Lions roar at nationals

By Marc McGowan
EIGHTEEN finals and three medals helped the Haileybury Waterlions to an impressive showing at the Australian Age Championships in Brisbane last week.
They were the fourth-best performed Victorian club, ranking 19th overall, with 13-year-old Samantha Wilkins and 16-year-old Alexandra Woodlock headlining the Waterlions’ feats.
Wilkins only recently joined Haileybury from South Gippsland Bass Swimming Club and her points did not go towards the Waterlions’ tally.
But the talented teenager showed she will be an excellent acquisition, winning a silver and bronze medal in the 200m individual medley and 100m butterfly respectively.
They were among the four finals she reached, while also picking up two bronze medals as part of Victorian relay teams.
It was also a memorable competition for Woodlock, scoring bronze in the 200m backstroke, finishing fourth in the 100m backstroke and seventh in the 200m individual medley.
But they were far from the only stars at the club, with 16-year-olds David Mummery, Jack Hutchins and Sam Nixon, 17-year-old Roy Pearce, 15-year-old Indra Grant and 14-year-old Gavin Scott also recording top-10 placings.
Freestyle queen Kelly Stubbins capped a successful week for Haileybury by collecting a silver and bronze medal at the World Short Course Championships in Manchester.
Stubbins, 24, put the heartbreak of missing out on the Beijing Olympic Games behind her to produce stellar performances in each of her three swims at the championships.
The Belgrave South athlete just failed to qualify in her individual 200m freestyle, putting together the ninth-fastest effort.
Less than four-tenths of a second separated her from the slowest qualifier for the final, fellow Australian Kylie Palmer, who went on to win the event.
Stubbins’ disappointment subsided when she helped Australia to medals in the 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m freestyle relays.
Those accomplishments join her gold medal in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games, where she swam the second-fastest leg in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.