TigerSharks clean up

By Marc McGowan
TWELVE Casey TigerSharks swimmers won medals at the Victorian Age Short Course Championships on the weekend.
Sixteen-year-old sensation Craig Watson was the star of the show with five gold medals, including two state records, and three bronze in a sublime performance.
His records came in the 200m backstroke (2:00.78) and the 100m individual medley (56.48).
Watson is one of six TigerSharks who made the Victorian team for the inaugural State Teams Age Short Course Championships in Canberra from 19 to 21 September.
Josh Beaver, Stephanie Demestichas, Tyrone Dobrunz, Aleysha Tokai and Dylan Warren are also in the squad, while head coach Ben Hiddlestone is one of three assistants for the event.
Haileybury Waterlions’ mentor Wayne Lawes, who lives in Narre Warren North, is Victoria’s head coach.
“It’s going to be a good concept; we’ll get back to rivalries – State of Origin sort of stuff,” Lawes said. “I think it will create a good environment for kids with more of a team concept brought back in and will also create some good competition.”
Casey’s other men’s medallists were Dobrunz (two gold), Mitch Pratt (one gold), Beaver (two silver), Matthew Shaw (one silver), Warren (one bronze), Jake Templar (one bronze) and Arnon Lodder (one bronze).
Female TigerSharks Allison Ryan (four silver and one bronze), Hannah Smith (four silver), Tokai (two silver and one bronze) and Olivia Raiti (one silver and one bronze) also fared well.
Casey finished fifth in the club standings.
Ryan, Pratt and New Zealand-born Smith are all newcomers from rival club Kings and have been training with the TigerSharks for four months.
They made the switch alongside Paralympic medallist Ellie Cole, Sharni Cole, Matson Lawson, Karly Mansfield and Claudia Davenport.
All bar Ellie Cole competed on the weekend and they should significantly bolster Casey’s Australian Age Championships contingent for next year.
Hiddlestone said Watson’s and Pratt’s displays exceeded expectations and he was thrilled to see Warren score bronze in the 200m freestyle after a dedicated winter training block.
“It was a great meet and there were some really good swims, especially Craig leading the way,” Hiddlestone said. “Craig will be pretty chuffed with himself … age-group swimming as a 13-year-old is easy for someone as talented as him to win.
“But now we’re looking at his national results (as a 16-year-old) and he’s getting picked on junior Australian teams and is not just winning gold medals at state, but is also breaking records. It means he’s the best-ever Victorian for a 16-year-old at 200m backstroke and that includes (Olympic medallist) Matthew Welsh – it puts a bit of history behind what he’s doing.”
Hiddlestone and his athletes now turn their attention to the Victorian Long Course Championships.
The Victorian 12 and 11-and-under Long Course Championships is on 19 and 20 December, while the 13 to 18 year olds take centre stage from 6 to 10 January.
The Victorian Open Long Course Championships is between 15 and 17 January.