Personal Bests Tumble at Junior Festivals Nationwide
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Competition Wrap - 2026 Junior Festivals
We were proud to hold the 2026 Junior Festivals from 27 February to 1 March across four zones: Mako (held in Invercargill), Harlequins (held in Auckland), Aquaknights (held in Hastings) and All Stars (held in Kapiti Coast).
A fantastic 1,152 swimmers aged 12 years and under made every stroke count as they embraced the festivities both in and out of the pool.
As always, the atmosphere across all four zones was outstanding. One of the highlights of the weekend was the final-session dress-up theme, with clubs showcasing incredible creativity as they arrived dressed as cartoon characters. The music kept the spirits high throughout the weekend, and the Mexican wave rolled around the pools multiple times, bringing swimmers, coaches, and spectators together in a true festival atmosphere.
Personal Bests
The festivals provided a fun racing environment to celebrate the end of summer and had a strong focus on celebrating personal best swims. This year saw more fantastic swims across the board, with nearly 57% of swims resulting in a personal best! That's a total of 3,957 personal bests achieved across the weekend of swimming – congratulations to every swimmer who stepped up and gave it their all.
PB ribbons were awarded for the fourth consecutive year, and their popularity continues to grow as swimmers proudly celebrate their progress.
The results of the PB calculations for each club have been completed, comparing the number of entries with the number of PBs achieved, and we are excited to announce the winners for each zonal category. These results are calculated on all individual swims, excluding the freestyle kick event.
All Stars
1 to 50 entries = Kiwi West Aquatics (56.82%)
51 to 100 entries = Pirates Swim Team (61.54%)
101 to 200 entries = Tawa Swimming Club (59.31%)
Aquaknights
1 to 50 entries = Thames Swim Club (81.25%)
51 to 100 entries = Hamilton Aquatics (69.89%)
101 to 200 entries = Pukekohe Swimming Club (57.32%)
201+ entries = Liz van Welie Aquatics (65.58%)
Harlequins
1 to 50 entries = Mt Wellington Swimming (78.57%)
51 to 100 entries = Roskill Swimming Club (65%)
101 to 200 entries = Not contested
201+ entries = Parnell Swimming (68.22%)
Mako
1 to 50 entries = Waverley Swimming Club (71.05%)
51 to 100 entries = Neptune Swim Club (69.7%)
101 to 200 entries = Johnston Waters Swimming Club (64.23%)
For the national categories, the winners are:
National
1 to 50 entries = Thames Swim Club (81.25%)
51 to 100 entries = Hamilton Aquatics (69.89%)
101 to 200 entries = Johnston Waters Swimming Club (64.23%)
201+ entries = Parnell Swimming (68.22%)
Congratulations to each of our winning clubs.
Results
See the final results for each of the festivals below.
Congratulations to all those who took part in the 2026 Junior Festivals, and thanks to all the technical officials, volunteers and host regions who helped deliver the festivals.
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