Step Rock Swimming Club: Impressive youngsters retain their East District Open Water Relay title

A 20-strong squad competed in the District event at Lochore Meadows on June 4, bringing home medals, trophies and three East District Championship titles.

The novice meet in the morning saw seven Step Rockers take to the water, some for their very first competitive open water race.

Greta Kushner, Amelia Saeed and Andrew Lu all won their respective age groups, with great performances from Cameron Seeley, Max Gilbert, Eddie Niven and Mhairi Mackintosh.

The afternoon session kicked off with 10 Step Rock swimmers taking on the 1km race.

In the 11/12 age category, Freya Edie was crowned East District champion with Elodie Dempster and Eva Stuart finishing second and fourth in the District respectively.

In the 13/14 age category, Maia Staal finished 3rd in the District with Elsie Kushner finishing fourth and Oscar Geary finishing fifth in the men’s race.

The 15/16 age group saw some serious competition. In the women’s race, Freya Hedley finished seventh in the district.

In the men’s event, Step Rock took all three district top spots with the East District title going to Rowan Geary just ahead of Finch Geary and Sam Coull in a very close second and third position respectively.

The individual races finished with the 2km which saw Isla Hedley finish in a comfortable second place taking the silver medal and finishing ahead of all the men in the district.

Hannah Staal was fourth in the District and, in her first ever open water swim, Ella McGeorge raced to an impressive sixth place in the district.

The championship culminated with the chain relay which is an open age group event seen as a rite of passage for many Step Rockers who take to the water to battle against much older swimmers.

All three Step Rock teams swam brilliantly with the A team of Hannah Staal, Finch Geary, Isla Hedley and Rowan Geary retaining their East District Championship title.