They say you'll never forget your first, and for us the 2024 NZ National Age Group Championships marked our first outing as a club at NAGS. Led by coaches Zac Dell and Josh Gilbert on the watches, our team of 8 athletes pulled off some incredible performances on their way to finishing 8th overall in the club points with almost 2.5x more points per member than the top five teams.
Day one got off to a golden start in the Girls 400m Freestyle with Olivia Emmett winning the title in the 16 year old age group in 4:22.35 and Kiri Yamagami winning the 14 year old title in 4:39.23. James Haydon kept the gold streak alive in the Boy's 50m Breastroke MC, winning the SB14 class in 1:18.31. Fresh off a big week at NZ Champs, Izzie Gibson won a silver medal in the 17 year old Girl's 50m Backstroke in 29.19 to round out the first day of action.
Day Two saw us win our first ever age group relay medal, with the 16 & over Girls 4x50m Medley team earning a bronze in 1:59.31. James Haydon then continued his winning ways, this time swimming 28.11 to win the Boys 50m Freestyle MC. Eva Allan grabbed a bronze in the girls 18 year old 50m Freestyle in 26.86. Before James Haydon added a silver medal to his tally in the Boys 50m Fly MC. Olivia Emmett stood on top of the podium again, winning the Girls 16 year old 800m Freestyle in 9:01.12. Finishing off a big day of racing, the relay girls got it done for a silver medal in the Girls 4x100m Freestyle.
Just as they did the night before, the relay girls grabbed another medal to start Day Three winning bronze in the 4x50m Freestyle relay. Izzie Gibson was in action in the 200m Backstroke where she won the silver medal in the 17 year age group in 2:17.05 and finished third overall. James Haydon was back on top in the Boys 100m Freestyle MC, swimming 1:01.55 to win the gold medal in the S14 class. Kiri Yamagami was dominant in the 14 year age group, winning gold in 59.73. While Olivia Emmett smashed her 100m Freestyle to win silver in the girls 16 year age group in 58.00 and Eva Allan grabbed bronze in the 18 year age group.
Day Four started perfectly for James Haydon, winning gold in the SM14 200m IM. Continuing the golden run, Olivia Emmett won the 16 year old 200m Freestyle in 2:04.14 which was also fast enough for third overall in the event. Kiri Yamagami was the queen of the 14 year old age group, winning the gold medal in 2:11.48. Our final medal for day four went to James Haydon in the 200m S14 Freestyle, where he finished off a strong day in second place.
Olivia Emmett got the final day off to a great start, winning a silver medal in 17:19.59 the girls 16 year old 1500m freestyle. James Haydon then continued his stellar run at this championships winning the S14 100m Backstroke. Izzie Gibson also claimed another silver medal for herself, touching the wall in 1:03.71 to finish second in the 17 year old 100m Backstroke to win our last medal of the meet.
Our results for the 2024 New Zealand Age Group Swimming Championships:
- Gold Medals = 11
- Silver Medals = 8
- Bronze Medals = 4
Much love and thanks to all the family and friends that came out to support our age group athletes. While we're incredibly proud of their performanes, we're more proud to have the opportunity to share in these moments with such a great bunch of people!
New Zealand Age Group Swimming Champs 2024
Our team of 8 athletes pulled off some incredible performances on their way to finishing 8th overall in the club points with almost 2.5x more points per member than the top five teams.
