ACC Swimming The 2008/2009 swimming campaign was another long journey. It started with early morning training sessions during Term 3 and Term 4 (2008), some summer holiday sessions, a weekend camp at Jan Juc, and three hectic weeks of training and trial carnivals at the start of Term 1 2009. All the long hours of hard work from our swimmer culminated in the ACC Swimming Championships on Friday 20th February at MSAC. Once again, the competition was fierce, with many State level swimmers representing various schools, and three ACC records broken on the night. De La Salle finished 6th overall; however, this result does not accurately reflect all of the personal bests and placings our swimmers achieved on the night. Well done to those boys. There were two outstanding results on the night which both saw longstanding DLS records broken: q Matthew Northage of 9 Benilde swam 27.19s, coming 1st in the U15 50m freestyle, breaking P. Hans’ record of 27.35, set way back in 1980. q Darcy Freeman, Nathan Johnstone, Lachie Miles and Matthew Northage swam 1.56.76, coming 1st in the U15 Freestyle Relay, breaking B. Maher, D. Elliott, C. Neeson and J. Grainger’s record of 1.57.64 set in 1992. Congratulations to these boys for their excellent results. Once again, special mention must go to our swim captains who did a fantastic job, and built a strong bond with the members of their team. Ben Ellul (captain) and Matt Chai (vice-captain) consistently demonstrated excellent leadership 118
over the six months at training, swim camp and trial events. They leave big shoes to fill for next year. On a personal level, I would like to congratulate the whole ACC Swimming Squad for their efforts. It is a timeconsuming and often tiring role, keeping the ‘show’ rolling, but it was worth it to see how much the boys enjoyed the experience. Of all the ACC teams, the swimming team is the most tight-knit group of boys I have worked with. Through early morning training sessions and swim camp, they bonded and clearly had a fabulous time together. Mr Gerard Jackson, Mr Sam Magree and I are very proud of the manner in which our boys conducted themselves in representing the College. Special thanks go to Ms Liz Turner and Mr Terry Atkins for giving up their weekends to help with swim camp. Ms Karen Harding Coach
