Our swimmers continue to shine

By Anika Bokor | Posted: Tuesday December 10, 2024

Neo Salomonsson and Oli Isles cap the year off in the pool with a 12-medal haul.

Neo and Oliver wrapped up the year impressively, earning a combined total of 12 medals at the Otago Long Course Championships.

With 270 swimmers from the South Island gathering in Dunedin on December 7-8, Neo and Oliver faced a competitive field in their preferred 50m and 100m sprint events. Neo competed in the 15-year age group, while Oliver raced in the 14-year category. Both swimmers excelled, achieving podium finishes in every event they entered.

Despite recovering from illness, Neo swam the 100m butterfly in 56.68 seconds, narrowly missing the NZ age-group record by just 0.3 seconds and finishing 14 seconds ahead of the runner-up. This performance also meets the time-criteria to be selected for the NZ age group team. Meanwhile, Oliver achieved a personal milestone by breaking the one-minute barrier in the 100m freestyle, clocking a two-second personal best at 59.98 seconds. He also showed significant improvement in the 50m backstroke, cutting about a second off his previous time. Oliver also participated in a fun handicap event, where he was given backstroke to swim. It's far from his favourite stroke, but after some hesitation he just went for it and won this race. 

Medal Haul:

Oli Isles (14 years)

• Gold: 100m Breaststroke

• Silver: 100m Freestyle

• Bronze: 50m Backstroke, 50m Breaststroke, 50m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke

 Neo Salomonsson (15 years)

• Gold: 50m and 100m Backstroke, 50m and 100m Freestyle, 50m and 100m Butterfly, 4x100 Freestyle Relay