Swimming powerhouse Neptunes WPSC won the first ever COOP ASA Short Course National Championship races. The races were held between the 21st and 23rd December at the Cottonera Sport Complex.
The competition was attended by 10 Maltese teams and 3 foreign teams. Only Maltese teams were eligible for winning the championships. Neptunes fielded 93 athletes which covered all age groups and demonstrates Neptunes commitment to the future of the sport. Neptunes secured 33 Gold medals, 41 silver medals and 38 bronze medals.
One National record together with 14 age group records were set by Neptunes WPSC.
Neptunes secured the Championship in style, during the penultimate race of the weekend, by also breaking a National record in the 4 x 50m Medley in a time of 2:01.46. Madeleine Cassar set the team off giving the team a slight advantage, swimmers Amy Micallef in the breaststroke and Michela Portelli in the butterfly continued to widen the gap whilst Julienne Woods brought home the championships in the final 50m freestyle securing the 33rd Medal for the team.
The age group records obtained by Champions Neptunes WPSC were obtained by Zachary Rizzo Naudi, Luke Zammit, Naiyelli Clarke Spiteri, Emma Muscat, Nicole Zammit and Madeleine Cassar.
Neptunes Head Coach Warren Deyzel was delighted to win the championships and commented that his Coaches were dedicated to winning these championships for which preparations started in September with a pre season training camp held locally at Cottonera Sports complex. He stated winning these Championships would not have been possible without the consistent commitment from his coaching staff namely Associate Head Coach Gail Rizzo, Amy Micallef, Emilia Galea Testaferrata and Sean Camilleri.
The coaches have shown consistent dedication and paid particular attention to details to ensure Neptunes continues to produce top level swimmers. Warren thanked his swimmers who have raced with heart and were hungry to win the first ever National Short Course competitions. This Championships continued to cement Neptunes as a force in local swimming with a total of 10 Long Course Championships and the first ever short course Championships under their belt.