Swimming

MAGS’ success in the pool continued its upward momentum as we reaped a number of 1st, 2nd and 3rd placings at the Central-Eastern Zone competition held in Auckland on Thursday, 2 March.

Brearna Crawford claimed 1st in the 50m Butterfly, 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle, and 2nd in the 50m Backstroke, while George Smith came 1st in the 50m Freestyle, 2nd in the 50m Butterfly, and 3rd in the 50m Backstroke.

Sinead Kelly came 2nd in the 50m Backstroke, Bede Aitu came 2nd in the 50m Breaststroke, Alida Seits came 3rd in the 50m Butterfly and 50m Backstroke, Mia Gordon came 3rd in the 50m Breaststroke and Katherine Grozev came 3d in the 50m Backstroke of her division.

In the relay events, MAGS came first in the 1st in three races, 2nd in seven races and 3rd in another.

The school was represented by 32 swimmers at the event.

Year 10 student Brearna Crawford once again starred at the latest swimming championships entered by MAGS, winning 9 Gold medals and setting two new records at the Auckland Winter Swimming Championships held at West Wave on September 9-10.

Brearna set a new New Zealand and Auckland record in the 50m Butterfly, swimming 27.64 against the old time of 28.12. She also set a new Auckland record in the 100m Butterfly, swimming 1.02.41 against 1.03.02. Her Gold medals came from Butterfly, Breaststroke, Freestyle and Individual Medley.

Her fellow MAGS swimmers Vasilina Shipilova won a Silver and two Bronze in Breaststroke and Individual Medley, Eva Williams won a Silver and two Bronze in Backstroke, and Michael Chapman won a Silver and a Bronze in Butterfly.

MAGS Aquatic Academy member Brearna Crawford and fellow student George Smith have been selected to represent New Zealand at the Australian Short Course Championships in Canberra in September.

Brearna, in the 13-14 age group, and George, in the 16-17 group, will be part of a 35-strong New Zealand team taking on Australia’s best young swimmers.

Brearna has already won Gold and Silver in Australia this year, competing at the Australian Age Group Championships in Brisbane during the April holidays.

The pair have also been selected for the Swimming New Zealand National Development Squad. They will receive extra training from Swimming New Zealand from this month until after the Pan Pacific Championships in August 2018.

Head of the Aquatic Academy Mr Paul Kent said the swimmers’ selection was an indication of their potential to one day represent New Zealand at Commonwealth and Olympic level. It was also recognition of their success over the past year – Brearna has won Gold medals and set new records in Australia and New Zealand, and George has won Bronze in Australia and Gold in New Zealand.

Auckland Champion of Champions

This meet on 11 April saw MAGS swimmers gather a haul of 1st, 2nd and 3rd placings. Brearna won the 50m Butterfly, 50m Backstroke, 50m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle. George came 2nd in the 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle, Sinead Kelly came 2nd in the 50m Backstroke and Katherine Grozev came 3rd in the 50m Backstroke.

In the relays, MAGS won the Girls Open 200m Backstroke and the 200m Breaststroke, came 2nd in the Girls 200m Individual Medley, and 3rd in the Girls Open 200m Butterfly, Girls 200m Freestyle and Boys 200m Individual Medley.

Year 10 Aquatic Academy member Brearna Crawford added to her already glittering medal cabinet when she won Gold and Silver at the Australian Age Group Championships in Brisbane during the 2017 April holidays.

The 14-year-old won Gold in the 100m Breaststroke in 1:12.46, and Silver in the 200m Breaststroke in 2:33.74. Her Silver time set a new New Zealand age group record, and broke the Auckland Open record she set earlier this year.

The Australian event attracted nearly 1900 of Australia’s best up and coming young swimmers. Brearna was one of 30 New Zealanders selected to compete. Swimming New Zealand said the squad’s success of two Gold, 11 Silver and five Bronze medals “proved the rising quality and depth of the sport in this country.”

Brearna is coached by the the Head of MAGS’ Aquatic Academy and Swim Club, former Olympic swimmer Mr Paul Kent.

14-year-old swimmer Brearna Crawford continued to display her remarkable talent when she broke a record that had stood for 26 years at the Auckland Open Swimming Championships held at West Wave on 11-12 March.

Brearna won the 100m Breaststroke in a time of 1.13.27, taking more than a second off the long-standing record. She also set a new record for the 200m Breaststroke, won the 200m Individual Medley, and came 2nd in the 400m IM.

MAGS Aquatic Academy members also won the treble in the Open Woman’s 200m Breaststroke, with Brearna winning Gold, Vasilina Shipilova Silver and Mia Gordon Bronze.

Vasilina also won three Bronze medals in the 100m Breaststroke, 200m IM and 400m IM, while Eva Williams won Bronze in the 100m and 200m Butterfly.

Congratulations also to MAGS students Bede Aitu, who won Silver in the 50m Backstroke, and Alida Seits, who won Bronze in the 50m Backstroke.

MAGS Aquatic Academy member Brearna Crawford set a new New Zealand record in the 200m Breaststroke at the National Age Group Championships, held in Wellington from 21-26 March, 2017.

