Orewa College’s Wilrich Coetzee qualifies for World Junior Championships

Wilrich Coetzee is one of five swimmers who have qualified for the upcoming FINA World Junior Championships at the Mayfair Pools New Zealand Age Group Championships, held in Wellington in last week. 

The New Zealand Age Group Championships doubled as the official trial for swimmers to gain selection for the biennial World Junior Championships to be held in Singapore from 25 to 30 August and the Commonwealth Youth Games to be held in Samoa from 5 to 12 September.

Wilrich, a seventeen year old Orewa College student who trains with the North Shore Swimming club, went under the qualifying time with a time of 56.55 in the 100m backstroke on the second day of the competition.  Even though he came second in this event, to Wilrich it was a great relief to make the qualifying time so early in the competition instead of in one of his other favoured events like the 400m individual medley or the 200m butterfly which was scheduled for later in the week.

"I’m really excited, I’m really happy as well. It’s been the goal all season so I finally achieved it," Wilrich said after the race. 

 "Last year I just missed out on the Youth Olympics, so I’m real stoked this year that I finally got to make a team and I’m really happy I can represent New Zealand."

During the five-day competition, Wilrich won gold in the 200m and 400m individual medley; 100m and 200m butterfly; and silver in the 100m backstroke and 200m freestyle events for the 17 to 18 year olds.  With the time he achieved in the 200m butterfly he also broke the Auckland Swimming age group record for 17 year old boys.

At the completion of the meet, Wilrich was also nominated to represent New Zealand at the 2015 Commonwealth Youth Games. Final selection for this event is subject to approval by the New Zealand Olympic Committee.

The other four swimmers to have gained selection for the World Junior Championships in Singapore are Gabrielle Fa’amausili (Avondale College), Bobbi Gichard (Napier Girls’ High School) – both attending their second World Junior Championships – and Annabelle Paterson (diocesan girls' school) and Yeonsu Lee (Westlake Girls’ High School).

Wilrich, Gabrielle, Bobbi, Annabelle and Yeonsu, along with Mario Koenigsperger (Sacred Heart College, Auckland), Eliot Lundon-Moore (Francis Douglas Memorial College, New Plymouth) and Bayley Main (MacLeans College, Auckland 2014), have also been nominated by Swimming New Zealand to be considered for selection by the New Zealand Olympic Committee for the Commonwealth Youth Games. 

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