Bree Middleton and Blake Farr (Ashburton College) were both among the medals at the New Zealand Short Course championships. Photo supplied.Ashburton swimmers have turned in outstanding results at the recent New Zealand Short Course championships in Auckland.

Competing at the Sir Owen Glenn National Aquatic Centre, Bree Middleton and Blake Farr both performed with excellence, claiming podium finishes during the course of the meet.

Middleton continued her hot form in the water with three medals for the championships.

She claimed a gold medal in the 400-metre freestyle and a silver in both the 200 and 800 metre events.

She also finished seventh in the 100-metre freestyle final.

Middleton also made appearances in the open A finals in the 400, 800 and 1500 metre freestyle – in the latter of which she placed fifth with a new huge personal best time, which saw her break the Swimming Canterbury and West Coast record by almost seven seconds.

The 400 metre A Open final also saw Middleton competing against some of the big names of swimming in New Zealand including Olympian Emma Robinson and Commonwealth Games swimmer Corina Doyle.

For Farr the meet resulted in a personal first when he claimed his first national medal.

He claimed the bronze medal in the 100 metre freestyle and also swam his way into fifth place in the 50 metre freestyle.

Both efforts saw him register excellent personal best times and continue his rapid rise up the ranks of swimming nationally.

The Ashburton team was also joined by para-multi class swimmer Ben Gould from the Geraldine club, who trains under Ashburton Swim Club coach Shane Jones.

Gould also had podium results with excellent personal best times in both his morning races and then again in his finals including a silver medal in the 400 metre freestyle.

Jones said that he was over the moon with the result for his swimmers who attended.

“I’m extremely happy,” he said.

“As a small team of three, who brought home five medals at a national event, that’s fantastic.”

The Jennian Homes Ashburton Swim team now heads into the summer break before returning next year, hoping to pick up where they left off.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 10 October 2018