FOUR Inverell swimming stars are getting ready to represent our town at the NSW Country Championships this weekend at Olympic Park in Sydney.
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“It’s a really good achievement for them and very exciting,” Inverell Swimming Club president Jody Mijic said.
“But it becomes quite daunting for them because you’re a little fish in a big pond down there.
It becomes quite daunting for them because you’re a little fish in a big pond down there.
- Jody Mijic
“You’ve got so many officials on the side of the pool so you have to make sure everything is technically correct.
“Not only are they doing that race, they’re also thinking about what they have to do correctly.”
The competition is held once per year and if they are successful – the next step is states.
Thomas Gibson, Sophie Mijic and Hannah Wales will compete and Jack Butler will coach in the three-day competition.
“For Sophie it’s about learning those race skills under pressure so when she gets older they become easier to achieve without having to stress about the technical officials on the side of the pool,” Ms Mijic said.
It’s Sophie’s third time representing the club and this year she has qualified for 50m and 100m freestyle.
Jack Butler said the event would start Friday and finish on Sunday afternoon.
“[Swimmers will be] competing against everywhere in NSW apart from inner city Sydney,” Mr Butler said.
Hannah Wales will be diving into her fourth year in a row.
“I’ve qualified for the 100m and 50m backstroke, 100m and 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly,” she said.
Thomas Gibson has qualified for two events including 100m backstroke.
The first session will kick off at 3pm on Friday with the 1500m open freestyle.
The Inverell Swimming Club is also celebrating their 100th birthday this year.
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