Brearna’s time of  2:34.84 was well under the previous record of US-based New Zealand representative Natasha Lloyd of 2:35.58. Her time also set new Auckland Age Group and Auckland Open records.

Earlier in the week Brearna set a new Auckland record in the 100m Breaststroke of 1.13.27. The old record 1.14.22 by Georgina Hall had stood since 1991.

Brearna also won Gold inthe 200m Individual Medley, and Silver in the 400m IM.

MAGS student George Smith also won a clutch of medals: Gold in the 100m Butterfly, Silver in the 200m Butterfly, 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle, and Bronze in the 100m freestyle, 4x 200m relay, 4x 100m IM and 4x 100m freestyle.

Other Aquatic Academy members competing were Vasilina Shipilova, Joseph Nathan and Eva Williams. Fellow MAGS students Bede Aitu and Sinead Kelly also achieved top 10 placings.

MAGS swimmers took away a haul of medals at the National Age Group Championships in in Wellington from 18-22 April.

Year 9 student Brearna Crawford won seven medals, Year 10 student George Smith won five, and Year 12 Katherine Grozev completed the takings with a Bronze in the 50m backstroke.

Brearna won Silver in the 200m breaststroke and Bronze in the 50m and 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m and 400m individual medley, and as part of the 4x 100m medley relay.

George won Gold in the 100m butterfly, Silver in the 100m freestyle, and Bronze in the 50m and 200m butterfly and 50m freestyle.

MAGS swimmer Brearna Crawford continues to prove her remarkable talent, winning two Gold medals at the 2016 Australian State Championships and nine Golds at the NZ Short Course Championships.

The 13-year-old Year 9 student and member of the MAGS Aquatic Academy and Swim Club set two New Zealand records and five Auckland age group records along the way.

Swimming New Zealand coach Mr Gary Hurring said Brearna led the way for the New Zealand team competing at the 2016 Australian State Championships in Canberra from 23-25 September. She won two of the team’s five Gold medals, helping New Zealand to 4th place overall. Brearna won the 50m and 200m Breaststroke, and claimed Silver in the 100m Breaststroke.

“The Australian meet is an essential competition at the base of our high performance swimmer pathway,” said Mr Hurring.

MAGS student George Smith won Bronze with a medley team.

Brearna returned to New Zealand to compete in the national short course championships at the Sir Owen G Glenn National Aquatic Centre on the North Shore. She won 9 Golds in Breaststroke, Butterfly, Freestyle and Individual Medley events. She set new NZ and Auckland records in the 200m Breaststroke and 100m Individual Medley. Brearna also competed against adult swimmers in the Open 200m Breaststroke and Open 400m Individual Medley, coming 6th in both events.

Katherine Grozev (Year 12) won Bronze in the 50m Backstroke, George Smith (Year 10) won Bronze in the 100m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle, and Jesse Tu’inukuafe (Year 9) won Bronze in the 100m Backstroke. More than 650 swimmers took part in the championships, representing 88 clubs from around New Zealand and nine from overseas.

MAGS Aquatic Academy member Vasilina Shipilova, aged 15, also competed at the NZ Championships, swimming good personal best times and is now ranked in the top 8 nationally for her age.

Aquatic Academy Director and former Olympic breaststroke swimmer Mr Paul Kent said Brearna was obviously very talented, “but it is her attitude to the challenge of mastering her sport that sets her apart from other athletes her age. Brearna really enjoys the training and being committed to her sport. She is a pleasure to coach, she manages herself well, in and out of the water, and she has fantastic support at MAGS, in and out of school.

“I believe we have just seen the beginning – Brearna has put her hand up as a future sporting star for New Zealand.”

Year 9 swimmer Brearna Crawford will represent New Zealand in Australia after claiming a perfect result of 8 Gold medals in the 8 events she entered at the national Secondary Schools Championships in Wellington from 9-11 September.

Brearna, a member of MAGS Aquatic Academy, was named Individual Swimmer of the Championships. She helped MAGS’ small team of six to 7th place in the girls division out of 150 schools and nearly 600 swimmers.

Brearna claimed Gold in 200m Individual Medley, 200m Breaststroke, 100m Breaststroke, 50m Breaststroke, 100m Butterfly, 50m Butterfly, 100m Freestyle and the 50m Freestyle.

She backed up her medals by setting Auckland age-group records in the 200m Breaststroke, 100m Breaststroke and 50m Butterfly.

Brearna and fellow MAGS student George Smith (left) have been selected for the 40-strong New Zealand team to compete in the Australian Age Group Championships to be held in Canberra from 23-25 September.

Other MAGS medallists at the NZSS Championships were Sinead Kelly, who won Bronze in the 50m Backstroke, and Vasilina Shipilova, who won Bronze in the 200m Breaststroke. Eva Williams, Fia Jones and Joseph Nathan completed the MAGS team and also competed well, setting new personal bests. Vasilina, Fia and Nathan are also members of the MAGS Aquatic Academy programme, which launched this year.

Click here to see all of MAGS’ Top 10 results