Coach Gemma Herrington with the team.
Camera IconCoach Gemma Herrington with the team. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Riverton Aquanauts make splash at State short course champs

Pia van StraalenCanning Gazette

THE Riverton Aquanauts Swimming Club brought their best when competing against the best swimmers in the State at Swimming WA Short Course Championships.

Held at HBF Stadium in the last two weekends of September, the club qualified 14 swimmers and field two relay teams at this state level competition where they were at times able to match it with some of the much bigger and well established clubs from across WA.

Shining the brightest at the event was 10-year-old Matthew Loffler, who brought home four medals; gold in the 200m breaststroke, silver in both the 100m breaststroke and 50m breaststroke and bronze in the 100m individual medley.

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Matthew said it was great to see his early morning training pay off.

“Being at the state championships gave me the opportunity to put all those early morning training sessions into practice,” he said.

“Getting the medals was a bonus, as I really liked seeing the whole team do well. I think the best part by far was being with my team mates, who have become great friends.”

Head coach Gemma Herrington said the swimmers, aged between eight and 13 delivered amazing results.

“Many of our swimmers achieved a top 10 result in their favourite events, and amassed an amazing 45 personal best times over the weekends of competition, a combined total of 221 seconds of improvement,” she said.

Club president Ben Loffler said the talent had grown in the last year.

“At the same event last year, we had 6 swimmers qualifying for a total of 27 events,” he said.

“This year we had 14 swimmers, competing in a total of 73 events. The thrill of seeing the club cheer on its fellow team mates to some huge personal best times makes me proud to be involved in the club.”

The next club night is October 14, where registration will be open for the 2016-17 season.

More details go to http://rivertonaquanauts.wixsite.com/swimming-club