Blue Lake Produces Another Stunner
- dale493
- Mar 31
- 6 min read
Competition Wrap - 2025 NZ Secondary School Open Water Swimming Championships
The 2025 NZ Secondary School Open Water Swimming Championships were held over the weekend in conjunction with the Legend of the Lake event hosted in the Banana Boat NZ Ocean Swim Series. It was a beautiful morning, with the stars shining bright as competitors started arriving. Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake) again produced stunning conditions for the championships.
A total of 123 students took part in the championships across three distances. The long swim (3.5km) had 56 students complete the lap of the lake, while 37 students completed the mid-distance event (1km) and 30 students took on the short-distance (500m). For the overall series, all distances were sold out with an Amphibian event (swim, run, swim) and Ocean Kids event added to the three distances above. The most popular event was the 3.5km long swim, with 325 swimmers completing the lap around the lake. It was an excellent vibe lakeside across the day as participants enjoyed the lovely conditions for a morning swim.
Long Swim (3.5km)
In the long swim, the reigning champion Daniel Kregting (Mt Roskill Grammar) and local youngster Leo English (Rotorua Boys') went stroke for stroke as they came to the shallow water where they could touch the bottom. Kregting (40mins 27secs) used his open water experience to find his legs fastest and surged to an unassailable lead over the 50m run up the beach to claim his second consecutive overall winner in the Ocean Swim Series and the 16 - 19 years boys title, just two seconds ahead of English (40mins 29secs) as he claimed the 14 - 15 years boys title. Third overall past the finish was Jack Barton (Kristin - 41mins 13secs) to claim silver in the older age group.
Speaking after the race, Kregting was pleased with his race.
"That felt pretty good. It was a tough swim against Leo which helped us push each other along. It was a great day out down here in Rotorua."
English was joined on the podium in the 14 - 15 years age group by Tyler Lushkott (Auckland Grammar - 41mins 16secs) and Sheldon Hogan (Tauranga Boys' - 43mins 29secs) after impressive swims from the trio.
For the 12 - 13 years boys age group, Dominic Barton (Kristin - 47mins 11secs) continued to show his newfound love of swimming open water with a win ahead of Ben Sheppard (Palmerston North Boys' - 52mins 15secs) and Sebastian Yates (Waiopehu - 1hr 17secs).
In the girls long event, Olivia Bates (Epsom Girls' - 45mins 19secs) was the first female across the line in the Ocean Swim Series overall in a close tussle with Maeve McDonnell (Pakuranga - 45mins 25secs). Bates took out the 16 - 19 years title ahead of Levke Krueger (Gisborne Girls' - 47mins 31secs) with the silver and Emma Bendall (Tararua - 47mins 55secs) the bronze.
Bates was thrilled with her first swim of the day after taking a step up from her silver in 2024.
"I had to make a late change to not wearing a wetsuit after it broke during my warm-up. It definitely meant I needed to make an adjustment but it was my fourth year competing here so I knew the course well. It was great conditions and I really enjoyed the swim."
McDonnell won the 14 - 15 years title, backing up from her victory in the younger age group in 2024. School mates Tessa Scott (Waikato Diocesan - 47mins 17secs) and Gemma Hay (Waikato Diocesan - 50mins 36secs) rounded out the podium.
For the 12 - 13 years girls, Kathryn Bates (St Cuthberts - 48mins 24secs) was the fastest of the youngest age group, winning the gold medal ahead of Emilia Hoglinger (Glendowie - 49mins 21secs) and Zoe Omundsen (Tauranga Girls' - 54mins 12secs).
Mid Results (1km)
In the mid-distance swim (1km), reigning champion Leo English (11mins 46secs) backed up from his impressive performance earlier in the morning with another clinical display to be the fastest of the whole Ocean Swim Series. English claimed the 14 - 15 years title for the second consecutive year. The battle for second overall across the line was where all eyes were, with Ryleigh McEwan (Mount Maunganui - 12mins 12secs) and Yugo Tachikawa (Rotorua Boys' - 12mins 12secs) having a full blown sprint up the beach to the finish line. It was hard to separate the two by the eye, but McEwan took the bragging rights as he took out the 16 - 19 years title, whilst Tachikawa the silver in the 14 - 15 years behind English, with Mitchell Everett (Mount Maunganui - 13mins 56secs) taking the bronze in that age group.
McEwan was joined on the age podium by school mate Cooper Everett (Mount Maunganui - 12mins 18secs) who was just six seconds back and Ryan Beardsmore (Rangiora - 14mins 26secs).
