Wagga Swim Club ready to make an impact at state titles

The pandemic has forced most of the season schedule to be shifted back to the early months of this year, and swimmers are keen to swap endless laps of the pool at training with some racing.

Wagga dominated last weekend's Country Regionals in Griffith to easily claim top spot on the medal tally with 110, including 59 gold.

Three swimmers - Gerard Curtis, Bailey Figgis and Niane Mulder - are preparing to make their state level debuts when the titles get underway at Homebush on Thursday.

Club co-captain Trinity Cox, 17, will compete in five events, but is targeting a time in the 200m backstroke which would qualify her for April's national titles in Adelaide.

"I haven't medalled at states yet, but I'm hoping to medal and get a national time," she said.

"2:24 is the qualifying time and my PB (personal best) is 2:26. It's only a couple of seconds, but it's a lot to shave off.

"We've had only two proper carnivals back, and they've both been in the Riverina. It's hard not having the constant carnivals to figure out where you have to improve.

"It's less recovery time which is definitely hard, especially when you have heats in the morning and finals in the afternoon. The states are pretty spread out compared to some of the other carnivals."

Fellow co-captain Isaac Mooney, 16, said it was difficult to know how they stack up against other clubs as swimmers adapt to training in the COVID era.

"The carnivals around the Riverina were really spaced out, lots of training but not much competition," he said.

"We did have a few (club) races on Friday nights, but not as many which would really help.

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"We've all been training real hard and I think we'll do pretty well. It's just been hard with COVID, different clubs could be at different stages with training.

"I've already qualified for a few national events, and I'm hoping to grab two or three more.

"I'm hoping to get top ten at nationals and medal at the states. I'd have to say the 100m free (is my big focus), because it's probably the biggest event."

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