A TRIO of Sunraysia swimmers are aiming to make a splash on the national stage.
Mildura Swimming Club duo Liana McClaer and Danika Garner will compete in the Girls 14 50m backstroke and butterfly respectively at this weekend’s Australian Age Swimming Championships on the Gold Coast.
Former clubmate Sam Mills, who is now based in Melbourne and aligned with MLC Aquatic in Kew, will compete in five events, the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke as well as the 200m and 400m individual medley.
Mills was the first of the trio to qualify for the nationals after achieving qualifying times for the Boys 14 100m and 200m breaststroke during the Victorian Age Long Course Championships in December.
The Xavier College boarder hopes to make a final on the Gold Coast, with the aforementioned events most likely to provide that opportunity.
“The move has been quite good, I enjoy the training,” he said.
“I’m focussed on what I’m doing right now and not looking too far ahead, but hopefully I can make the top three in nationals one day.
“I’m happy to see Liana and Danika competing as well, and that everyone from the (Mildura) club is still swimming and keeping fit and getting really good at it.”
Garner is the only swimmer of the trio with national experience, after competing at last year’s Age Championships in the same event.
“I’m still as nervous as I was last year but I’m looking forward to it,” she said.
“I’m hoping to get under 30 (seconds).
“It (the season) has been good, I’ve been training and going to the gym a lot.”
Garner admitted she was frustrated to not add the 100m butterfly to her national schedule after falling short of the qualifying time by a millisecond.
McClaer said qualifying for the nationals has been a goal of hers for the past 12 months, a feat she managed to achieve at the South Australian championships last month.
“I’m feeling good, excited to go and see what it’s all about at that higher level,” she said.
“The season has been good, I’ve been getting a lot better than I was last year.
“We have our new coach Rosie (Lennox) who has been really good for me.
“We’ve started doing more gym with SAS (Sunraysia Academy of Sport) which has been really good and the commitment in the pool as well.”
Australian Age Swimming Championship heats begin on Saturday at 9am.
