State 2013 Secondary School Championships Preview

The State 2013 New Zealand Secondary School Championships kick off in Hamilton on Friday. This will be the third year the event is run with 123 schools and 478 swimmers competing from Northland to Dunedin.

Wellington College will be defending the top school trophy that they have won for the last two years since the competition began in 2011.

There will be separate male and female trophies this year. The top contenders for the male trophy include Wellington College, Auckland Grammar School, Hamilton Boys High School, Palmerston North Boys, and Westlake Boys. While the girls trophy will be hotly contested by Westlake Girls High School, Napier Girls High School, St Peters School, and Diocesan School for Girls.

World Junior 50m backstroke Champion Gabrielle Fa’amausili will be swimming at the event along with her world junior team-mate Bobbie Gichard. The world junior championship representatives will be joined by fellow New Zealand age group representatives including Julian Weir, Ted Taylor, Carter Edgecombe, Paige Schendelaar-Kemp, Samuel Perry, Aimee Moss, Georgia Marris, Monique King, Kelly Scammell, and Max Polianski.

Paralympic swimmers will be competing in the event for the first time. Recently returned IPC World Championship representative Jesse Reynolds, and World Champion Nikita Howarth, will lead the Paralympic swimming contingent.

The competition runs from 6-8 September at Waterworld, Te Rapa, Hamilton. Morning sessions begin at 9am and evening sessions begin at 4pm.

NZ Sec Schools