2017 NEW ZEALAND AGE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- March 21st – 25th
- Wellington Rgional Aquatic Centre
- Meet Results –Â 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.