Ashburton’s trio at the national short course championships was (from left) Mitchell Veix, Blake Farr and Hannah King. Photo supplied.Medals, personal bests and a Canterbury record made for a pretty good New Zealand Short Course Swimming Championships for three young Mid Canterbury swimmers last week.

Mitchell Veix, Blake Farr and Hannah King were the three members of the Ashburton Swim Team who attended the meet, which was five days of full-on action at the Sir Owen Glenn National Aquatic Centre in Auckland.

Farr led the way for the Ashburton trio, claiming gold in the 100m freestyle and bronze in the 200m freestyle, as well as earning him positions in the finals at night in both the 200m and 400m freestyle.

Farr secured top 10 placings in all of his six events and also came away with an impressive 100 per cent personal best (PB) rating.

King also set PBs in five of her seven events, and gained six top 10 placings.

Her biggest PB came in the 1500m freestyle, where she beat her previous time by 22.59 seconds and finished in sixth place.

It was also a time strong enough to see her break the 13-year-old girls’ Canterbury record, which had stood since 2012, and with the winner of the event finishing 31 seconds ahead of King it showed the calibre of competition across the country at the national event.

King also gained a spot in the C final of the 200m breaststroke.

Veix also swam strongly in his events, gaining a seventh placing in the 200m butterfly, while he also set two new PB times in his 200m butterfly and 400m freestyle events.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 7 October 2019