Two Kuranui College records were broken at this year’s action-packed swimming sports, one of which has stood for 16 years. Held at the Greytown public pool, both competitive and non-competitive swimmers enjoyed warm weather that contributed towards some amazing results. 

One student stood out amongst the rest. New Year 12 student Bridget Allan broke not one, but two Kuranui records. She is now the record holder for the 16+ girls two-length butterfly with a time of 42.92 seconds and the two-length backstroke in 45.02 seconds. These records were previously held by T Gray (2005) with a butterfly time of 43.44, and A O’Connell (2020) with a time of 45.86 for backstroke.

Bridget was a competitive swimmer for the Carterton Swim Club for a number of years and achieved great success at local, regional and national level. She has now put away her swimming cap, but was happy to compete in the annual swimming event to support her Kuranui house, Tararua. Her incredible talent shone through and Bridget was crowned the Kuranui Girls 16+ champion for 2021. “I was surprised because I wasn’t doing my best and I wasn’t really aiming to break any records, but it was really cool,” she explained.

However, Bridget was not the only champion of the day. Many Kuranui students had the opportunity to showcase their swimming talents in both the competitive and fun events which were as noisy as ever with plenty of cheers and laughs. They included relays, students v teachers, and of course, the biggest splash competition, giving everyone the opportunity to get involved.

Tararua proved victorious in the House relay, and the Students defeated the teachers in the Student v Teachers Challenge.

Champions on the day

Kuranui 2021 Swimming Champions:

Girls

U14 Abigail Kill

U15 Maralyse Whiteman

U16 Freya Lewington

16+ Bridget Allan

Boys

U14 Connor Gregory

U15 Issacs Higgins

U16 Charlie O’Connell

16+ Ceejay Dennes

Written by Year 13 Student Emma Rose. Photography by Year 10 Student Peter O'Driscoll. Article added: Monday 15 February 2021