Swimmers bag regional titles

Peter Jones

Two new regional champions from the Blenheim Swimming Club were crowned when the 2021 Swimming Nelson Marlborough long course championships were held in Nelson recently.

One hundred and forty swimmers from across the Nelson- Marlborough region competed over four sessions in Nayland College’s outdoor 50m pool from January 30-31.

Competitors aged from eight to 18 raced over distances ranging from 50 to 1500 metres, showing their prowess in all four swimming strokes.

The Blenheim club provided a team of 22 swimmers, under the guidance of coach Jenni Gane, competing within age groups and scoring across specific set of events in order to qualify for trophies.

Finn McNabb and Jessica Lovell both successfully defended the age group trophies they won aged 12, to become Swim Nelson Marlborough’s regional 13-year-old champions.

Making the pair’s efforts even more notable was the fact they both won several events despite not regularly training in an outdoor 50m pool facility.

A very strong all-round team performance saw the following Blenheim swimmers win medals: Maggie George-Harris, Eliza Glover, Claudia Harris, Sophie Kole, Nicola Lovell, Chelsea Mandeno, Katie Marsh, Carys McNabb, Lachlan McNabb, Alfie Price, Max Skehan, Kyla Thorstensen, Hamish Timpson, Joel Verran and Quinn Verran

For more information on swimming with the Blenheim Swimming Club, visit their website at