Mansfield Swimming Club members returned from a huge weekend of competition with excellent results, new personal bests and three fresh Country Championship qualifying times added to the tally.

On Saturday, a strong squad of eight competed at the Seymour Sharks Long Course Meet, delivering an impressive series of swims across a range of events from 25m butterfly through to 200m freestyle and everything in between.

There were numerous personal best performances and confident long-course racing from our Mansfield athletes, with two new Country Championship qualifying times for Joey McGuigan (15).

Matilda Slijkerman (11) smashed her previous 50m breaststroke PB, cementing her existing Countries qualifying time and demonstrating her improvement in the pool. Coach Alli Walker praised the team for their positive attitude on pool deck, strong support for one another and willingness to take on new events at the meet.

“The jump from a 33m pool to a 50m pool is quite big and our younger swimmers in particular took the challenge well,” she said.

On Sunday, Joey McGuigan backed up from the previous day by travelling to the Yarrawonga-Mulwala Swimming Club meet.

Despite the quick turnaround, he continued his strong form, consolidating his new personal bests in the 100m freestyle and backstroke.

Joey also qualified for the 14/15-year-old ‘Skins’ event – a fast and tactical elimination 50-metre sprint raced in multiple rounds, with two swimmers knocked out each time. He progressed through to the third round, an excellent achievement in a high-pressure format.

To cap off the weekend, Joey added another Country Championship qualifying time, bringing his total for the two-day stretch to three.

The club acknowledges not only the swimmers’ performances, but also the efforts of families and coaches who support long days at the pool and plenty of highway kilometres during the summer racing season.

With strong early-season racing now under their belts, Mansfield swimmers are looking ahead with confidence to the Country Championships in Geelong in just a few weeks.