Wauchope swimmers Axl Pope and Flynn Daley have done our town and their school proud.
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The Year 4 students from Wauchope Public School hit the big time last Friday (April 12) when they represented this region in Sydney at the New South Wales Primary School Sports Association primary swimming championships in Olympic Park in Homebush.
Axl and Flynn are in the same class at school and train together once a week at Vicki's swim centre in Port Macquarie with squad instructor Donna and enjoy the energy of the pool.
The nine-year-olds are a great support for one another. You can hear them chanting their mate on through the crowds in encouragement, as they watch each other swim in their heats.
Axl swims with established local swim coach Larry Brooks at the Wauchope pool. Axl has a lot of respect for Larry and the senior squad team that he trains with.
"Axl loves watching and learning off the big kids; he really admires them, and they enjoy helping Ax, they are a great bunch of kids. We have some great talent here in Wauchope," says his mum, Renatè Pope.
In Sydney, the boys did really well, and although neither qualified for national, they both reached personal goals they had set themselves. Axl was pushing for a personal best, which he achieved in the 50m, shaving two seconds off his time, and placing fifth in the fastest heat of the day. His coach will be delighted.
Flynn's goal was not to come last, and he didn't. Flynn was excited to swim at the Olympic park pool for the first time, and taking in the incredible atmosphere of the arena was a huge highlight of the trip.
Axl and Flynn enjoy the intensity of the competition and will be concentrating on another successful swim at Homebush next year.
The two young guns are looking forward to swimming throughout the winter at Vicki's swim centre, while the Wauchope public pool is closed. They will now also be focusing on training for the lower north Coast Cross Country Carnival in Kempsey next term which both boys qualified to compete in.
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