A YOUNG gun’s gold medal effort and a fifth national qualifying time for another emerging star capped a strong South Australia Age Swimming Championships quest for Mildura Swimming Club.
The 13-strong squad competed at the five-day event, with Elsie Cock having a standout performance, book-ended by gold and silver medals.
The 12-year-old collected a gold medal in the Girls 12 50m breastroke on the final night of competition, after claiming silver on the opening night in the 50m freestyle.
Victorian State championship medal winner Joaquin Leal-Kaiser now has a fifth national qualifying time, coming during his silver medal performance in the Boys 14 100m backstroke, for the Australian Age Championships in Brisbane in April.
Leal-Kaiser also win silver in the 200m butterfly after finish fourth in the heats, and also collected a pair of bronze medals in the 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke respectively.
Max Bell claimed silver in the Boys 16 breaststroke, Niamh McLaer won bronze in the Girls 11 100m backstroke, taking 3.49 seconds from her personal best time, while Liana McLaer also recorded a PB in Girls 15 100m backstroke final for a bronze medal.
Every swimmer from the travelling Mildura team secured at least one personal best time across the weekend, with the quarter of Zoe Burford, Riley Garner, Johnny Guthrie and Mercedes Leal-Kaiser all recording PBs in every event they competed in.
