Casey TigerSharks McKenzie Cunningham (above) and Brad York (below) dominated the Victorian Long Course Swimming Championships at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.By Marc McGowan
THE Casey TigerSharks took another step towards being recognised as one of the state’s elite swimming clubs with a masterful display at the Victorian Long Course Swimming Championships at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
The competition ran from 4 to 15 January, but the TigerSharks turned it up a notch over the past week to rocket up the club rankings.
Casey head coach Ben Hiddlestone revealed the club “unofficially” finished sixth overall, with the placing to be finalised in the next few days.
It is an improvement of two positions on last year’s championships, which was then the club’s best finish.
The TigerSharks’ medal haul over the final seven days of the event included eight gold, seven silver and eight bronze.
On top of those sparkling achievements, 15-year-old prodigy Craig Watson and 18-year-old all-rounder Brad York were named the champion swimmers of their respective age groups.
Watson earned the same honour as a 14-year-old last year.
The pair each reached eight finals and won one gold and two bronze apiece.
The stellar results exceeded Hiddlestone’s lofty expectations.
“I’m absolutely stoked; it’s been a brilliant meet – the best meet so far from my coaching career,” he said.
“We bury the kids in hard, tough work … (and) we’ve really had a perfect taper, which is the two weeks leading up to the meet.
“(The taper) is always a bit of a black art and coaches like to think they know what they’re doing, but it’s hard to gauge – we’ve hit that right on the money.”
While Casey boasted several strong solo performers, Hiddlestone believes the improvement has come from the club’s greater depth.
The likes of 13-year-olds Thomas Boatman, Jacob Kennedy and Stephanie Demestichas made state finals for the first time, and 13-year-old duo McKenzie Cunningham (one gold and two silver) and Tyrone Dobrunz (one silver and one bronze) raised their status in the sport.
When their efforts are added to the exploits of 15-year-old freestyler Trent Lindsey (three gold and two silver) and 13-year-old freestyler and backstroker Jemma Phillips (two gold, one silver and one bronze) you have a memorable showing by the TigerSharks.
With four individual gold medallists, Hiddlestone could not pick a stand-out swimmer from the competition.
“They were all fantastic. I can’t differentiate from one gold medal to another,” he said.
Eight Casey swimmers – Watson, Lindsey, Josh Beaver, Cameron Hill, Phillips, Cunningham, York, and Jay Etheve – have qualified for April’s Australian Age Championships in Brisbane.
