Left: Casey TigerSharks sensation Aleysha Tokai won her first Australian Age Championships medal on night one of the By Marc McGowan
THE Casey TigerSharks are on track to smash their best result at national level after the opening two days of this week’s Australian Age Championships in Sydney.
Aleysha Tokai, 15, and Stephanie Demestichas, 14, won a bronze and silver medal respectively in their 800m freestyle events to top the club’s two bronzes from last year.
And there is plenty more to come.
Tokai, who is recovering from a bronchial infection, backed up from her 800m swim on night one to qualify fastest for last night’s (Wednesday) 400m freestyle final.
Her 400m result was not available when the News went to press.
Tokai pulled out of the 200m butterfly heats on Tuesday, but finished seventh in the 100m freestyle.
Sixteen-year-olds Josh Beaver and Craig Watson are also in medal contention after qualifying fourth and eighth respectively for last night’s 100m backstroke final.
Watson placed seventh in the 100m freestyle final on Monday.
The TigerSharks’ 4 x 100m medley relay team of Beaver, Tyrone Dobrunz, Dylan Warren and Watson also impressed in coming sixth on the same night.
Dobrunz and 13-year-old Olivia Raiti were the next best solo performers in finishing 13th and 12th respectively in the 200m individual medley and 100m butterfly.
Casey head coach Ben Hiddlestone was pleased with both Tokai’s and Demestichas’ medal-winning efforts, but had special praise for the latter.
“That was a big swim from Steph. She deserves it the most out of the entire group,” he said.
“She’s trained flat-out all year. She’s been on nine sessions a week and hasn’t missed anything.
“She’s done everything I asked for, got up and tapered well and performed and really deserved her silver medal.”
Hiddlestone is excited about what else his swimmers can achieve this week – particularly Dobrunz, who is ranked in the top five in the 100m and 200m breaststroke.
“Fingers crossed for the rest of the meet. We’re waiting to see how Tyrone Dobrunz goes,” he said.
“He’s the next big medal hope for sure.”
The Australian Age Championships runs until Saturday.
competition on Monday. 29140
Picture:
Stewart Chambers
