Mighty Vikings Go Big and Go Hard at 2024 MSNSW State SC Championships
Report by Kylie Lane, President
Our mighty Vikings team certainly did “go big and go hard” during the weekend of 12-13 October 2024 at the Master Swimming NSW State Short Course Championships at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
279 competitors signed up to swim at the event, representing 41 clubs (32 from NSW, 5 from QLD, 2 from VIC, 1 from WA, and 1 from the USA).
Tuggeranong Vikings Masters had a record 41 swimmers valiantly waiting to compete over the weekend.
Our three ACT Masters Swim Clubs had much to smile about. For the first time since 2016, the Champion Club award was won by Tuggeranong Masters edging out the teams from Blacktown and Warringah. Not only did Tuggeranong win Division 1, Molonglo Water Dragons took out the Division 3 club award and Woden Valley Sharks claimed Division 4. Tuggeranong Masters also won the relay trophy for the most points earned from the relays, again, edging out our friendly swimming rival club, Blacktown.
Vikings Champions!
Medals came thick and fast for the Tuggeranong swimmers, collecting a massive 133 medals in total: 52 gold, 45 silver, 24 bronze individual medals, and 12 relay gold medals.
All the events throughout the two days were highly contested and national and branch records fell throughout the program. The pinnacle of the days was the relays, seeing men’s, women’s, and mixed relay events on both days, where we witnessed a remarkable achievement by our clubs’s women’s medley relay teams winning in all their prospective age groups, and the men’s relays exploding from the blocks to push us further ahead on the leaderboard.
After the relays had finished on day 2 of the competition, our members eagerly awaited the official results, checking the status of the championship award with Blacktown hot on our tails throughout the meet.
Some of the highlights of the meet were:
Elizabeth Merenda claimed the female Swimmer of the Meet award.
Youngster, Steven McGowan broke two branch records in 200m Breaststroke and 100m Individual Medley.
60 club individual records were broken or established as well as 9 relay records.
This event can only run with the help of many volunteers. From timekeepers, to raffle coordinators and ticket sellers, to morning tea and lunch organisers, to handing out medals, technical officials, announcers, and so many more. Thank you to everyone who made the two days such a resounding success.
Raffle Table
Our club will be prepped and primed with big numbers and targeting such excellence again when the MSNSW Short Course Championships are back in our backyard in Canberra in October 2026!
Team Vikings