Little sharks have big bite

By Gavin Staindl
WHILE the elite TigerSharks are taking on Australia’s best in Sydney, the younger members of the Casey squad were making a splash at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre last weekend.
The TigerSharks qualified a personal best 25 swimmers for the Metro All Junior Competition at MSAC with 13 making it through to the finals on Sunday.
According to TigerSharks coach Julie-Anne Roberts, all swimmers swam personal best times with eight-year-old Chris Daniels surprising himself when he wiped seven seconds off his best time.
Daniels, who qualified for his first ever major meet final, missed out on a bronze medal by .1 of a second in the 50-metres butterfly, but over the course of the weekend he shed seven seconds from his pre-race time of 56 seconds to record a 49 in Sunday’s final.
“He was just rapt,” Roberts said.
“You couldn’t wipe the smile from his face.
“So many of the swimmers have never swam at this level and some have never got medals, so it was great to see them doing well.”
Sophie Lee was one who had never won a medal at a state event but the 10-year-old claimed gold in the 50-metres freestyle, silver in the 50-metres backstroke and narrowly missed out on a placing in the 50-metres breaststroke.
Jake Templar, 13, also showed he is a future star, taking out silver in the 50-metres breaststroke and bronze in the 50-metres butterfly and 50-metres freestyle.
Sam Russo and Matt Sheppard reached the podium in the 50-metres backstroke for 14-year-old boys, with Russo finishing with a gold and Sheppard touching in for a bronze.
Other swimmers to reach finals on the Sunday were Eric Crawford, Michael Vincent, Talia Bahn, Tamara Bahn, Caitlin Collingwood, Jess Raoro, Reece Jones and Shaun Banzon.
According to Roberts, the Casey TigerSharks organisation is making serious in-roads as one of Victoria’s leading junior squads.
“We have a great future,” Roberts said.
“The club is only getting bigger, and I just think word is getting around about our club.
“All the coaches are doing a good job and the challenge for us now is keeping the young swimmers challenged and inspired.”