Smith, Whitton shine at Junior State Age Championships

Jacob Smith picked up a silver in the 11 Years Boys 50m Backstroke, and bronzes in the 50m Freestyle and 200m Backstroke, while Alexis Whitton claimed another bronze in the 10 Years Girls 100m Freestyle.

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Coach John Hickey praised both swimmers for their performances at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre.

"They are few and far between, so to pick up those medals was very exciting for each of the kids, and exciting for us as a club," Hickey said.

"All the kids are very supportive of each other, and so Jacob and Alexis got a few pats on the back from their teammates which was great to see. But it also shows that our kids are becoming more and more competitive."

SGI sent a team of 16 to the championships, which took place over Saturday and Sunday, and while Smith and Whitton were the only ones to pick up medals, many others produced new personal bests.

"We had a lot of PBs again and on top of that, Alexis missed out on a number of medals by point-something of a second, so she's got a lot of room to improve as well," Hickey said.

"We had a lot in the top 10 and a lot in the top 20 after that. I'm very clear to my kids that top 50 at a State Championships is something to be proud of."

The Kootingal Moonbi Swimming Club also sent one swimmer to the championships, Jaime Grobler, who set a massive 2.9 second personal best in the 100m Breaststroke.

"Considering we only had one or two sessions in the last two weeks or so because of COVID-19 (Jaime was hit hard)," KMSC coach Graham Johnstone said.

"Jaime was out of the pool for a fair while and also missed the Club Championships because of it. I was really happy with the times she swam."

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