New Zealand Zonal Championships - Senior 15 and Over

The Southern Makos dominated the inaugural Swimming New Zealand Zonal Championships taking both senior the junior honours in Wellington today.

The new event, which mirrors the collegiate events in USA, featured the 20 best swimmers 15 years and under and over 15 years from each of four zones. The zones are Southern Makos (South Island), All Stars (Wellington, Manawatu region), Aqua Knights (Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Taranaki, Hawkes Bay) and Harlequins (Auckland, Northland).

They competed in a full national championship programme condensed into two hours of quick-fire team competition, concluding with a flying squadron relay featuring all 20 swimmers each competing over 50m freestyle, with the juniors swimming this morning and the senior early afternoon.

The Makos dominated the junior competition but had a tougher job to claim the senior honours, with the depth proving the key. They won 10 of the 31 events while each of the other teams won seven events.

The Makos finished on 1000 points ahead of the All Stars on 930, Aqua Knights 914 and Harlequins 846.
The event, which brought a competitive team work between zone teams and buoyant fan support, has proved a real success.

“We are delighted with this innovation. It was pleasing to see the passion from the zone teams, the real competitive elements and the tremendous crowd participation and support,” said Swimming New Zealand CEO, Christian Renford.

“We will take feedback from the regions and coaches on this and look to further develop it. But I think this has been the first of what could become a big swim event in this country.”

Dunedin’s Kurt Crosland, Matamata’s Matthew Stanley and Wellington’s Natasha Hind were the outstanding individuals, each winning the maximum three events. The 29 year old Crosland (Makos) won the 100m and 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley, while Hind (All Stars) took out the 200m and 400m freestyle and 200m individual medley. Stanley, a member of the Swimming New Zealand High Performance Centre, won the 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle.

Other multiple winners were Dunedin’s Kate Godfrey (Makos) who won the 200m breaststroke and 400m individual medley; North Shore’s Laura Quilter (Harlequins) the 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke and Wellington’s Samantha Lee (All Stars) winning the 100m and 200m butterfly.

Results Senior Zonal Championships:

Women 200m medley relay: Harlequins 1:53.95, 1; All Stars 1:54.24, 2; AquaKnights 1:54.94, 3.

Men 200m medley relay: Makos 1:39.11, 1; Harlequins 1:39.43, 2; AquaKnights 1:39.58, 3.

Women 400m individual medley: Kate Godfrey (Makos) 4:47.53, 1; Helena Gasson (AquaKnights) 4:51.02, 2; Emily McGill (All Stars) 4:55.30, 3.

Men 400m individual medley: Bradlee Ashby (AquaKnights) 4:21.41, 1; Nathan Capp (Makos) 4:23.23, 2; Cameron Blair (AllStars) 4:24.99, 3.

Women 200m freestyle: Tash Hind (AllStars) 2:00.98, 1; Simone Cowling (Harlequins) 2:01.79, 2; Carina Doyle (Makos) 2:01.82, 3.

Men 200m freestyle: Matthew Stanley (AquaKnights) 1:48.70, 1; Matthew Hutchins (Makos) 1:49.43, 2; Samuel Perry (AquaKnights) 1:50.71, 3.

Women 100m backstroke: Laura Quilter (Harlequins) 1:00.89, 1; Rebekah Bradley (Harlequins) 1:02.24, 2; Ebony Maikuku (Makos) 1:02.90, 3.

Men 100m backstroke: Kurt Crosland (Makos) 53.10, 1; Gareth Kean (AllStars) 53.75, 2; Daniel Bell (AquaKnights) 54.05, 3.

Women 100m breaststroke: Natasha Lloyd (Makos) 1:09.14, 1; Katie Kenneally (Makos) 1:11.41, 2; Bronagh Ryan (AllStars) 1:11.67, 3.

Men 100m breaststroke: Erik Kahr (Harlequins) 1:02.06, 1; George Schroder (Makos) 1:02.20, 2; Ben Walsh (AllStars) 1:03.23, 3.

Women 800m freestyle: Emma Robinson (AllStars) 8:47.84, 1; Charlotte Webby (AquaKnights) 8:55.71, 2; Stefanie Gillespie (Makos) 9:00.48, 3.

