A CONTINGENT of Queanbeyan Leagues Swim Club swimmers will represent the city when they travel to Sydney Olympic Park for the NSW State Age Championships this summer.
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Brad Rauter will compete in the 12 years and under from January 15 to 16, while fellow QLSC members Alex Lakic, Emily Siciliano, Claire Molineux and Georgia Manning will compete in the 13 to 18 years installment of the competition from January 18 to 23.
QLSC race secretary Shaun Manning said NSW State Age meets were of prestigious quality, and he was looking forward to the experience the young swimmers would gain from participation.
"NSW state age is the pinnacle of junior swimming at state level," Manning said.
"The 13 to 18 competition is run exactly like the Olympics with heats in the morning, and finals in the evening which is different to the classic competition concept."
The five swimmers train and compete year-round. QLSC secretary Sharon Siciliano spoke of the importance of conditioning the young quintet as they develop.
"Ideally they would be training nine times a week," Siciliano said.
"But it ranges from four to nine times a week depending on their individual schedules."
"We also run dry-land training through our accredited coach, which involves the strength and conditioning of the swimmers."
Manning agreed, citing the marked increase in endurance many developing swimmers find throughout their programs.
"Part of the all-round program increases their core strength but some of the kids use it as a building block for fitness in other sports too," Manning said.
"Swimming is good for increasing your aerobic capacity - anyone who can do a five kilometre swim in a single session is going to have a good aerobic capacity that will translate into endurance when they're playing other sports."
The State Age contingent all have their own swimming specialty with Molineux preferring the 200m backstroke, Manning starring in both breaststroke and backstroke, Siciliano in butterfly, Lakic in breaststroke and Rauter excelling in all four strokes.