Adverse weather and flares of thunder had their way across the weekend, but did little to slow down the achievements of some of the region's best young swimmers when they competed in Dubbo.
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Held on Saturday, the Western Area Championships offered an opportunity for the region's young athletes to represent their club, and pave a way towards further competitions in Sydney.
Not only was the downpour thunderous, but so was the speed of the athletes, with multiple regional records broken during the two-day event.
Dubbo City Swimtech took out the overall yearly points title for their effort, with three of their champion swimmers, Brody Steele, Sophie McAneny and Bianca Fuller breaking records during the day.
Fuller and McAneny also took out overall titles in their age groups, with Fuller also winning the overall yearly points category for senior girls.
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Another Swimtech athlete, Traevion Forrester, claimed the senior boy's points title.
President Jay Forrester said the club had acquitted itself well, not just in terms of the results, but also in terms of preparation, discipline and commitment.
"We went into the championships there with around 50 entrants, which is really big representation for a club, certainly the biggest across the area," Forrester said.
"We were lucky enough to be the overall yearly points winner, and we also took out the large club championships points winner title as well."
"The whole even and the way the clubs held themselves showed some really good sportsmanship, we took home quite a few awards, which is a real credit to the kid's dedication to their sport."
Some of the region's best braved harsh weather in order to compete, with at least one swimming session on Saturday called off due to lightning.
"It was great to see so many local swimmers turn out for the weekend, even though it was pretty ordinary conditions, on the Saturday with the rain and the session having to stop due to lightning, the kids definitely found it a bit difficult to deal with," Forrester said.
"But they're used to much warmer conditions usually."
A score of athletes, both from Swimtech and other local clubs like Orana Aquatic Swimming Club, will now head to the Country Championships in Sydney next weekend, set to be held at Olympic Boulevard.
"We've got the country champs first up next weekend, then a very short timespan after that, we'll be going to the NSW State Championships, a couple of swimmers will even be looking to qualify for nationals on the Gold Coast in April," Forrester said.
"It's great to see the more senior swimmers really excelling in achieving their goals, but we're working hard to blood those younger swimmers and help develop them into future champions too."
Forrester thanked the organisers, and Swimtech's sponsors for their support, noting that the travel and training wouldn't be possible without their backers.
