Young swimmers shine in the pool

By Paul Pickering
HAILEYBURY Waterlions and Casey Tiger Sharks swimmers have made a splash in the opening week of the Victorian Championships at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Haileybury young gun Leon Dong, 11, opened the meet with a gold and a silver medal in the 100m and 200m freestyle respectively, setting the tone for the rest of the Waterlions squad.
Meanwhile, 11-year-old Tiger Sharks wunderkind Matthew Charlesworth reached new heights in his fledgling competitive career this week, powering to a gold medal in the 11-and-under 100m backstroke.
Charlesworth slashed more than two seconds off his personal best (PB) to out-touch his lunging rivals.
Having qualified fastest with a two-second PB in his heat swim, he dug deep to chop another three-tenths of a second off his time in the final.
The golden result capped an impressive meet for the Narre Warren North Primary School student, who also claimed silver in the 200m backstroke, fourth in the 100m freestyle and 100m individual medley and fifth in the 200 freestyle.
Tiger Sharks head coach Ben Hiddlestone said he was delighted that the youngster had been rewarded for his hard work and dedication.
“That’s his pet event,” Hiddlestone said. “He’s got a lot of good, natural speed and he loves the backstroke more than anything else.
“He’s always keen and willing to learn and try new things, and he’s got the self-discipline that you’re always looking for in a swimmer.
“Hopefully this result will encourage him to focus on training and sharpening things up even more with his training and technique.”
Hiddlestone said the Tiger Sharks had also been buoyed by the performances of women’s distance swimmer Kirra Minton, who took on a star-studded international line-up in the 1500m freestyle final to finish third in the state – and a commendable eighth overall – behind Waterlion Laura Harney.
The championships were continuing as Star went to print, with the 13 to 18-year-olds set to hit the pool next week.