Traralgon Club Swimmers Brenton Ford and Jeremy Saunders were age group champions at the 2004 State Championships held at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre between the 2nd and 12th of January.

Sixteen year old Brenton, who swims in one of the toughest age groups in the state, swam in 12 finals, covering more than 2km of distance, to amass more championships points than any other 16 year old male. Brenton won a silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley (4:51.53) and the 200m breaststroke in a time of 2:37.13, and bronze in the 400m freestyle (4:17.68). Brenton also participated in 6 relay finals including the Boys 16 years Medley relay which won Gold and broke the Country record for that event.

Jeremy Saunders won one gold, three silver and three bronze medals in the 13 years age group to be the 13 years male champion*. Jeremy was the 12 years champion in 2003. Jeremy set a new Victorian Country record in the 200m Individual Medley with a time of 2:19.40. His silver medal swims were in the 100m freestyle (56.62), the 100m backstroke (1:04.74) and the 200m backstroke (2:21.68). Jeremy won bronze in the 100m breaststroke (1:12.99), the 200m freestyle (2:06.77) and the 200m breaststroke (2:43.61). Jeremy was also the youngest member of the 4 x 100m breaststroke relay team that won a bronze medal in Open competition.

The Traralgon Swimming Club achieved its highest ranking in the Championships, finishing 6th over all out of the 97 Victorian, Interstate and International teams competing. The next Gippsland Club in the final rankings was Warragul in 39th spot, followed by Morwell in 44th position.

Head Coach, Brian Ford was full of praise for his swimmers. "This was the best performance by any Traralgon, and probably any Gippsland team, at the most important State Championship Swim Meet of the year. To come away with 72 finalists, 3 gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze medals, 33 Out-of-Gippsland records, 6 Victorian Country records, 1 Victorian record and to be the 6th Victorian Club behind the top 5 power-house Melbourne Clubs was truly an outstanding effort."

Fifteen year old Sam Ashby, who was swimming in his last meet for Traralgon before starting the coming school year at Caulfield Grammar, broke the Victorian record in the 200m breaststroke by clocking 2:24.78. This breaks the 16 years age group Gippsland record by 11 seconds and his own Open record by 6 seconds. Sam also broke records in the 100m breaststroke, swimming 1:07.76 and the 200m Individual Medley, swimming 2:13.96 and won silver medals in each of those events. Sam won a bronze in the 100m butterfly in a time of 59.20 and placed 5th in the 100m backstroke in a time of 1:03.68.

Thirteen year old Jarrod Raun won gold in the 13 year 100m backstroke and broke the Gippsland record with a time of 1:04.46. Jarrod won bronze in the 200m backstroke in a time of 2:22.35. Jarrod swam in 7 finals and achieved personal best times in every event.

Abbie Stockdale won two bronze medals in the backstroke events. Abbie's time in the 100m event was 1:08.19, and in the 200m event was 2:27.02. Abbie swam a 31.03 to lead off the bronze medal winning 18 & under medley relay, breaking the Gippsland age and open 50m backstroke records.

Andrew O'Connor (16) won a bronze medal in the gruelling 200m butterfly event. Melissa Hopley, 14 years, won bronze in the 200m freestyle event in a time of 2:14.21. Ben Smits won a bronze medal in the 16 years 200m breaststroke event and achieved a National Qualifying time swimming 2:38.00. 12 year old Scott Ashby won a silver medal in the 100m breaststroke event in a time of 1:22.18.

Sixteen year old Caitie Mitchell set a new Victorian Country record in the 100m Breaststroke whilst placing 4th in that event in a time of 1:15.69.

Traralgon's relay teams participated in 15 finals and won 6 medals. In the most dramatic and exciting relay of the championships, the Traralgon 16 years boys medley team of Brenton Ford (backstroke), Sam Ashby (breaststroke), Andrew O'Connor (butterfly) and Simon Laird (freestyle) upset the strong Melbourne combinations to take the gold and smash the Victorian Country record and the Gippsland age and Open record with a time of 1:52.81.

The girls 12 and Under Freestyle relay team of Emma Heath, Joanne Hayes, Charley Askew and Sarah Berryman won silver with a time of 2:02.75. This breaks the Out-of-Gippsland record set by a combined Gippsland team in 1998.

The men's Open 4 x 100m breaststroke team of Jeremy Saunders, Ben Geard, Brenton Ford and Sam Ashby won bronze with a time of 4:44.97. The 16 years 5 x 50m freestyle team of Brenton Ford, Sam Ashby, Jarrod Raun, Andrew O'Connor and Simon Laird won bronze, and the 18 years and under 4 x 50m freestyle team of Melissa Hopley, Rhiannon Raun, Courtney Ford and Caitie Mitchell won bronze and broke the out-of-Gippsland record with a time of 1:52.71. The 16 years girls team of Elizabeth Bacchetti (14), Rhiannon Raun (14), Emma Heath (12), Melissa Hopley (14) and Caitie Mitchell (16) placed 4th in the 5 x 50m freestyle event - a great result for a predominantly under-age team. The 14 years 4 x 50m freestyle team of Elizabeth Bacchetti, Melissa Hopley, Jessica Ypelaan and Emma Heath also placed 4th.

Other swimmers to compete in individual and relay finals were: Elizabeth Bacchetti, Sarah Berryman, Simon Laird, Erin O'Connor, Jonathan Hayes, Tom Harlow, Tahnee Trembath, Kristie Smith, Eoin Coughlan, Dylan Trembath and Emmanuel Askew.

After the Victorian Championships, Traralgon has 13 National Qualified swimmers. Those already holding National Qualifying times, Brenton Ford, Caitie Mitchell, Abbie Stockdale, Ben Geard, Tim Blackwood, Jeremy Saunders and Melissa Hopley, have been joined in the National Squad by Andrew O'Connor, Rhiannon Raun, Ben Smits, Jarrod Raun, Emma Heath and Courtney Ford. These swimmers will compete at the Open or Age National Championships in either Sydney or Perth in the coming months and will also be eligible for consideration by the Edison Mission Energy Gippsland Sports Academy LatrobeFirst Swimming Squad.

*After tallying all the points, we believe that an error was made in the calculation of the 13 years age group champion. Jeremy won 118 points, whilst the competitor who was named Age group Champion won only 106 points. We have presented our case to SVI and hope they will reverse their decision in Jeremy's favour.