Young Talent Emerging On Day 3 Of 2017 New Zealand SC C’ships

2017 NEW ZEALAND SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Para swimmer Sophie Pascoe continued her siege on short course world records on day 3 in Auckland. The 24-year-old Kiwi crushed an SM10 100m IM time of 1:05.01 and an S10 50m freestyle time of 27.22 to establish new world standards in each.

After her races, Pascoe commented, “We really have been working on my freestyle for the past few months. We’ve been looking at the stroke rate, shortening the stroke rate, to be able to get that drive from the front and obviously the work has been paying off.”

The women’s 200m breaststroke race saw youngster Ciara Smith of Northwave get her hand on the wall first, claiming gold in 2:25.82. Her time marks a new 16 years age group record for the teen.

“Breaking the record was definitely one of my goals, but I tried really hard for it not to distract me going into the race. When I touched the wall and turned around and saw the time, I was really happy and surprised. I then looked around for Mum and she had a huge smile on her face”, says Smith.

Backstroking ace Gabrielle Fa’amausili crushed a new 17 years age group record in the 50m distance, touching in 24.95 for gold. She also set a new age group record in the 100m IM with her time of 1:02.04, which garnered her silver behind Olympian Helena Gasson. Gasson comfortably won the race in 1:00.45, establishing a new national record for the 22-year-old.

Another 17 years age group record fell courtesy of Aquabladz swimmer Zac Reid. Reid was able to beat out yesterday’s newly-minted 200m IM national record holder, Bradlee Ashby, by touching in 3:46.11 for the 400m freestyle win tonight. Ashby finished just .10 behind in 3:46.21.

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About Retta Race

Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having just earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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