Some of the best swimmers from northern New South Wales converged on Port Macquarie on November 26 and 27 for the Swimming NSW North Coast Championships.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
It was the first time in three years the event had been held in the region as a combined result of COVID, while the event is also moved up and down the Mid North Coast every year.
Swimming North Coast competition coordinator Andrew Jones said achieving qualification times for the NSW state-age titles next month were the aim for the more than 200 competitors.
"We had 257 competitors from all over the North Coast competing and we had 30-odd records broken on Saturday - a lot in the multiclass [division]," he said.
"Times will now be considered for the NSW state-age and NSW Country Championships later on in the year."
Coffs Harbour and Alstonville dominated the standings although Port Macquarie, Taree, Kempsey and Forster also registered strong results.
Jones admitted it was great to be back swimming again in Port Macquarie.
"It's good to get our area championships up and really going again. We did race last year in Coffs Harbour, but it's good to see us racing here again this year in Port," he said.
"The standard overall is extremely good; it always is on the North Coast."
While swimming has pushed on throughout the pandemic over the last three years, the 2022 event is the first where things feel as though they are getting back to normal.
"We did have competitive swimming going during COVID, but it was very, very restricted with our numbers at the meets and the way in which we marshalled and did things," Jones said.
"[Over the last couple of years] we couldn't compete at all and the [North Coast] championships have had to be called off."
IN THE NEWS:
