Swimming
2025 NSW Senior Metropolitan Championships
The 2025 NSW Senior Metropolitan Championships, held last weekend at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, was a packed and competitive event. Pymble Swimming was well-represented, with a team of 24 Pymble Ladies’ College students (including three alumni) and 10 external Pymble swimmers stepping up to race.
Metro was a key meet for Pymble swimmers to refine race execution, achieve personal bests, secure national and state qualifying times, and assess progress leading into igsa, State Open, and ultimately, our main event of the season – the 2025 MC and Age Nationals in April.
“Expect nothing, give everything.” This mindset was evident in some performances, as the majority demonstrated strong self-management and resilience. While we celebrated numerous personal bests and outstanding swims, we also identified valuable lessons to carry forward into upcoming competitions. With time still available to reset, refine, and improve, we will take these learnings into our next phase of training. Our focus remains on consistent execution, smart racing, and making the most of every training opportunity to be fully prepared for the challenges ahead.
An area for improvement is communication, refining race processes, and ensuring training consistency. Additionally, managing illness and recovery effectively will be crucial—helping swimmers recognise when to push through and when to prioritise rest will support long-term progress.
Aside from the many personal bests, our efforts resulted in the following medals:
Gold
Lily Barlow (Year 12) 400m and 800m Freestyle
Alyssa Gillespie (Year 11) 100m Breaststroke and 100m Backstroke
Caitlyn Keating (Year 10) 50m, 100m, and 200m Butterfly
Keira Smith (Year 12) 100m Freestyle
Sarah Tian (Year 11) 50m, 100m, and 200m Backstroke
Indianna Vale (Year 10) 200m Freestyle
Jessica Munk (Alumni) 200m Backstroke
Silver
Hannah Carmichael (Year 12) 50m Backstroke
Alyssa Gillespie (Year 11) 50m and 100m Freestyle
Lily Lockhart (Year 12) 200m Breaststroke
Keira Smith (Year 12) 50m Freestyle and 100m Butterfly
Sarah Tian (Year 11) 200m IM
Jessica Munk (Alumni) 100m Backstroke
Piper Gregory-Reid (Alumni) 50m Breaststroke
Bronze
Lily Barlow (Year 12) 200m Freestyle
Megan Chia (Year 9) 50m and 100m Butterfly
Lily Lockhart (Year 12) 100m Breaststroke
Indianna Vale (Year 10) 400m Freestyle
Jessica Munk (Alumni) 50m Freestyle
Piper Gregory-Reid (Alumni) 100m Breaststroke and 200m IM
Arabella Cox (Alumni) 100m Backstroke
The fierce Pymble Ladies’ College competitors who represented us at Metro included:
Lily Barlow (Year 12), Hannah Carmichael (Year 12), Megan Chia (Year 9), Jennifer Chong (Year 12), Annalise Chow (Year 11), Jessica Croll (Year 12), Carla Mikkeline Eibach (Year 8), Oriana Fenton (Year 8), Georgia Friedel (Year 8), Alyssa Gillespie (Year 11), Penelope Hargraves (Year 8), Caitlyn Keating (Year 10), Jaya Lilienthal (Year 12), Anne Liu (Year 9), Lily Lockhart (Year 12), Quinn Parry-Okeden (Year 8), Gwen Pickthall (Year 9), Ruby Pickthall (Year 11), Keira Smith (Year 12), Sarah Tian (Year 11), Indianna Vale (Year 10), Arabella Cox (Alumni), Piper Gregory-Reid (Alumni), and Jessica Munk ( Alumni),
Rafael Rodrigues
Engine Squad Swimming Coach
Speedo Sprint Finals
On Saturday 1 March, eight Pymble Ladies’ College finalists competed in the Speedo Sprint Finals at Sydney Olympic Park. The Speedo Sprint Final is one of the fastest and most exciting meets of the year for our junior swimmers. The event sees the top four swimmers from each area race against each other, providing an excellent opportunity for practice ahead of IPSHA and Junior State.
Our Pymble girls had a strong start in the water, showing impressive speed and skills. Our Pymble ladies achieved numerous personal bests, with 13 individual top ten finishes, including three individual medals and three relay medals, which strongly contributed to helping our area ranking third on the overall point score.
A special mention goes to:
- Georgia Friedel (Year 8) – Gold medals in both the 50m freestyle and 50m backstroke. Georgia also swam exceptional legs in the medley and freestyle relays for the 11 to 13 years age group, helping the SMNE team secure gold medals.
- Leah Ji (Year 3) – Winning her first-ever gold medal in the 50m breaststroke.
- Yuxi Lun (Year 5) – Bronze medal in the freestyle relay for the 9 to 10 years age group.
Well done also to the following swimmers who competed at the Speedo Sprint Finals:
- Carla Mikkeline Eibach (Year 8)
- Mia Hong (Year 3)
- Rose Wang (Year 5)
- Olivia Sun (Year 3)
- Emma Feng (Year 6)
The Junior team would like to wish the best of luck to our Secondary swimmers competing at igsa next Friday!
A big thank you to all the parents for their support over the weekend.
Sara Petronzio
Swimming Coach