Boys Strike Back at the State New Zealand Swim Meet

The boys struck back on the second day of the State New Zealand Division II swimming competition in Invercargill tonight.

After the girls led the way on the opening night, it was the boys’ opportunity to turn up the heat amid a rousing atmosphere at the Splash Palace pool.

Four boys each won double gold medals today. They were led by Levin’s Shawn O’Hara, 13, with wins in the 200m individual medley and 200m freestyle to take his individual tally to six medals – three gold and three silver.

Campbell Kershaw, 15 (North Canterbury), Josh Kemp, 16 (Tawa) and Ben McMahon, 14 (Neptune) each won two gold medals today. All won the 200m individual medley finals, Kemp and McMahon the 100m backstroke and Kershaw the 200m freestyle.

O’Hara is the top overall medallist with six closely followed by outstanding Northland prospect Kieran Swords from the Bream Bay club who added two silver medals today to go with two golds and a bronze on opening night. He was joined by Kershaw on five medals.

Leading the way for the girls were Hamilton’s Hayley Miller and Tauranga’s Ruby Matthews, who both made it four wins from four starts at the Splash Palace pool.

Miller, 13, from the Ace club, won the girls’ 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle to go with victories in the 200m backstroke and 400m freestyle on the opening night.

Matthews, 14, won gold in the girls’ 200m individual medley and 50m breaststroke tonight to go with wins in the 100m breaststroke and 50m butterfly last night.

Neptune’s Devon Familton has five medals overall with a gold, silver and bronze today along with two wins on the first night.

It proved another strong night for the small Bream Bay club from Northland who maintained their lead in the club points competition with 584 ahead of Jasi on 542, fellow Christchurch club Wharenui on 357, North Canterbury on 353 and Ace (Hamilton) on 283.

The competition for age group swimmers aged 13 to 18 continues until Wednesday.

Full results, details: www.swimmingnz.org.nz

CAPTION: Ruby Matthews from the Otumoetai club in Tauranga out-touches her rivals to win the 14 years 200m Individual Medley at the State NZ Division II swimming competition in Invercargill tonight.

The image is free for editorial use only. Credit: Dianne Manson-BW Photography.

For further media information contact:

IAN HEPENSTALL Media Manager Swimming NZ High Performance Sports Media NZ Ltd. Tel 09 232 7822 Mob 027 561 3181 E: ian@sportsmedianz.com Skype: kiwiheps