Dash for cash adds to motivation for Gympie swimmers
NOW is the time of year Gympie Gold Fins swimmers start to peak, and their timing for success is perfect as today is the day the club holds its biggest annual event.
Gympie's premier swimming club is holding its blue ribbon event for the season, the Gympie Gold Rush Sprint Meet.
Club publicity officer Kate Cartwright said Gympie's swimmers didn't begin training until the weather was warm enough to swim in Gympie's non-heated pool, so swimmers tended to peak
later than some other clubs that trained in warm pools during winter.
And that fact alone means today's swimming action will be exciting for Gympie competitors.
The other thing that makes this event exciting is it's strictly a 50m sprint event which means races are fast and intense.
Gold Fins publicity officer Kate Cartwright said there were limited sprint meets held in the Wide Bay area, so competitors were making the most of Gympie's competition.
More than 340 swimmers from 32 clubs around Queensland are at Gympie Memorial Pool today for Gympie's biggest event on the swimming calendar.
Teams from clubs including Bundaberg, Gayndah, Monto and Brisbane will race in the Gold Rush meet today.
A record seven under-10 Gympie Gold Fins girls would compete today, which Cartwright said was an impressive number.
Taylah Long, Nakita Rogers, Heidi Downes, Joanna MacDonnell, Emily Smith, Elizabeth Waters and Mackenzie Morgan make up the competitive under-10 girls contingent.
On debut at their very first home event are the Gold Fins club's youngest three competitors, under-8 swimmers Daniel MacDonnell, Joseph Millgate and Sophie Schooth.
The club will introduce a new finals format this year, using timed finals.
Finals winners will be determined based on times raced in their heats, which removes the need for a final event and allows competitors travelling from distances to be home on time.
While this year's timed finals are only a trial, Cartwright said there had been no decline in nominations in response to the change.
The club has also bumped up its dash for cash categories from two to four races.
The seven fastest swimmers in the 8-10 years, 11-12 years, 13-14 year and 15 years-open freestyle age groups will race in the dash for cash.
The first three place-getters of each age group win cash prizes.
Swimming and surf lifesaving legend and former Gympie Gold Fin Jason O'Pray will also be at the event with stock for sale from his label Swells International.
The swim racing action for the Gold Rush Sprint Carnival begins today at 8.30am at the Gympie Memorial Pool.
