Lucy Guye, right, from Colac Swimming Club, and her competitors in the girls’ 14 and under 50m freestyle event hit the water.
PERSONAL bests were the order of the day as the curtain came down on the Western District Swimming Association.
Warrnambool Swimming Club had 52 swimmers achieve close to 150 personal bests at the one-day meeting at AquaZone on Sunday.
The event, which also included 25 swimmers from the Timboon and Colac clubs, was the last before the WDSA merges with its Barwon and Far West counterparts next year.
It featured qualifiers for the Victorian Country All-Junior Championships at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on March 23 and 24.
Warrnambool, as the biggest club, had a host of swimmers win two, three or four races.
But beyond qualifying aspirations, many Warrnambool juniors achieved personal best times.
Denbi Lamb and Jane Turner slashed seconds off their PBs in each of the four strokes, while Harrison Holmes posted three personal bests.
Denbi, 12, produced her best effort in the backstroke, finishing in 50.90 to take five seconds off her best.
She said swimming had “become part of my life” and wanted to compete in the Olympics in years to come. “I only swam a meet last weekend and in a week I improved more,” she said.
Jane, 10, was exceptional in the butterfly, clocking 46.74 to beat her best by a whopping 10 seconds.
She also surprised in the breaststroke, finishing in 56.62 — nine seconds faster than her PB.
Harrison, 9, was most impressive in backstroke, shaving 10 seconds off his best time to finish in 1.06.43.
afawkes@fairfaxmedia.com.au