by Steve Messervy

MARLINS RETAIN 9-12 YEARS STATE
CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY

Two relay state records broken.

For the second successive year MLC Marlins have been crowned the champion club at the 9-12 years State Championships held at SOPAC on 8-9 January 2005.

Urged on by super coach Pancha Thambo the Marlins team survived a tough tussle with rival clubs Carlile and Ryde. The team celebrated by sending Pancha for an involuntary fully clothed swim after the presentation of the championship trophy.

Regular top performers Kailah Elliott, Kenneth To and Suay Toprak led the way with multiple medal winning swims, while Paul Sindone also won a gold medal in the 11 years 100 Breaststroke. There were many highlights and it is difficult to single out individual performances but the following relay swims are worthy of special mention. The 10 relay events contributed a massive 254 points to Marlins winning points total of just over 1,000.

• The girls 11-12 years relay teams won gold medals in both the 4 x 50 freestyle (Simone Piper, Stephanie Purcell, Melanie Tan and Kailah Elliott) and the 4 x 50 medley (Melanie Tan, Kailah Elliott, Ha-Yeon Lee and Simone Piper) smashing state records in both events.
• The five girls mentioned above teamed up with Alana Turella, Kiara Maza, Connie Sloane, Maggie Luck and Suay Toprak to blitz the opposition in the 12 and under 10 x 50 freestyle relay.
• The boys 11-12 years relay team (Paul Sindone, Mark Sindone, Kenneth To and Tom Messervy) swum well above expectations to win bronze medals in both the 4 x 50 freestyle and 4 x 50 medley relays.
• The four boys mentioned above teamed up with Khaled Harris, Joshua Burns and youngsters Vince Tripodi, Jack Slater, Andrew Tsui and Patrick Hao to pull off a surprise 3rd place in the 12 and under 10 x 50 freestyle relay.
• The 10 and under girls relay (Elizabeth Tiems, Suay Toprak, Karlee Assef and Stephanie El Safty) and the 10 and under boys relay (Patrick Hao, Vince Tripodi, Andrew Tsui and Jack Slater) all swam outstanding races with some great PBs to just miss medals in both freestyle and medley relays.

Congratulations also to Stephanie Purcell who joins Kailah Elliott and Kenneth To as a qualifier for the National Age Championships in Brisbane in April.