Albany swimmers lap up experience

A group of Albany swimmers that competed on the South Australian Long Course Swimming Championships in January have returned with plenty of experience from the interstate trip.

Albany Swim Club sent 15 swimmers to Adelaide for nine days to compete at the meet, which included some of Australia’s best including Kyle Chalmers, Travis Mahoney and Madison Wilson.

In extreme heat, one day reaching 46C, the team had a number of terrific results and personal best times across a variety of events.

Zachary Wells, Kai Sepkus, Ned Shepherd, Coco Smargiassi and Tom Gawned swam well enough to make it into finals, a difficult feat as only two visiting swimmers were allowed to take part in each final event.

Ned Shepherd, 11, won a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke for his age group and 14-year-old Gawned won gold in the 50m and 100m freestyle, silver medals in the 100m and 200m backstroke, and bronze medals in the 50m breaststroke and 50m butterfly for his age group.