Karla’s Swim Team enjoys first hit out of the new year

Fourteen Karla’s Swim Team swimmers travelled to Coonamble to compete in their first carnival of the year on Sunday.

The swimmers who travelled over on the day were Harrison Bennett, Toby Michell-Smith, Molly Michell-Smith, Luke Lowick, Jack Lowick, Eddie Lowick, Kobe Bennett, Lilly Burford, Will Clark, William Smith, Sarah Smith, Christopher Welsh, Patrick Welsh and Blake Fielder.

Karla’s Swim Team head coach Karla Carruthers was impressed with her team’s efforts.

“The super hot conditions made for a long day however all swimmers swam incredibly,” she said.

“Huge amounts of time were dropped off most races which was very exciting.

“For some of the older swimmers small fractions of a second were taken off, however the younger swimmers really found their stroke and took 10 or more seconds off their previous best times.

“There were lots of places and prize money was won on the day too.”

The carnival was a significant one for Will Clarke who was competing in his first swimming carnival.

Lilly Burford was impressive and smashed her best times in all eight events – she was on fire.

“I’m so proud of Lilly and all her hard work,” Carruthers said.

Jack Lowick made the hometown heroes at Coonamble really work for their wins, his races made for some great viewing.

The 10-years-and-under dash for cash which Jack placed second and was narrowly defeated in was a nail-bitter.

He also gained another NSW country qualifying time in the 10-years-and-under 100m freestyle event.

Harry Bennett once again dominated his age group in all his races and gave the Narrabri fans an exciting show in the 13-14-years SKINS event which he won.

Teammate Toby Michell-Smith took out the third place in the event.

A full list of placings for Karla’s Swim Team on the day is as follows:

Harry Bennett: First – 100m butterfly, 100m Backstroke, 50m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, SKINS winner; second – 100m freestyle and 100m breaststroke.

Toby Michell-Smith: First – 50m breaststroke; second – 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke, third – 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley, 100m freestyle and third in SKINS event.

Jack Lowick: Second – 50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 100m freestyle, 100m breaststroke; third – 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley and second in dash for cash.

Blake Fielder: Third – 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke.

Eddie Lowick: First – 50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke; second – 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke.

Molly Michell-Smith: Third – 100m backstroke.

Sarah Smith: Third – 200m freestyle, 50m freestyle and 50m butterfly.

Lilly Burford: Second – 50m buterfly, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke; third – 50m breaststroke

Christopher Welsh: First – 25m freestyle, 25m backstroke; second – 25m butterfly and 25m breaststroke.

William Smith: First – 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke; second – 50m butterfly; third – 50m breaststroke.