Scully Park five begin Country Championships campaign

With two new arrivals to the competition, and three who have attended the championships before, coach Kate Bolte said the pressure is off for her charges, who she wants to just enjoy themselves.

"It's exciting for them," Bolte said.

"They'll be fine, they've done plenty of carnivals before and this is just another big carnival for them. They're more than ready for it.

"I just want them to try their best, there's no pressure because we've had a rough year."

Allison Tooley, Abbey Trewern, Bella Pollard, Indiana King, and Elouise McCann will represent the club at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, as the championships begin today and run through to Sunday.

After the massive disruptions caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns late last year, Bolte is eager for her swimmers to settle back into training and push themselves to record improved times in the pool.

"Finally we have this year and hopefully next year with no interruptions," she said.

"We can keep training and hopefully make some big times in the upcoming years."

Although the end of 2021 was difficult for all sporting clubs locally and in NSW, the lead-in to the Country Championships has been surprisingly fluid, with a spate of carnivals in recent weeks which have prepared the swimmers.

"We've been having carnivals every weekend, so we've had lots of practice," Bolte said.

"They've had practice for this one, so this is just the big one."

Along with these competitions, the girls have also been hard at work training, both in the pool and in the gym.

"It's hard to get back into the swing of things, but the swimmers have been doing well and training hard, with six to nine training sessions a week, including gym sessions," Bolte said.

While she has been careful not to put pressure her swimmers, Bolte did explain to them what a great opportunity the Country Championships could be to learn from their competitors.

"It's more experience with the faster swimmers, we get to see how they're swimming, we get an insight into what their training looks like," she said.

"Hopefully that'll my swimmers more of a push, because it's a nice meet to go to and it's a nice carnival because you have all the kids from around the district."

Following its Country Championships berth, the 360 Scully Park Swimming Club will host its swimming carnival on February 26 from 8.30am.

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