WARRNAMBOOL teenager Blake Turner’s golden summer in the pool has extended to the Victorian Sprint Championships.
The 13-year-old claimed silver in the 50-metre 13-and-under freestyle at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre on the weekend.
Warrnambool Swimming Club assistant coach Josh Sobey said Blake was unlucky not to claim gold, beaten by just 0.04 of a second in a tight finish between the top three swimmers.
The silver comes after he won the 100m freestyle Victorian title in December.
Sobey said Blake’s time of 27.02 seconds was slightly outside his personal best.
“He came from B2R (club) 12 months ago and since the transfer he has just taken off,” Sobey said. “He’s probably competing a lot more.”
Sobey said the performance augured well for Blake’s next goal, the Australian Age Championships in Adelaide from April 8.
Blake was the Warrnambool club’s only medal winner from its 19-member contingent.
“He was the standout. He’s just taken it step by step,” Sobey said.
“But everyone swam pretty well. There were personal bests from everyone. In terms of finals we were a little below par on last year but we had a lot more juniors this year. We had a lot more 12 and unders and 13 and unders than 15-plus and for those younger guys it’s all a learning curve.”
Michael Paulka was a finalist in the 19 and over 50m backstroke and while his swim was outside his best, Sobey said he was pushing hard to find just 0.2 of a second to qualify for the national titles.
Adam Barnes was also a finalist in the 17-18 50m breaststroke and he too is closing in on meeting the national qualifying mark.
Sobey said swimmers were preparing for a big eight weeks of training leading up to Adelaide.
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