Benalla Swimming Club's Tilly Jones, Tilly De Fazio, Coach Ash, Patrick Osbourne, Coach Gary, Nick Osbourne, Sophie McKenzie and Keziah Wolfe.
Benalla Swimming Club has plenty to celebrate after two strong weekends of competition in Wangaratta and Shepparton, where swimmers from both the junior Velocity Squad and senior Apex Squad delivered outstanding performances, personal bests and new qualifying times.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Among the standout results was Sophie McKenzie, who not only swam an 800m freestyle but still achieved her goal of qualifying for three events at the upcoming Victorian Age Long Course Championships.
Several swimmers also secured places at January’s Victorian Country Championships, including Tilly Jones, Emily Staggard, Nick Osbourne and Lukas P, with the club also set to field multiple relay teams at this prestigious statewide event.
Personal bests were recorded across the squads, with strong swims from club captain Patrick Sambell, Ron and Ben Staggard, Luke Conway and Elsie Cavill. Coaches attended across both days in Wangaratta, creating a supportive team atmosphere that reinforced the club’s focus on skill development, effort and camaraderie.
Benalla Swimming Club's Sophie McKenzie, Tilly De Fazio and Keziah Wolfe all swam in the Victorian State Sprint Championships in Melbourne at the weekend.
At the weekend, five Benalla swimmers competed on one of the biggest junior stages, the Victorian State Sprint Championships at MSAC in Melbourne.
Keziah Wolfe exceptionally earned qualification in all four strokes - 50m freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly - in the 14-year-old girls’ division, placing 33rd in both the backstroke and breaststroke events with times of 34.77 and 39.35 seconds, respectively.
Tilly De Fazio took on the 50m freestyle, butterfly and backstroke for 12-year-old girls, with her best result 23rd in the freestyle, clocking a time of 30.55 seconds, just 0.55 seconds shy of qualifying for the final.
Sophie McKenzie swam in the 50m breaststroke, also in the 12-year-old age group, finishing 34th overall with a time of 41.69 seconds.
Tilly and Sophie were joined be joined by Patrick and Nick Osbourne to contest the 12-year-old 50m freestyle relay, an exciting team opportunity for the club, with the quartet swimming a time of 2 minutes, 17.14 seconds to finish 33rd overall.
In further exciting news, Benalla Swimming Club will host a Chalmers Academy Swim Clinic on December 13, featuring world champion and Olympic medallist Kyle Chalmers.
The session is designed for competitive swimmers and those seeking to improve technique and training habits, with additional observer tickets available for supporters and learners.
Community members interested in attending can contact benallaswimmingclub.org.au or the Benalla Aquatic Centre for details.
With strong results, state-level qualifications and learning opportunities ahead, Benalla Swimming Club’s momentum continues to build, both in and out of the pool.