Men 1500m freestyle: Nathan Capp (AquaKnights) 15:31.89, 1; Dylan Dunlop-Barrett (Harlequins) 15:36.66, 2; Steven Kent (Harlequins) 15:36.78, 3.

Women 200m freestyle relay: Harlequins 1:44.83, 1; AllStars 1:45.68, 2; Makos 1:46.68, 3.

Men 200m freestyle relay: AquaKnights 1:30.41, 1; Makos 1:30.54, 2; Harlequins 1:32.32, 3.

Women 200m butterfly: Samantha Lee (AllStars) 2:14.10, 1; Simone Cowling (Harlequins) 2:16.19, 2; Charlotte Webby (AquaKnights) 2:16.97, 3.

Men 200m butterfly: Isaac Foote (AllStars) 1:59.89, 1; Chris Dawson (AquaKnights) 2:03.86, 2; Cameron Blair (AllStars) 2:04.55, 3.

Women 50m freestyle: Laura Quilter (Harlequins) 26.03, 1; Hayley Palmer (Harlequins) 26.50, 2; Isobel Ryan (Makos) 26.91, 3.

Men 50m freestyle: Nielsen Varoy (Harlequins) 22.36, 1; Cameron Simpson (Makos) 22.89, 2; Michael Finlay (Makos) 23.16, 3.

Women 100m freestyle: Carina Doyle (Makos) 56.52, 1; Samantha Lee (AllStars) 56.85, 2; Simone Cowling (Harlequins) 57.18, 3.

Men 100m freestyle: Matthew Stanley (AquaKnights) 51.12, 1; Steven Kent (Harlequins) 52.07, 2; Julian Weir (AquaKnights) 52.59, 3.

Women 200m backstroke: Kate Godfrey (Makos) 2:11.55, 1; Ebony Maikuku (Makos) 2:16.98, 2; Rebekah Bradley (Harlequins) 2:17.86, 3.

Men 200m backstroke: Kurt Crosland (Makos) 1:57.40, 1; Gareth Kean (AllStars) 1:58.13, 2; Dylan Dunlop-Barrett (Harlequins) 2:02.59, 3.

Women 200m breaststroke: Katie Kenneally (Makos) 2:34.37, 1; Emily McGill (AllStars) 2:34.63, 2; Natasha Lloyd (Makos) 2:34.74, 3.

Men 200m breaststroke: George Schroder (Makos) 2:13.87, 1; Erik Kahr (Harlequins) 2:16.52, 2; Ben Walsh (AllStars) 2:17.55, 3.

Women 400m freestyle: Tash Hind (AllStars) 4:19.29, 1; Emma Robinson (AllStars) and Stefannie Gillespie (Makos) 4:21.14, equal 2.

Men 400m freestyle: Matthew Stanley (AquaKnights) 3:50.08, 1; Matthew Hutchins (Makos) 3:52.38, 2; Dylan Dunlop-Barrett (Harlequins) 3:55.23, 3.

Women 100m butterfly: Samantha Lee (AllStars) 1:00.12, 1; Laura Quilter (Harlequins) 1:01.04, 2; Jenna Buchanan (AllStars) 1:02.69, 3.

Men 100m butterfly: Daniel Bell (AquaKnights) 54.28, 1; Samuel Perry (AquaKnights) 55.60, 2; Max Polianski (Harlequins) 55.71, 3.

Women 200m individual medley: Tash Hind (AllStars) 2:15.19, 1; Kate Godfrey (Makos) 2:15.66, 2; Helena Gasson (AquaKnights) 2:18.45, 3.

Men 200m individual medley: Kurt Crosland (Makos) 2:00.96, 1; Bradlee Ashby (AquaKnights) 2:01.24, 2; Mitchell Donaldson (Harlequins) 2:04.70, 3.

Mixed 200m freestyle flying squadron relay: Makos 8:23.25, 1; AquaKnights 8:26.09, 2; Harlequins 8:30.20, All Stars 8:37.71, 4.

Final points: Makos 1000, All Stars 930, Aqua Knights 914, Harlequins 846.

NZ Zonal Championships