Wellington College tops again in State NZ Secondary Schools Swimming

Depth proved the key for Wellington College who claimed the overall honours in the second annual State New Zealand Secondary Schools Swimming Championships in Hamilton.

The defending champions did not win a single event on the fourth and final session at Waterworld, Te Rapa but produced real depth to place highly in virtually every race.

They won the Top School Points award with 652 ahead of Westlake Girls on 540 and Auckland Grammar on 529.

Leading individual was 13 year old Yeonsu Lee from Westlake Girls High School with 10 wins over the three days. She was well clear of the next best individual with Hayden Church (St Kentigern) and Carlos Aguilera Cortes (Auckland Grammar) winning five each with Reuben Speirs (Auckland Grammar), Scott Fairbairn (Westlake Boys) and Joshua Asplin (Rosehill) claiming four wins each.

Lee and Caitlin Rennell (Villa Maria, Chch) each won three times in the final session.

Swimming New Zealand Events Manager, Kent Stead said the championship was an outstanding success.

“The inaugural event last year exceeded our expectations,” he said. “This year we had 43 new schools with over 400 swimmers from 125 schools, so the growth has been phenomenal.

“The event has become and important pathway for our emerging talent. Perhaps more importantly, it has allowed the opportunity for real excitement and spirit that comes with collegiate competition to shine through.

“It is a significant addition to the swimming scene, and from our feedback, we expect next year to be bigger again, perhaps up to 500 swimmers. If that is the case we will add a further session at the start of the competition and then have the enviable problem of looking at how we manage the growth going forward.”

Leading points are: Wellington College 652, Westlake Girls 540, Auckland Grammar 529, St Peters Cambridge 478, Westlake Boys 465, St Kentigern 454, Hamilton Boys 372, Diocesan Auckland 346, Napier Girls 338, Villa Maria 319.