Stawell Stingrays Swimming Club members, winners of the Ross Shield at Donald. (Back) Ben Hughes - coach; (centre) L-R Annaliese Spark, Juliet Wheaton, Jaz Warren, Jaxon Healy; (front) Madix Perry and Max Waters.
STAWELL - Stawell Stingrays Swim Club took home the 2013 Ross Shield Memorial Perpetual Standardised Aggregate Trophy after a successful day in the pool at Donald last weekend.
Stingrays coach, Ben Hughes, was delighted with the win.
"Everyone did very well Saturday and I was extremely pleased with the way the new swimmers are taking on more events and are willing to make the conscious decision to extend themselves," he said.
There were a number of multiple event winners in the boy's section, including the coach.
Hughes, 27, recorded first place in the open 100 metre individual medley final.
Jayden Dignan, 15, won the 50 metre boy's 14-15 freestyle and 50 metre butterfly finals.
Jayden's younger brother, 10 year old Kyle claimed the 100 metre 11 and under boy's individual medley and 25 metre 10-11 boy's breaststroke finals.
Jaxon Healy, 11, took out the boy's 25 metre 10-11 years freestyle and 25 metre backstroke finals.
Youngest member of the Stingrays team, nine year old Madix Perry won the 8-9 years boy's 25 metre freestyle and 25 metre backstroke finals while Jamie Perry, 15, took first place in the 14-15 years boy's 50 metre freestyle.
In the girl's section, 12 year old Tayla Honeyman took out the 12-13 years 100 metre individual final while Laura and Erin McClure also recorded first placings.
Laura, 16, won the girl's open 50 metre butterfly final and Erin, 14, returned victorious in the girl's open 50 metre backstroke final.
Fifteen year old Kearnie Warren also scored a win in the girl's 14-15 years breaststroke final.
Stawell Stingrays 'A' teams achieved a winning double, taking out the mixed 15 and under freestyle and mixed 13 and under freestyle relays.
The Stingrays have had a solid season so far according to Hughes.
"We have seen a significant improvement in the first year swimmers with the second year swimmers taking on more events," Hughes said.
"First year swimmers Drew Smith, Juliet Wheaton, Keira McDonald and Kate Boschen have all displayed improvement and will benefit from their attitude towards training and competitions.
"Several of the older swimmers are also taking more leadership, helping the younger swimmers to improve."
Hughes nominated youngsters Lacey Honeyman, Natalie Perry and Bayley Dignan as being standouts in taking on a leadership role.
In the pool, first year swimmer Annaliese Spark has according to Hughes 'demonstrated immense initiative at training' and this had paid off, with the 12 year old reducing her 100 metre breaststroke and freestyle times by more than 10 seconds.
Nine year old Harley Healy has also shown a big improvement, reducing his 50 metre freestyle and backstroke times by a similar margin.
The club has had the added benefit of Greg Schwartz, a Ballarat swim coach, attend a training session to assist in improving stroke technique, as well as Graeme Carr (Stawell's first District Championship winning coach) providing broader feedback to the swimmers.
"Their input has been invaluable to the success of the swimmers," Hughes said.
Hughes' next mission is to prepare the Stingrays team for the upcoming Wimmera Championships.
"With less than a month to the Wimmera Championships, we will begin to build training around each swimmer's specific events, ensuring they are comfortable with what they would like to achieve and how to go about doing that."
Tomorrow, Stingrays will be competing at Stawell Leisure Complex.