Portland Swimming Club athletes proudly represented at the recent 2026 Victorian Country All Junior Championships Competition on the weekend held at the State Sports Centre, Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre (MSAC).
With the combination of a disciplined training regime and specific coaching focus on fine tuning strokes, swimming at MSAC boosts athletes confidence, dishing out fast times to our club swimmers over the weekend, and it is no wonder that Portland swimmers were very pleased with their results.
Coach Claire Ward shared her excitement on the swimmers results "Just getting to MSAC to represent at this level is a massive achievement and for our swimmers from our small country town, it is a great deal for them to swim in the State Sport Centre, boosting swimmers confidence to continue in the sport."
At just 10 years old, Emily competed in two events and secured a PB in her 50m Backstroke in a time of 57.60 dropping 4.38 seconds from her entry time placing her 44th overall. Emily's 50m Freestyle time was 54.59 which also saw an improvement of 0.67 seconds from her entry time placing her 46th in overall. Well done to Emily on her achievements and for swimming at MSAC for the first time since commencing competitive swimming.
Rebecca, aged 11, competed in four events, and secured time improvements in three of her four strokes including a 0.81 second improvement in Butterfly and placing 23rd, 0.67 second improvement in Backstroke and placing 22nd, and a 1.06 second improvement in Freestyle. Her Freestyle time gave her 16th placing overall in a time of 35.47. Fantastic Swimming by Rebecca and we can't wait to see her future swimming continue to excel.
12 year old Riley competed in three events with strong finishes in all three and obtaining time improvements also. A time improvement of 4.74 seconds was achieved in 50 Butterfly placing him 35th overall. 50m Backstroke ensured a time improvement of 4.82 seconds placing 35th, and in Riley's pet stroke 50m Breaststroke, he achieved a time improvement of 1.71 seconds placing him 34th overall.
Vossie, also aged 12 competed in two events smashing his 50m Backstroke entry time by 5.17 seconds in a time of 43.86 securing 32nd overall. He also competed in 50 Freestyle placing 24th in a time of 33.84.
Gwyneth, 15 years old, competed in two events also improving her time in 50m Butterfly by 0.37 seconds in a time of 37.88 placing her 26th overall. Gwyneth's pet stroke 50m Freestyle placed her 21st overall in a time of 32.66.
Fantastic achievements by all competitors from Portland at the weekend. As we wind down now from the long course season, the competitions take a break for a while during the month of April, then are expecting to ramp back up in May for the commencement of the short course (25m pools) season.