Stars for state semis

By Paul Pickering
SIXTEEN Casey TigerSharks have progressed to the semi-final stage of the state championships for 7-10-year-olds on the back of impressive swims in the district finals on Sunday.
A strong contingent of TigerSharks juniors competed at the Metro District South finals at the Klim Swim centre in Cheltenham, with most clocking resounding personal bests.
TigerSharks assistant coach James Fox said he was “stoked” with the performances of his emerging swim stars.
“I wasn’t expecting to have that many kids make it through, because a lot of the kids who’ve made the top 10 in previous years have now fallen out of the age group.
“But now we’ve got some kids following in the footsteps of the likes of Jake Templar and Matthew Shaw,” he said.
Nine-year-old Jake Duggan is one who looks set to make that leap. He finished first in the 50m breaststroke and second in the freestyle, backstroke and butterfly disciplines.
Duggan was among six TigerSharks to qualify for the semi-finals in all four events, joining Michael Vincent, Shaun Banzon, Nathan Baltruschaitis, Adrianna Grech and Ellie Corbett.
Teammates Tamara Banh, Talia Banh, Erena Koukounaras, Shae Williams, Andrew West, Zak Benton, Jayden Race, Matthew Glover, Cooper Perros and Andrew Cooper all progressed in at least one of their chosen strokes.
The semi-finals and finals will be held on 15 and 16 November.