Record breaking medley for local

HISTORY was made on the Gold Coast, as four SGB swimmers competed at the Australian Schools Championships last week. The four swimmers, Archie Smyth, Cooper Quaife, Miah Roberts and Gemma Cook competed in a range of events over the week-long event. 

The Primary school division started first, with Archie competing in a number of events, including the record-breaking 12-year-old mixed medley, who came first, breaking the national record. His 12-year-old boys medley came third. He also narrowly missed out on placing in the 50m backstroke. 

For Archie, “Being part of TeamVic was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed being on the Gold Coast and swimming in a wonderful pool with blocks. Swimming outside and not feeling cold in July was great! However, I had to get used to swimming backstroke, my favourite event with the sun shining in my eyes again.

“I had lots of fun doing barefoot bowls with other TeamVic members and hanging out and doing relays with mates who I normally swim against.”

The second part of the week saw Gemma, Miah and Cooper in the pool. 

For Gemma, a multi-class swimmer, the National Competitions give her a unique opportunity to race others in her classification. This meet was the first time Gemma has been a part of an official multi-class team, she said it was one of the best things about Team Vic this year. She was one of eight multi-class swimmers ranging from S6 through to S19 (varying from physical disabilities, invisible disabilities and intellectual impairments) representing Victoria. The males and females of the team bonded well amongst their able-bodied teammates with mutual respect for all their abilities.

Gemma is 12 years old and was competing in the 13-15 age category which made for tough racing. However, her aim was to achieve PBs, which she did, and she was thrilled to have such a broad range of multi-class events available to swim. Normally meets only have 50m races for multi-class, but the swimming was inclusive and for the first time she swam 200m MC freestyle along with six other longer distance MC events and two dedicated multi-class relays. She now has a fire that is well and truly ignited to work even harder for next year! Having had such an abundance of opportunities for multi-class swimmers. 

For Miah, she enjoyed the great camaraderie throughout TeamVic, the culture of the training sessions and racing in a team with people she normally races against. It was her first year there and she learned a lot from the different coaches and hopes to make the team next year. It has been a big year for Miah with Nationals also in Queensland a few months ago. She finished 9th in the final of her favourite event, the 100m Backstroke. 

Cooper enjoyed the honour of captaining the team and racing against swimmers of his age, as there are not always as many older school-aged swimmers at many local meets. 

Cooper was honoured to be selected for the team in the first place and to be able to represent not only the swimming team as their captain but also his state as he was selected by School Sports Australia to captain Victoria as the representative of all sports. 

“It was such a privilege to read the Athletes Oath at the opening ceremony and carry the Victorian flag for the opening and closing ceremonies. I enjoyed being able to have an impact on those around me whilst doing what I love, swimming.”