By JARROD POTTER
FOUR Casey TigerSharks donned the Victorian swimming colours for a chance at national team success.
The battle of the states was taken to the pool as Bowen Gough, Shaun Banzon, Nick Galileos and Jessica Faoro represented Victoria and the Casey TigerSharks proudly at the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra.
Gough, swimming in the 16 to 17-year age group, competed in seven events for three medals – Silver in the 200m butterfly in 2.02.45 and a pair of bronze medals in the 200 backstroke, just missing the two-minute mark at 2.00.86, and in the boys 4×100 medley behind Queensland and Western Australia.
Galileos had one of the more challenging meets as he swam everything from the fast-paced 50m fly, to the long-distance 1500m, with his best two finishes coming in the 200m butterfly (6th) and the 400m individual medley (7th).
Rounding out the male TigerSharks representatives was Banzon, who had three swims in the 14 to 15-year category to claim a ninth in the 100m butterfly, 10th in the 50m fly and 11th in the 200m freestyle – all without swimming his pet events in breaststroke.
Faoro, 16, took to the pool in three events – the 400m individual medley and the 400/800m freestyle double and walked away with two top-10 finishes in the 400 individual medley and 800m freestyle.
“It’s good for these swimmers to make it into the top-20 boys and girls in Victoria,” Casey TigerSharks coach Ben Hiddlestone said.
“I think we had one last year – Bowen – and I knew we had guys making senior teams – Comm Games, World Champs – but only had one at junior elite level, so we’re now looking great for our continuity at that level.
“You get the blue and white colours of Victoria – it’s a bit like a state representative team – and it’s a great vibe to go up and face the New South Wales and Queenslanders in a heartfelt rivalry.”
With a total of 2,108 points Queensland was too strong for the competition and couldn’t be caught despite a desperate chase from second placed New South Wales on 1,756 and Victoria on 1,529.5.
