Robert Gerlach and Hannah Dato succeed in 15 to 16 year age category swimming events – 2011 Arafura Games
Robert Gerlach and Hannah Dato displayed wonderful swims to conquer the swimming titles on the third day of the 2011 Arafura Games.
The session included the finals of the 100m back-stroke and 50m breast-stroke for the Male and Female swimmers falling between the 15 to 16 years age group category.
The first event of the session was Girl’s 100m back-stroke, where the Philippines-AK’s Hanna Dato displayed an impressive swim to claim the title of the event. Dato, who qualified as the third fastest sprinter into the final, made her way to the top of podium
for the gold medal by clocking an improved time of 1:09.50 minutes. Dato besieged her rivals, Stevie Nibbs and Savannah Rossingh, who settled for second and third positions. Nibbs touched the wall in a time of 1:09.86 minutes for the silver medal while Rossingh
posted a 1:10.90 minutes effort to earn the bronze medal.
Moments later, the arena witnessed one of the best male swimmers of the 15 to 16 year age group, Robert Gerlach, dominating the Boy’s 100m back-stroke event. Gerlach won the gold medal by clocking a time of 58.60 seconds. He was followed by his team member,
Mark Ragel and the New Caledonia’s Arthur Funfschilling, who touched the wall for the silver and bronze medal with a timing of 1:04.03 and 1:04.65 minutes respectively.
The third event of the session was Girl’s 50m breast-stroke, where Renee Black of WA-sp sustained her fastest qualification spot by earning the gold medal of the event. Black achieved the gold medal by clocking a time of 36.99 seconds and was almost three
seconds ahead of NT’s Kiah Hazel. Hazel posted a time of 39.92 seconds for the silver medal and was followed by another WA-sp student, Abbey Starling, who earned the bronze medal with a time of 40.15 seconds.
The last event of the session was equivalent event in the Boy’s category, where Robert Gerlach once again dominated proceedings. Gerlach conquered his second gold medal of the evening by touching the wall in a time of 32.47 seconds.
Queensland’s Ragel and New Zealand’s Archer Roelants followed him on the podium for the silver and bronze medals, clocking a time of 32.54 and 34.18 seconds respectively. NT’s Jacob Netherway failed to overcome Roelants’s effort, as he was 0.41 seconds slower
and finished fourth in the event, posting a time of 34.59 seconds.
The arena enjoyed amazing swims of these age group swimmers in their respective events, whereas the winners of these swimming events will be awarded awards and accolades after the last session of the Championship.
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