Dominic Barton (12mins 57secs) produced another stellar swim, his second of the morning, to win the 12 - 13 years title. The battle for silver and bronze was all down to the run to the line, with Will Smith (Tauranga Boys' - 14mins 6secs) just edging clear of Jakob Alexander (Gisborne Boys' - 14mins 8secs). Special mention to Jonty Howland (Feilding - 22mins 54secs) who was our only Multi-Class swimmer to compete on the day, finishing sixth in his age group.
Holli Macdonald (Waikato Diocesan - 12mins 15secs) was the fastest female overall in the series and only seconds behind the second and third males overall as she won the 16 - 19 years title. Macdonald demonstrated her improvement over the past 12 months, going 54 seconds faster than 2024 and trading places with Olivia Bates on the podium. In her second swim of the day, Bates (12mins 28secs) also went faster than last year where she was not far behind Macdonald to win the silver medal and be the second fastest woman overall. Paige Franklin (Central Hawke's Bay - 13mins 34secs) claimed the bronze to back up from her victory in the younger age group in 2024.
Maeve McDonnell (13mins 6secs) was the third fastest woman overall to claim the 14 - 15 years title. Sophia Maltai-Spence (Mount Maunganui - 13mins 22secs) went one second faster than 2024 to retain her silver medal this year, with Scarlett Wadham (St Matthew's Masterton - 14mins 12secs) the bronze.
Emily O'Driscoll (Mount Maunganui - 14mins 56secs) took out the 12 - 13 years title, with school mate Quinn Murdoch (Mount Maunganui - 16mins 19secs) pipping Heidi Young (Otumoetai - 16mins 23secs) on the line for silver and bronze respectively.
Short Results (500m)
For the shortest event on offer at the championships (500m), there more sprints to the line to determine the finishing order. Ryleigh McEwan (5mins 57secs) found himself locked in another all out sprint to the line, this time with Jackson Rowlands (New Plymouth Boys' - 5mins 57secs). On this occasion, it was Rowlands with the smallest of winning margins to be the fastest overall in the series and win the 14 - 15 years title. Henry Klimetz (Green Bay - 6mins 42secs) joined Rowlands on the podium with the silver and Alexander Omundsen (Tauranga Boys' - 6mins 54secs) the bronze.
McEwan claimed his second gold medal of the day in the 16 - 19 years age group. Cooper Everett (Mount Maunganui - 6mins) was just three seconds back to be the third fastest male overall and win the silver medal in the oldest age group on offer, with Cole Frazer (Mount Maunganui - 6mins 6secs) winning the bronze to complete an all Mount Maunganui College podium.
Olivia Bates and Holli Macdonald resumed their battle from earlier in the day again in the 500m event, with both the two fastest women overall and this time reversing the order from the 1km. Bates (5mins 59secs) was just ahead in the sprint up the beach to retain her title in the 16 - 19 years age group and win her third medal of the morning. Macdonald (6mins 2secs) was just behind for silver with Paige Franklin (6mins 21secs) winning the bronze, meaning the same three swimmers from the 1km event made up the podium.
Maeve McDonnell (6mins 13secs) completed her morning efforts with her third gold medal in the 14 - 15 years age group of the day. Maltai-Spence (Mount Maunganui - 6mins 25secs) won her second silver medal of the morning to finish ahead of Tessa Scott (Waikato Diocesan - 6mins 34secs) where she added a bronze medal to her collection on the day.
Kathryn Bates (St Cuthberts - 6mins 43secs) won her second gold medal of the morning in the 12 - 13 years age group. Bates was joined by Georgia Duske - 6mins 55secs) and Zoe Omundsen (Tauranga Girls' - 7mins 4secs) on the podium.
Mount Maunganui College retained the Top School Trophy with a commanding (257 points). Waikato Diocesan School for Girls (112 points) finished in second place again this year. The battle for third was incredibly close, with Tauranga Boys' High (79 points) just edging out Pakuranga College (78 points) and Rotorua Boys' High (77 points).
Thanks to the Banana Boat NZ Ocean Swim Series team for delivering these championships and to all the swimmers who got active in the water over the weekend.
Next Opportunity
There is one more competition left in the series this summer, with The Mount Swim being held in Mount Maunganui on Saturday 19 April, where the 2025 Aquaknights Zonal Secondary School Open Water Swimming Championships will also be held. We encourage everyone to get their entries in now so they don't miss out.
Commentaires