Casey TigerSharks coach Ben Hiddlestone praised Trent Lindsey’s 200m freestyle performance as the club’s best at last week’s Australian Age Championships in Western Australia.By Marc McGowan
THE Casey TigerSharks are celebrating national recognition after reaching six finals at the Australian Age Swimming Championships at Challenge Stadium Aquatic Centre in Western Australia last week.
The TigerSharks were ranked 55th out of the 185 clubs that managed to earn points at the event among more than 200 competing organisations.
Casey’s star 14-year-old duo Craig Watson and Trent Lindsey, who had a virus in the lead-up, headlined the feats by reaching five individual finals between them.
They also played pivotal roles in the 4 x 50m medley relay team’s sixth placing in the 14-year-old boys’ final.
Watson finished fifth in both the 100m and 200m backstroke and seventh in the 200m breaststroke, while Lindsey steamed home fourth in the 200m freestyle and sixth in the 400m freestyle.
Watson was the TigerSharks’ inaugural national finalist on night one of the competition in the 200m breaststroke.
Fellow 14-year-olds Luke Drakeford and Cameron Hill joined their team-mates in the medley relay and the same four stroked their way to ninth spot overall in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay.
Drakeford ranked 28th in the 200m backstroke in his individual swim.
Brad York, 17, was the club’s next-best performer and his top result from his four solo efforts was 14th in the 100m butterfly.
Casey’s other representative was 15-year-old Ryan Smith, who recorded finishes of 29th and 21st in the 100m and 200m breaststroke events respectively.
TigerSharks head coach Ben Hiddlestone was ecstatic at his club’s stellar displays in the pool and believes it will be a stepping stone to even greater success next year.
“We had finals every night.
At Sydney last year we did not have a single finalist or a top 16 placing in anything,” he said.
“The next step forward for these guys is getting in the medals.
“The boys are more confident and other clubs are noticing them.
“There is a big shift going on because in previous years Casey was not even on the radar.”
Hiddlestone singled out Lindsey’s 200m freestyle achievement as the highlight of the week-long meet.
“Trent’s 200m freestyle was the best hands-down,” he said.
“He ended up fourth and it’s rare that you have four 14-year-olds going under two minutes.
“He PBed in the heats to qualify second and it was nerve-racking for him. A couple of the other guys were probably taking it a little bit easier in the heats.”
Hiddlestone also pointed out Hill’s impressive swim in the 4 x 50m medley relay as a stand-out performance.
“Ever since we realised we’d be having a relay team he’s been working on his sprint training every millisecond,” he said.
“He almost started swimming in mid-air. He’s one of the worst technicians in the pool, but he just cranked it up.
“He hit the water and just started going. To split 27.4 was a great job considering his PB was 29.4 a month ago.”
The entire squad will be back in full training in two weeks’ time, while York will only take a few days off as he takes aim at open level swimming this year.
