mmg.com.au

Shepparton’s Connie McClelland twice set personal-best times on her way to placing fourth in the 13-year-old girls’ 200 m freestyle at the Victorian Age Championships last night.

McClelland, who swims for Melbourne-based club MLC Aquatic, started the day with a best time in the event of 2mins, 14.71sec before lowering that by almost seven-tenths of a second in qualifying fourth for the final.

The England-born swimmer clocked 2:13.62 in the final, finishing behind only winner Jessica Adams (2:06.69), Samantha Howe (2:10.49) and Adelaide Wood (2:11.08).

McClelland was one of two swimmers in the region to make a final, with Echuca’s Josh Kennedy coming sixth in the 13-year-old boys’ 200m freestyle in a time of 2:10.36.

Kennedy qualified eighth for the final, but was almost a second quicker in the night session.

Hobart Aquatic’s Jacob Vincent streeted the field in touching the wall in 2:05.18, more than three seconds ahead of the rest.

There were seven other Goulburn Valley District swimmers in action on the opening day of the championships.

Shepparton Swimming Club’s Kalen Swift (1:17.82) placed 20th in the 17-and-18-year-old boys’ 100m breaststroke, one spot ahead of Shepparton-based Nunawading swimmer Kadison Michel (1:17.91).

Swift’s younger brother Carter was 32nd-fastest in the 14-year-old boys’ 100m butterfly in a personal-best shattering time of 1:09.56.

Hayley Hogan, who is competing as an unattached swimmer as she crosses from Shepparton to Nunawading, came 17th in the 14-year-old girls’ 100m butterfly (1:11.79) and 24th in the 200m individual medley (2:41.31).

There were three regional swimmers in the 17-and-18-year-old boys’ 50m freestyle.

Echuca duo Louis Spencely (26.29) and Jack McNamara (27.58) ranked 35th and 69th, respectively, while Benalla swimmer Ryan Waddell’s time of 27.00 was good for 53rd place.