Queensland School Swimming Championships

The Queensland School Swimming Championships were held in Brisbane just before Easter with the Secondary School titles running from 23 to 25 March and the Primary School titles from 26 to 28 March. Somerset had 48 swimmers compete at the Championships with both Somerset Swim Club and Somerset College Students featuring across the six days of competition.

Junior School State Swimming Titles

Starting with the Junior School Championships, there were six Somerset students out of the 17 Somerset Swim Club members who represent the South Coast region at the Championships. These students were Isla Booth, Hugo Hasselle, Evie Snow, Annie Talbot, Lachlan Talbot and Jasmine Teng. Three swimmers were crowned State Champions in either individual or relay events - Makyra Melo, Isla Booth and Liyng Wong. In addition to this, there were six more swimmers who won medals and another four swimmers who made finals at the Championships. These outstanding results were:

• Knox Anderson 12 years – 3rd 400m Freestyle, 8th 200m IM, 3rd 200m Freestyle
• Isla Booth 12 years – 1st 200m Medley Relay
• Noah Campbell 11 years – 7th 100m Butterfly
• Meggie De Chhimba 11 years – 3rd 100m Breaststroke, 8th 50m Breaststroke
• Mia Drury 12 years – 10th 100m Breaststroke, 10th 200m Freestyle, 10th 200m Breaststroke
• Grace Grigg 10 years – 3rd 200m Freestyle relay
• Makyra Melo 12 years - 6th 200m IM, 1st 200m Medley relay, 3rd 200m Freestyle relay, 8th 100m Freestyle, 5th 100m Breaststroke, 1st 50m Breaststroke
• Lachlan Talbot 12 years - 6th 100m Breaststroke, 4th 200m Breaststroke
• Sophia Tarrant 12 years – 6th 100m Breaststroke, 3rd 50m Breaststroke, 5th 200m Breaststroke
• Jasmine Teng 12 years – 8th 200m IM, 6th 200m Freestyle, 2nd 400IM
• Jake Tobin 11 years – 5th 50m Butterfly, 7th 50m Breaststroke
• Braxtyn Truman 12 years – 10th 50m Butterfly, 3rd 200m Butterfly, 8th 200m Freestyle, 3rd 100m Butterfly
• Liyng Wong 12 years – 9th 50m Butterfly, 1st 200m Butterfly

From these impressive results, five swimmers were selected onto the Queensland Team to compete at the National School Swimming titles on the Gold Coast in August this year. Well done to Knox, Meggie, Makyra, Sophia, and Braxtyn on their selection. 

Senior School State Swimming Titles

The Senior School State Championships were held 23 to 25 March and there were 14 Somerset Students as part of the total 31 swimmers from both the College and Swim Club. From this large group of swimmers, there were 12 state champions! Congratulations to Ryan Bambach, Kyla Brown, Sasha Henrison, Olympia Pope, Danny Baxtor, Bessie Dear, Leny Grigor, Zahri Jarrett, Jessica Melo, Chelsea Strachan, Lacey Strachan, and Cohen Tarrant on winning events at the State Championships.

There is a long list of impressive results with students making finals (top ten) to winning events. These swimmers are:

