Ascham’s golden girls make it two in a row in swimming relay earning nomination for Junior Sports Star

A RECORD-BREAKING run at the NSW PSSA Swimming Championships has seen the Ascham 10 years freestyle relay squad nominated for the Junior Sports Star Team Spirit Award.

The Ascham Junior Girls have won the State relay event for two years running now, and broke the State record.

A RECORD-BREAKING run at the NSW PSSA Swimming Championships has seen the Ascham 10 years freestyle relay squad nominated for the Junior Sports Star Team Spirit Award.

The four girls, Portia Palmerlee, Josephine Lennox, Saskia Roberts and Iona Laird-Smith, were nominated for the award after winning the gold medal for the second straight year and setting a new state record.

The Junior Sports Star awards are sponsored by Rebel and Channel 7 is a major media partner.

The girls began in Ascham’s learn-to-swim program when they were in kindergarten and three of the four now train with Ascham Aquatics.

Their coach, Assistant Head of School, Andrew Powell, said the girls had “trained extremely hard to achieve these outstanding results and we are very proud of each and every one of them”.

COCO WHITE M,AKING A SPLASH IN AUCKLAND WATER POLO

Two of the girls, Saskia Roberts and Portia Palmerlee, saw individual success and qualified for nationals.

Roberts will compete in 50m breaststroke in Adelaide later this year and Palmerlee in 100m butterfly.

But in true team spirit, each member of the Ascham gold medal team agreed they valued the win in the relay far more than coveting success in the individual events at the meet.

The girls have been training with Ascham’s assistant head coach Weronika Tillmar since they were in Year 2.

Ms Tillmar said the girls’ camaraderie was the “secret ingredient” to their success.

“They are my favourite special little team,” she said.

“I have been building the team for the last five years, so to achieve such a great result with them is incredible.

“They put all their heart in every training and listen to everything I tell them.

“They support each other all the time, even when they swim individually.”

The girls train at least six hours in the pool a week, as well as out-of-pool exercise as part of the program.

GET INVOLVED:

■ To nominate somebody for the Junior Sports Star awards go to juniorsportsstar.com.au and follow the prompts

■ Nominations are open until October 23 for children between 10 and 16 years old. Email [e-mail] to receive a nomination form.

■ Follow us on Facebook or Twitter @The Wenty and #juniorSportsStar