Jamie Plunkett, Ben Auckram, Jack Leeson headline Lismore, Coffs and Grafton swimming stars set for Adelaide National Championships
The rising stars of North Coast swimming are headed to Adelaide in a bid for a gold medal at the National Age Championships next week. See the list of names.
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The next generation of Australian swimming stars from the North Coast will put a smile on everyone’s dial when they go out and represent their region in front of the nation.
Sixteen talented swimmers will travel to Adelaide on April 11 for a week-long National Age Championships to crown Australia’s best young swimmers.
Athletes from Cottesloe to Coffs Harbour will be vying for a podium finish in the pinnacle event for the season.
Five swimmers will be representing the Macksville Marlins, a relatively small swimming club that is punching above its weight.
“This is the best in Australia,” Marlins President lyndel Sutton said.
“It is a massive achievement for our small swimming club to have five swimmers qualify for Australian Age Championships.”
The Macksville side will be coached by Tony Kokegei and Renee Pickvance.
Five swimmers will attend from Trinity College Lismore, two each from Coffs Harbour and Alstonville as well as one swimmer each from Casino, Casuarina and Grafton.
Jamie Plunkett
Swim club: Grafton
Age: 17
Jamie Plunkett is back for more medals as she looks to cement herself as a future star in Adelaide next week.
Affectionately nicknamed ‘The Flying Fish’, she won four bronze medals in the Queensland State Championships and nine medals at the Darwin Arafura Games just before Covid-19 hit.
The multi-class swimmer will compete in the 50 and 100 metre races for the freestyle and backstroke and the 50 metre butterfly.
Ben Auckram
Swim club: Lismore Workers
Age: 17
The Lismore jet will test his long distance swimming against Australia’s best next week.
Auckram will compete in the 400 metre freestyle race against four others with better times than him.
It will be a tough slog but Auckram has the 50 and 100 metre backstroke and freestyle races to nab a medal.
Harry Kilburn
Swim Club: Trinity Lismore
Age: 15
Harry Kilburn is dipping his toes into as many events as possible as the 15-year old prepares to make a name for himself.
The Trinity Lismore product will be involved in most of the boys 14-15 age group races including the 50 metre race for freestyle, backstroke and butterfly.
Kilburn made improvements on all of his times in the 2021 Age Championships and will look to improve this year.
Leah Pickvance
Swim Club: Macksville Marlins
Age: 15
When your mum is the coach of the swimming team, National Age Championships are just that much more fun.
Leah Pickvance is competing in the 50 and 100 metre freestyle and the 50 metre butterfly.
The Macksville High School teen won silver and bronze in those events in the 2019 NSW All Schools Swimming Championships.
Kiera Hetherington
Swim Club: Macksville Marlins
Age: 15
Former Port Macquarie Swimming Club champion Kiera Hetherington has travelled north to the Marlins for a shot at the big time.
She was awarded the Tim Mullens Memorial Trophy for ‘Swimmer of the Meet’ in the 2021 North Coast Secondary Swimming Championships.
Hetherington will feature in the 200 metre medley and 200 metre freestyle.
Oscar Croak
Swim club: Coffs Harbour
Age: 16
The Coffs Harbour high student has a lot to gain from the National Age Championships having been a star in Championship events on the North Coast and for Country NSW Swimming over the last few years.
Croak is sticking to his strengths having qualified for the 50 and 100 metre freestyle by the skin of his teeth.
Mckinley Arnison
Swim Club: Alstonville
Age: 16
Mckinley Arnison is an Evans River girl with Olympic potential.
The 16-year old only recently returned from Sydney where she picked up a bronze medal in the 16-18 year 100 metre backstroke and took out gold in the multi class 100 metre freestyle.
She will compete in all freestyle events in her age group and currently holds the title for the 200 metre multi class freestyle which she set last year.
Lilly Geddes
Swim Club: Trinity Lismore
Age: 16
One of the most promising endurance swimmers on the North Coast is set for a big week in Adelaide.
Lilly Geddes is competing in the 200 and 800 metre freestyle and the 400 metre medley races.
Jack Leeson
Swim Club: Coffs Harbour
Age: 15
The Coffs Harbour swimming club product is a year younger than his fellow Coffs competitor but he will be honing his craft in the 50 and 100 metre freestyle races for the 14-15 year age group.
The Grafton high star has been breaking all age records since he was 12 years old but this time he will be fighting against Australia’s best, not just the cream of the crop in the Clarence Valley.
Alastair Miller
Swim Club: Alstonville
Age: 17
Alstonville’s mercurial butterfly and freestyle swimmer is expecting big things in Adelaide.
Alastair Miller had a strong showing at the North Coast Championships earlier this year and received a top ten placing on multiple days throughout the tournament.
Bella Teale
Swim Club: Trinity Lismore
Age: 15
Bella Teale has been travelling up the North Coast in search of her next big breakthrough having succeeded in Coffs Harbour.
Teale is familiar with Adelaide having won a bronze medal in the medley relay at the Pacific School Games in 2017.
She will take on the 100 and 50 metre breaststroke and the 100 and 200 metre backstroke events.
Jaxon White
Swim Club: Macksville Marlins
Age: 14
Jaxon White was an age champion for St John Paul College in Coffs Harbour for the North Coast short course championships.
He is the youngest male North Coast swimmer headed to Adelaide at just 14 years of age where he will compete in the 50 metre freestyle and breaststroke.
He lined up alongside fellow swimmers on this list, Clayton Wilkinson, Harry Kilburn, Lily Barlow and Jack Leeson as part of the North Coast Academy of Sport’s swimming team for 2021.
Beth Lockwood
Swim Club: Trinity Lismore
Age: 16
Beth Lockwood will be keeping it cool with the 100 metre breaststroke and 50 metre freestyle.
Lockwood finished as the age champion for 15-year old swimmers at last years North Coast Short Course Swimming Championship in Lismore.
Clayton Wilkinson
Swim Club: Casino
Age: 15
The lone Casino crusader will be travelling to Adelaide after qualifying for the 14-15 year old boys 50 metre freestyle.
He’s in decent form having beaten his personal best in that race by three seconds in last years NSW Country Championships.
He also qualified for NSW senior state age championships earlier this year.
Bailey Whitton
Swim Club: Macksville Marlins
Age: 16
The 16-year old will be blitzing through five events next week in Adelaide.
The Macksville product will be competing in the 50 and 100 metre freestyle and the 50, 100 and 200 metre butterfly events.
Bailey makes no secret of his ambition to represent Australia and the National Age Championships is exactly where he needs to strut his stuff.
Lily Barlow
Swim Club: Macksville Marlins
Age: 14
The youngest female North Coast swimmer headed to Adelaide next week with a treasure trove of record times.
Lily Barlow will compete in the 100 and 200 metre freestyle events having boosted her personal best in the 2021 NSW Country Championships.
She rounds out an incredible crop of young Macksville swimming talent.
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