconds off his previous best time.
“We had a bunch of swimmers make the top 10 for the first time and it was pleasing to see Dylan get a big PB (personal best) in the last event of the day,” Hiddlestone said.
“Getting to that level is where it all starts to happen, when you can start getting close to national times and finals in January (at the Victorian Long Course Age Swimming Championships).”
But while Hiddlestone was thrilled with the club’s output, he did expect good results after the long winter his swimmers put in.
“There are no surprises. If you train hard the results will come – you can never do better than how you do in training,” he said.
“The beauty of the sport is that there is no luck involved – only ‘unluck’.
“There is no other team you’re playing against and you create it yourself in training three or four months ago.
“Jemma is a great example of that,” Hiddlestone said.
“She has been training hard since May without missing a single session … she has gotten in there and really made the other kids know who she is.”
The Tiger Sharks will have four days off before resuming tomorrow (Friday) in preparation for January’s Victorian Long Course Age Swimming Championships.
“You can rub this in the face of the footballers – (the swimmers) get four days off at the end of a five-month season, so it’s not a big break!” Hiddlestone said.
“The next few months will be more about technique.
“They’ll still do 4km to 5km (a session), but we’ll be changing their strokes and doing a bit of experimenting.”
Hiddlestone is also hoping that gun trio York, Watson and Lindsey can qualify for the Australian Long Course Open Swimming Championships in Sydney in March.
The event also doubles as the Beijing Olympic Games trials.
“Brad, Craig and Trent have the potential to make the national open championships in March, and that would be a great experience for them,” he said.
“The next step for them is to medal at the Australian (Long Course) Age Championships next year.”
