Sport
17 December, 2025
Ararat makes a splash at Warracknabeal
Ararat had a big day out at the Wimmera District 12 swimming championship meet at Warracknabeal last Saturday, with swimmers winning plenty of races and Ararat taking home the Neil Ross Shield for the District 12 team with the highest aggregate points from the meet.
Emily Perazic won all four of her 50m races and won the Geoff Ferguson Memorial Trophy for the best performing 17-and-over swimmer over four strokes.
Also winning all four of her races was Eva Brady. In the 12-and-under, she won the 100m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke and 200m Individual Medley. Her other win came in the Girls 11-12 50m Butterfly.
Billie Donnan also had another great meet, winning the 50m Backstroke, Butterfly and Breaststroke in the Women 17-29 category, while also coming third in the open 100m Butterfly.
Izabelle Batobalani finished first in the Girls 11-12 50m backstroke.
Lucinda Grayling won the Women's Open 200m Individual Medley and 17-29 50m Freestyle. She also came second in the 50m Butterfly and Backstroke, and third in the Women's Open 100m Backstroke.
Willem Lovett won the Boys 9-10 50m Backstroke and Freestyle, while finishing second in the Butterfly and Breaststroke.
Aleara Madex participated in eight races, finishing on the podium in all, winning two. The two wins came in the Women's Open 100m Breaststroke and 200m Backstroke. She was second in the open 100m Backstroke, 200m Breaststroke and the Women 17-29 50m Freestyle and Breaststroke. She was third in Butterfly and Backstroke.
Gabriel Tonks won the Men's Open 200m Individual Medley, 100m Backstroke and 100m Breaststroke. He was second in the Open 100m Butterfly as well as the 17-29 50m Backstroke, Butterfly, Freestyle and Breaststroke. He was third in the Open 200m Freestyle and Breaststroke.
Alyssa Townsend won the Girls 15-16 50m Breaststroke, 100m Freestyle and Breaststroke and the 200m Individual Medley. She was second in the 100m Backstroke and 50m Backstroke and Freestyle, and was third in the Butterfly.
While the following swimmers didn’t taste victory, they also produced some good results.
Jacob Batobalani was third in the Boys 9-10 50m Freestyle, and Josh Dohnt was third in the Boys 13-14 50m Breaststroke. Allira Lovett was second in the Girls 11-12 50m Freestyle.
Mackense Evans finished third in the Women 17-29 50m Freestyle and Breaststroke and Women Open 200m Freestyle.
Georgia Matthews finished second in the Girls 11-12 50m Breaststroke and the 12-and-under 100m Breaststroke.
Thomas Rickinson finished second in the Boys 11-12 50m Backstroke and 50m Freestyle.
Tracey Townsend was second in the 30-and-over 50m Backstroke and Freestyle and third in the Breaststroke.
In the relays, Ararat won the Mixed 12-and-under 200m Medley. They were also second in the Mixed 12-and-under 200m freestyle, 14-and-under 200m Freestyle, and 16-and-under 200m Freestyle. They were also third in the Mixed Open 200m Medley, 14-and-under 200m Medley, 14-and-under Freestyle and Open 200m Freestyle.
This was the final meet before Christmas, with meets resuming on Saturday, January 31, at St Arnaud.
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