Saturday, 28 January 2023, made for an exciting day for our Dolphins – a local swim meet in our beautiful Mackay, hosted by Mirani Swimming Club. 48 swimmers from Pioneer Swimming Club made our way out to Mirani where our swimmers enjoyed a day in the sun seeking more personal bests.
Under the guidance of Coach Igor, our swimmers keep smashing goals they set for themselves. Yvonne Bellear did just that – swimming under the qualifying time for 50m freestyle, allowing her to nominate for the Queensland Sprint Championships held in Brisbane on 11-12 February. Jack Smith also beat his personal best and met the qualifying time for 50m freestyle. Zahli Herring qualified for another 2 events (having already qualified for 50m freestyle) – 50m Backstroke and 50m Breaststroke; and Annaliese Miles qualified for her third event (having already qualified for freestyle and backstroke) – 50m butterfly. We have quite the State Team building! Igor’s mentoring is working a treat.
The Carnival also holds a “Dash for Cash” event – the fastest 6 swimmers (in certain age groups) swim the 50m freestyle dashing for staged prize money (first place taking out the highest amount, second taking slightly less and so on). The following Dolphins qualified/ swam in the event: Ralph Traeger, Madison Malagueno, Annaliese Miles, Joleigh Strydom, Georgie Brand, Alex Moss, Henry Porter, Yasmin Seedwell, Ella Bounden, Kailu Bellear, Viktor Lee and our frequently visiting swimmer from Darwin, Dylan Mende.
The grounds and pool at the Mirani Swimming Pool are always a treat for our swimmers and the day did not disappoint. Thank you, Mirani Swimming Club!
Contributed by Tahnie Malagueno
Group Image: Pioneer Swimming Team at the Mirani Swimming Club meet
Image 1 Ashlee Berridge and Kenny Brand
Image 2 Bethany Miles Luka Herring Makenna Malagueno
Image 3 Luka Herring and Bethany Miles
Image 4 Max Demin and Rex Traeger
Image 5 Xavier Saxby
