By JARROD POTTER
DANDENONG’S rising star swimmer Nick Galileos added a pair of state championships to his trophy cabinet last month.
The 14-year-old all-rounder won the 400m freestyle in a massive personal best time and was part of Casey TigerSharks Swimming Club’s boys’ 4×50-metre medley relay at the Victorian Age Swimming Championships, held in December at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Shedding 10 seconds off his prior best in the morning heats of the 400m freestyle, Galileos backed it up by taking six seconds off that mark in the night session to emphatically earn the championship.
“400m freestyle came first, I dropped 10 seconds in the morning heats and a further six at night so I dropped 16 seconds throughout the day so I was pretty happy with that one,” Galileos said.
“The medley relay was one of the last events on the second last night and we were all pretty beggared throughout the week but we managed to get the win.
“Shaun was really dominant in his breaststroke leg, Matt had a great swim in the butterfly and Jake Crozier had a smashing PB in the freestyle so it was really exciting.”
Taking the lead-off backstroke leg for the relay, Galileos and team mates Shaun Banzon, Matthew Faoro and Jacob Crozier touched in at 1.57.70 to claim the championship.
“Jacob Crozier anchored the swim and we managed to medal,” TigerSharks’ coach Ben Hiddlestone said about Galileos and the relay team’s performance.
“With Shaun included they were unbelievable – two seconds better than the next team.”
A pair of silver medals in the 200m and 400m individual medley capped off a stellar meet for Galileos.
