SNZ Events
Epic Swim
High Performance
SNZ Events
Epic Swim
High Performance
North Shore swimmer Ra’eez Warley has broken five New Zealand age group records in the past two weeks ahead of his first New Zealand Short Course Championships next month.
The ambitious young swimmer broke the 12 years old age group record in the short course 100m and 200m backstroke at the Auckland Winter Championships this weekend.
These two records came a week after breaking three long course age group records at the Hamilton Winters Meet in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke.
Warley just scraped in for achieving the 12 years age group records as he celebrates his 13th birthday this Thursday.
While he was excited with each record he achieved his record in the 100m backstroke in Hamilton in particular meant a lot to Warley.
It was New Zealand’s longest standing male record at the time and something he had just missed achieving earlier in the year at the New Zealand Junior Championships.
His new record time of 1:05.20 breaking the old time of 1:06.25 set by Hudson Hardgrave-Booth.
“For the whole season, I was aiming to try and get as close to the 100 backstroke record as possible,” Warley said.
“I knew that the record had been standing for thirty years and to me, I wanted to be the one to take that down. I missed the record at NZ Juniors. I thought that I had lost the chance to break the record.”
A last minute decision to enter the Hamilton Winter Meet proved to be a good one.
“I had no expectations when I went there and just decided to give it everything. When I touched the wall and looked at the score board, I was just so happy to have achieved what I had set out to do at the beginning of the season.”
With a few New Zealand age group records under his belt now Warley is hoping his step up in the next age group at the New Zealand Short Course championships will help push him further.
“I think racing against older boys will help me improve. I love racing and I know that I will learn from this big experience.
“At this short course, I will be looking at how I can continue to improve my performances. It is another chance to gain more race experience and work on my racing processes.”
While still only young Warley will certainly be one to watch with an undoubted focus and drive to perform at his best.
“I do have an expectation of myself to be the best that I can be.
“I like to ensure that I am focussed on the processes that I need to execute in my race. I am still working hard on technical improvements.
“There is always room to improve. I also like to work on my mental preparation for my races. I like to visualise how I should execute my race and try to turn that into a performance in my races.”
Warley will compete in eight individual events at the New Zealand Short Course Championships, including the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, from the 11th to 15th August at the Sir Owen G. Glenn National Aquatic Centre in Auckland.
