General News
8 March, 2024
Committee proud of lap swimmers
CAMPERDOWN Outdoor Swimming Pool has celebrated the conclusion of its annual lap swimming challenge last week with an awards ceremony on Saturday.
Camperdown Outdoor Swimming Pool committee of management secretary Kelly Wain said the challenge has been running for many years and is like lap challenges run in other pools.
“A couple of years ago, the Camperdown Swimming Pool committee of management put in a lap swimming honour board to recognise and encourage some of our younger swimmers to have a motivation – to put their names up on the board and to recognise their achievements,” she said.
“You put your laps up on the board, and the lap challenge runs from the beginning of the season and it ran until last Friday.
“We had a presentation to hand out the top three in each category.
“We’ve got senior male and female, we’ve got 11-17 male and female, and we’ve got 10 and under male and female.”
In the 10 and under category, Will Sinnott took out the boys’ section with 127 laps and Essi Myers took first in the girls’ section with 750.
Rounding out the top three in this category was Theo Cheeseman (69 laps) and Lewie West (51 laps) for the boys, and Orla Myers (222 laps) and Pippa Murphy (132 laps) for the girls.
Overall winners in the 11-17-year category were Jonah Elliott-Wain (3000 laps) for the boys and Isabella Wain (1100 laps) for the girls, with Lucas Mason (490 laps), Maisie Cunningham (350 laps), Bailey Carman (395 laps), and Callani Winsall (198 laps) rounding out the top three for the male and female sections.
Mrs Wain said she was especially proud of Bailey, who wasn’t as confident a swimmer as others in the same category.
In the senior category, winners were Paul ‘Mr K’ Kingston with 5500 laps and Jane Kingston with 2222 laps.
Mrs Wain said Mr Kingston is a retired teacher from St Patrick’s Primary School and the reigning lap swimmer.
“He’s well-known to the kids around town, and he outdid himself this year,” she said.
“A lot of the children, as they leave, look at the board and see Mr Kingston’s numbers on the board.
“He did an exceptional job this year.”
Second place winners in the senior category were Will Elliott (3100 laps) and Donelda Conroy (1280 laps), with Steve Pickles (1590 laps) and Lillian Cronin (1000 laps) placing third.
Mrs Wain said the Camperdown pool was built as a memorial pool, with the lap swimming challenge supporting its primary purposes.
“The purpose of building the Camperdown Outdoor Pool when it was built was three-fold: they wanted a place for children to learn to swim, they wanted a place for swimming for the community, and they wanted a place where the children would remember the sacrifices laid down for them in World War I and II,” she said.
“It feels so good to have a lap swimming challenge that encourages the children to do the laps and to extend themselves and give them a motivation to do something they might not ordinarily do.”
Mrs Wain said the lap challenge also provides friendly competition within the community.
“Two years ago, Jane Kingston, who was the lap swimming winner for the senior females, she said to me ‘I’m not going to rest until I’ve beaten your children, Kelly’,” she said.
“The first year, Jane Kingston was the winner. Lillian Cronin set herself a goal.
“She bet Jane last year, but this year Jane reclaim her title. Sometimes they’d leave little notes for each other on the board.
“It’s a nice way to connect people.”
Mrs Wain said this year’s lap swimming challenge’s awards have been sponsored by someone important to the pool committee of management.
“We had William Elliot sponsor our medals and trophies this year. He’s been a previous staff member of the pool, and he’s an avid swimmer as well,” she said.
“He’s always encouraged the lap swimming for the kids.”
To mark the end of the lap swimming challenge, the committee of management will be holding an egg and bacon breakfast on Friday, March 8 (today).
The breakfast will also be a closing event for the pool season, which officially closes on Monday, March 11.