• Ryan Bambach 16 years - 6th 50m Freestyle, 1st 100m Breaststroke, 3rd 50m Backstroke, 3rd 200m Freestyle, 1st 200m Freestyle relay, 1st Medley relay, 1st 50m BR, 2nd 400IM, 3rd 100m Freestyle, 1st 200 IM, 1st 200m Breaststroke
• Kyla Brown 17 years - 2nd 100m Breaststroke, 1st 200m Medley relay, 2nd 50m Breaststroke 
• Holly Hembling 17 years - 8th 50m Freestyle, 6th 100m Breaststroke, 10th 100m Butterfly, 4th 50m Butterfly, 5th 50m  Breaststroke, 7th 100m Freestyle, 6th 200m Breaststroke
• Sasha Henrison 17 years - 5th 50m Freestyle, 7th 100m Breaststroke, 1st 200m Freestyle relay, 4th 50m Breaststroke
• Olympia Pope 16 years - 1st 100m Breaststroke, 1st 200m Medley relay, 1st 50m Breaststroke, 1st 200m Breaststroke 
• Aveline Rounsley 17 - years 9th 50m Butterfly 
• Levi Anderson 13 years – 3rd 100m Breaststroke, 2nd 200m Medley relay, 6th 50m Breaststroke, 5th 200m IM, 2nd 200m Breaststroke 
• Danny Baxter 14 years – 3rd 100m Butterfly, 3rd 200m Freestyle, 1st 400m Freestyle, 2nd 200m Butterfly, 1st 400IM, 3rd 200m IM
• Bessie Dear 17 years – 2nd 50m Freestyle, 3rd 50m Backstroke, 1st 200m Freestyle relay, 1st 200m Medley relay, 3rd 50m  Breaststroke
• Cady Daniels 17 years 8th 200m Butterfly
• Domonic Fletcher – 13 years 10th 50m Backstroke
• Leny Grigor 15 years – 1st 400m Freestyle, 1st 200m Butterfly, 1st 400IM, 2nd 100m Freestyle, 1st 200m IM
• Matilda Grimson 15 years – 3rd 50m Backstroke, 2nd 200m Medley relay, 3rd 200m Backstroke, 2nd 100m Backstroke 
• Martin Hembling 15 years - 4th 100m Breaststroke, 3rd 200m Medley relay, 6th 50m Breaststroke, 6th 400m IM, 5th 200m IM, 3rd 200m Breaststroke
• Sophie Innes 13 years – 4th 200m Butterfly
• Zahri Jarrett – 15 years 1st 50m Freestyle, 1st 200m Freestyle, 2nd 200m Medley relay, 1st 200m Freestyle relay, 1st 100m Freestyle
• Summer Johnston 14 years – 3rd 50m Freestyle, 8th 50m Backstroke, 3rd 200m Medley relay, 3rd 200m Backstroke, 4th 100m Backstroke, 2nd 100m Freestyle
• Jessica Melo 15 years – 4th 50m FR, 1st 50m BK, 1st 200m Backstroke, 1st 100m Backstroke, 6th 100m Freestyle
• Kasia Pitura 13 years – 8th 100m Breaststroke, 7th 50m Breaststroke 
• Belle Sly 17 years – 6th 200m Butterfly 
• Chelsea Strachan 14 years – 3rd 100m Breaststroke, 3rd 50m Breaststroke, 2nd 400m IM, 4th 200m IM, 1st 200m Breaststroke
• Lacey Strachan 15 years – 2nd 100m Breaststroke, 2nd 200m Medley relay, 3rd 50m Breaststroke, 1st 400m IM, 2nd 200m IM, 1st 200m Breaststroke
• Cohen Tarrant – 14 years 1st 100m Breaststroke, 2nd 200m Medley Relay, 1st 200m FR relay, 1st 50m Breaststroke, 5th 100m Freestyle, 2nd 200m IM, 1st 200m Breaststroke
• Maximus Truman 14 years – 9th 100m Butterfly, 8th 50m Butterfly, 2nd 200m Freestyle, 2nd 200m Medley relay, 2nd 400m Freestyle, 3rd 200m Backstroke, 5th 100m Backstroke, 6th 200m IM
• Lihwa Wong 13 years – 10th 200m Breaststroke 

From this group of swimmers there were 15 swimmers chosen to represent Queensland at the National School Swimming titles to be held on the Gold Coast in August. Somerset students Ryan Bambach, Kyla Brown, Holly Hembling, Olympia Pope, Bessie Dear, Leny Grigor and Cohen Tarrant were part of the 15 swimmers selected. 

As a final note, special congratulations must go to Olympia Pope who represented Australia at the recent 2024 Oceania Championships becoming the Oceania Champion in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breaststroke as well as the 4x100m Female Medley Relay. Following these great results, Olympia was selected onto the Junior Australian Pan Pacific Games Team alongside Somerset’s Milla Jansen in August.

Well done swimmers!