Masterton Swimming Club’s Kate Sims has finished in the top 10 in New Zealand in all five of her events and won a bronze relay medal at the New Zealand Age Group Championships held in Wellington last week.
Sims, 15, was the sole representative from Masterton at the five-day meet that attracted more than 700 swimmers from over 100 clubs from around New Zealand and overseas.
Masterton Swimming Club’s head coach said Sims delivered on her goal of reaching finals in each of her five events.
“It was a first-rate week of swimming from Kate with every morning heat consistently backed up in the evening with finals.
“The events she swam were some of the more taxing swims and her results were a combination of her commitment to training and staying power.”
Sims also anchored the Wellington All Stars Zonal relay team in the 4 x 200m freestyle with an outstanding finish, passing the Auckland team in the last 50m of the race to secure the bronze medal for her team.
She swam personal best times in the 400m and 200m freestyle finals, finishing seventh and eighth respectively in those events.
She placed fifth in the 200m butterfly and eighth in the 100m butterfly and 800m freestyle.
Her efforts saw Masterton placed 58th overall out of more than 100 clubs, despite having only one swimmer competing.
In the women’s competition, Masterton placed 40th, and Sims was ninth overall on points for her age group.
The championship wrapped up a highly-successful season for the Masterton club, following the success of large teams who competed earlier this year at the NZ Division II Competition and the New Zealand Junior Festival.
The swimmers now take a break before starting the new season in late April.
