Harlequins defend Zonal Swimming Championship title

The Harlequins made it a clean sweep to retain honours at the New Zealand Zonal Championships at the Sir Owen G Glenn Aquatic Centre in Auckland.

With the generous support of long time swimming supporter, The Brian Perry Charitable Trust, the Zonal Championships put 160 of New Zealand’s leading and up and coming swimmers against each other in a collegiate-styled competition.

Swimmers from all regions in the country are divided into four zones which compete in relay and team formats over two non-stop two hour sessions.

Each team is made up of 10 male and 10 female swimmers in the under 16 competition and the same sized teams in the 16 and over competition.

This year’s Zonal Championships awarded honours to the top senior and junior teams with the Harlequins taking out each title.

The Harlequins senior team dominated the night to finish on 1091 points ahead of the Makos on 840, All Stars on 718 and AquaKnights on 698 while the junior side came out on top with 967 points head of the Aquaknights (855), All Stars (751) and Makos (731).

A number of the senior swimmers enjoyed multiple successes tonight including Gasson in the 100m and 200m butterfly and the 200 breaststroke, Laura Quilter in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle, Kate Godfrey in the 200m and 400m individual medley, George Schroder in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, Wilrich Coetzee in the 100m and 200m butterfly and the 100m backstroke, Ewan Jackson in the 200m and 400m freestyle and Daniel Hunter in the 50m and 100m freestyle.

In the juniors picking up multiple wins each was Ikko Shibuya, Jack Kelleher, Jordan Wilson, Josh Gilbert, Olivia Corrin, Kaylee Jackson, Kyra Forrest, Chelsey Edwards and Mya Rasmussen who also earned a New Zealand Age Group record in the 400m individual medley.

The night concluded with swimmers taking part in a 1,000m freestyle relay for all swimmers in the senior and junior divisions with the Harlequins steaming home ahead of their competitors in both the senior and junior events.

The Zonal Championships also included the Legends Relay with seven teams raising money for the New Zealand Swimming Trust who support up and coming swimmers in New Zealand.

The winning team featured London Olympian Carl O’Donnell, Kieran Daly who attended the Pan Pacific Championships, Scott Cantley who swam at the FINA World Short Course Championships and Cameron Stanley who went to the World University Games.

Others to feature in the event included former Olympic swimmers Hannah McLean, Corney Swanepoel, Sarah Catherwood, Moss Burmester, Cameron Gibson, Helen Norfolk, Dean Kent, Dylan Dunlop-Barrett, Gary Hurring, Steven Ferguson, Orinoco Fa’amausili-Banse and Monique Banicevich, along with Swimming New Zealand chairman, Bruce Cotterill. Teams raised more than $10,000 to support New Zealand’s rising swimming stars.

Final Seniors Scores: Harlequins 1091, 1; Makos 840, 2; All Stars 718, 3; Aquaknights 698, 4.

Final Juniors Scores: Harlequins 967, 1; Aquaknights 855, 2; All Stars 751, 3; Makos 731, 4.

CAPTION: The winning Harlequins team celebrate at the Zonal Championships in Auckland.

Photo credit: BW Media.

NZ Zonal Championships