2017 NEW ZEALAND AGE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 21st – 25th
- Wellington Rgional Aquatic Centre
- Meet Results – Meet Mobile as “2017 NZ Age Group Championships”
The 2017 New Zealand Age Swimming Championships kicked off in Wellington yesterday, with several rising stars claiming individual titles to set a quick tone to the meet. The reigning World Junior Champion in the women’s 50m backstroke, Gabrielle Fa’amausili tried freestyle on for size, throwing down a speedy time of 56.21 to take gold in the 16-18 years of age final. That crushed the previous NZ age group record for 17-year-olds held by Olympian Lauren Boyle at 56.54 from 2005.
North Shore’s Yeonsu Lee also scored a win and new age group record on the competition’s first night, claiming gold in the women’s 200m butterfly. Stopping the clock at 2:14.39, Lee hacked over a second off of the previous 17-year-old age group record of 2:15.70 held by Samantha Lee since 2010.
Ciara Smith of Northland also wrote herself into the New Zealand record book, matching the women’s 16-year-old national mark in the 50m breaststroke. Smith topped the podium in 32.33 for her first victory.
On the men’s side, young Orlando Cristobal-Mandel set an age group record in the boys’ 12-13 breaststroke. The Capital Club swimmer scored a time of 31.38 to comfortably slide under the previous age record of 31.92, a mark that’s been on the books since 2008.