Bayside swimming club work together to take nine medals at state age championships

Individual performance is usually the focus in competitive swimming. Not so for one southeast swimming club.

The DRLC Bayside swimming club won eight medals and had nine finalists compete in a national competition last month.

A SOUTHEAST swimming club which blitzed a national meet attributes the success to encouraging team spirit in a sport mostly focused on individual performance.

DRLC Bayside rising star Lucy McJannett, 16, won five gold medals at a state age championships last month.

She was joined by Laura Wilson, 12, who won both silver and bronze medals and India White, 17, taking home bronze.

The DRLC Bayside swimming club has a few kids that have done well in competitions nationally.

A further six club swimmers competed as finalists.

Head coach Joshua Stern put the result down to his swimmers “feeding off each other” in and out of the pool.

“You always have this story of yeah it’s an individual sport and they grow up hearing that, but I think they think they see it differently,” Stern said.

DRLC Bayside swimming club members Lily Wilson, Kade Hayes, Jake Rowlands, Lachlan Reid, Samarah Melia, Laura Wilson. Jack Wilson, Sienna White, Rhys Jones, India White, Lucy McJannett and Maddie Dwyer.

“What I’m pretty hopeful with is that they seem to be willing to support anybody that’s working hard, whether they’re on their team, on a different team there or they are surf kids,” Stern said.

In April Bayside will have five swimmers at the Australia Open Swimming Championships at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre.

The prestigious meet will act as a selection trial for the Australian Swim Team, set to attend world championships in Russia, South Korea, Glasgow and Singapore later this year.

Stern said for naturals like Lucy “the sky is the limit”.

“She has a tremendous amount of talent and a willingness to work, which unleashes a whole lot of potential,” he said.