Club News
Repainting of the Pool
Just to keep you all updated on the painting of the pool. As you can see in the photos (below), the pool has been sanded and painting is well underway.
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Olympics Trials
Three swimmers from St Paul's Swim Team competed at the Olympics Trials held from 25-30 March. Murray Pretorius finished 8th in New Zealand in the 1500m freestyle. This is the longest pool race at the meet. He also managed 10th in the 400m freestyle, with a negative split during the final (this is when a swimmer finished the second half of the race faster than the first half). His final swim was the 200m freestyle where he swam in the B Final ranked 16th and finished 11th. Angela competed in the 100m butterfly finishing just outside her best time of the season but moving up four places. Tracy swam on the last day in the 50m freestyle where she finished 34th, moving up 10 places and improving on her best time.
Waikato Swimming Scholarships
Well done to Tyller Ellis, Connor Egan, Cameron Voykovich and Jimmy Christey for each achieving a Waikato Swimming Scholarship. For further information, please visit: http://www.swimmingwaikato.co.nz/
Senior Camp
The senior camp is always a highlight for the older swimmers – it gives them a chance to train hard while still enjoying a few moments of excitement and laughter...
Well done team – you work well together. Good luck for the rest of the season.
Graham
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October 2011 - Halloween
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Mikayal Nielsen Wins World Triathlon Title
Mikayal Nielsen won a World Triathlon Title in the Elite Junior Woman at Beijing.
On a cold, rainy day in Beijing, Mikayla Nielsen of New Zealand shone through, securing the biggest win of her promising career thus far – the ITU Junior Triathlon World Championship 2011.
Nielsen has only been in the sport for two years but looked like a seasoned veteran with an impeccable bike leg and imperious run as she rode and then strode through the field.
"I was just determined to get on the front bunch, stay with them and then leave it all to the run. I was surprised how quickly I got to the lead though, that first hill I just got there so quick and caught on automatically, so yeah, it was awesome”.
"I knew there were some fast Aussies out there, but wasn’t sure about the others but I knew it was going to be tough. I thought they were going to catch me at the end so I am stoked that I got there first.”
The frightening thought for the opposition is that Nielsen, having just turned 17; has an amazing two years left in the Elite Junior category and can look to defend her title on home soil in Auckland next year. Well done Mikayal.
ITU Triathlon World Championship Elite Junior Women (U19)
1. Mikayla Nielsen NZL 01:03:40
2. Ashlee Bailie AUS 01:03:42
3. Hanna Philippin GER 01:03:47
4. Eszter Pap HUN 01:04:02
5. Kelly Whitley USA 01:04:12
Hamish Black- Winning GOLD in the "King of the Bay"
Year 9 student, Hamish Black, did outstandingly well in the “King of the Bay” event off
Takapuna Beach. The race, a part of the New Zealand Open Swim Series, saw Hamish
finish first in the Open 1000m race, competing against adults. Due to atrocious weather
conditions, the distance was reduced to 750m, which Hamish swam in 8 minutes, 36
seconds to take out the Gold medal. Well done Hamish.
2010/11 OCEAN SWIM SERIES – Mt Maunganui
On Saturday the 26 March, 2011 two of St Paul’s swimmers competed in the State Ocean Swim Series held at Mount Maunganui.
It was great to see both swimmers in the Elite group. The opportunity to race against the best open water swimmers is something that will not only further their careers but also show where they are positioned against some of New Zealand’s best.
As with a lot of open water swimming there were a few changes to the lead pack as swimmers try to save energy by sitting in a group of swimmers. Andrew Pullon and Evan Wilson positioned themselves well in the first lap holding their own and fighting to stay with the top group. In the home straight Evan made his move for the finish holding off a swimmer close on his heals to finish fifth. Andrew kicked in hard after missing the final buoy to hold off and finish ninth over all.
It is great to see both swimmers doing we
Finishll, and still in the running for a top ten overall finish. Andrew currently seventh, Evan fifteenth.
10k Open Water Swim
London Olympic bid begins for St Paul’s Open Water Swim Team
Saturday 15 January, 2011 saw two of St Paul’s Swim Team compete in the Olympic, 10k Open Water event held in Taupo. Both swimmers, Andrew Pullon and Evan Wilson, have been preparing for this event with a strong performance at the local Waikato Open Water Championships, where Evan won the Gold and Andrew the Silver. However, this next step up was always going to be a huge challenge with the fielding consisting of swimmers that have competed at the Open Water World Championships.
The New Zealand 10k Open Water swim is the first step in qualifying for London’s Open Water event in 2012. Any swimmer that finished in the top five would represent New Zealand at the Australian Open Water in February 2011. Having the class field on show the pace was always going to start fast, both boys went out hard from the start, holding on to the lead pack for the first 2.5k lap. The beginning of the second lap saw the felid start to split up. Evan and Andrew knew what the race strategy was and came in to feed on the 5k lap knowing they would need to hold their pace for the final two laps. As the 7.5k lap finished both boys where in the second chasing pack around 4mins behind the lead group of five swimmers. As they turned the buoy at 7.5k the lead swimmer in the group swam past the feeding station ensuring other swimmers would follow on. The pace increased as the race went through the final 2.5k. Evan moved up into the lead swimmers of the chasing pack with Andrew drafting behind. After 10k of swimming it came down to a sprint finish with Evan finishing eighth in New Zealand and Andrew finishing tenth in New Zealand. Evan also finished second in his 16-17 years age group, missing the Gold by 0.12 of a second. This was a great swim from both boys and next in their sight is the Australian Open Water Championships in February 2011.
Sunday 16 January, 2011 was the New Zealand 5k Open Water Championships. St Paul’s had three swimmers competing in the event, the two boys from Saturday’s event and Murray Potteries. With this race only being two laps of the 2.5k loop, all three boys knew the pace would be hard from the start. With 40 swimmers competing, the fight was to gain an important position start before the gun sounded on the start line. Open water swimming in NZ is relatively new and in this event swimmers jostle for position on the start line. In many cases swimmers can have their legs pulled, be elbowed by other swimmers and may be ducked under. Despite the jostling, all three boys managed to get a clean start and hold on to the lead group round the first buoy. The fight for clean water and space to swim continued through the first lap. Murray, moving through the field into second place was on the heels of the leader, with around ten swimmers behind including both Andrew and Evan. The pace increased as the front group tried to pull away. The closing stages of the race saw four swimmers sprint to the finish line – Murray was in the pack fighting for the straight line home. 100m out from the finish line all four swimmers where still holding pace, leg kick increased and swimmers where driving into the final few metres. The finish of the 5k was the closest they have ever had in New Zealand with Murray only missing out on a medal by 0.23 of a second and 0.98 seconds off the Gold. All three swimmers that were in front part of the New Zealand team going to Australia. This is a new event for Murray and he performed very well. Evan once again had a sprint finish to hold on to the Bronze medal in the 16-17 year group. Andrew Pullon doing these first back to back Open Water swims found the second lap a little too fast and tightened up through his shoulders on the closing 1500m. However he still managed to hold on to a top 15 placing.
Well done to all three swimmers you have done yourself proud and the club. Good job.
Coach
10k Open Water Swim
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