Sophie McAneney and junior girls star for Dubbo City Swimtech at 2023 NSW Swimming Country Regional Meet

The Dubbo City Swimtech star was a standout for the host club during the 2023 NSW Swimming Country Regional Meet.

McAneney won five gold medals in the 13 years age group and led Dubbo City Swimtech to seventh place overall on the final medal tally at the Dubbo Aquatic and Leisure Centre.

"Hopefully there will be some more development opportunities earmarked for her in the future," Swimtech president Jay Forrester said of the promising McAneney.

"She's definitely the pick of them for us at the moment."

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McAneney - who has previously starred at club and school competition - won gold in the 50 metre freestyle, breaststroke and butterfly events as well as the 100 metre freestyle and breaststroke.

She also finished third in the 100 metre butterfly final and the 200 metre individual medley.

While McAneney's performance were a highlight, Forrester was delighted by what he saw from all the Swimtech athletes on the weekend.

Gigi Windeyer was not far off McAneney's level and won three gold in a clean sweep of the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke events in the 12 years category.

Mikayla Smith won the 14 years 50m backstroke and also scored three seconds and a third while Phoebe Lavelle won the 11 years 100m breastroke and also got a second and third.

Those performances helped Swimtech second overall on the girls' team rankings behind Albury.

As well as the golds, Zaire Forrester, Traevion Forrester, Abbie Messner, Elodie Smith and Maia Wake also recorded top three finishes while there were numerous top 10s and a host of personal bests smashed by swimmers from the host club.

Kinross Wolaroi of Orange finished atop the overall medal tally with 21 gold medals and there was a Dubbo connection to that haul, as well.

Former City Swimtech star Brody Steel won seven of those 21 gold, having made the move to the Orange school from Dubbo.

Steel's gold medals came in the 200 metre individual medley, the 50 metre freestyle, butterfly and backstroke, and the 100 metre freestyle, backstroke and butterfly.

Clubs came from as far as Albury, Newcastle, Gosford and Griffith as well as all over the western area to be a part of the event and Forrester said the praise received during the two days of competition meant a lot to the club.

Plenty of visitors came to Dubbo the weekend as roughly 400 swimmers took part in the carnival and there were positive reports about how the carnival was run as well as the venue and the "relaxed" country feel.

"A lot of people hadn't been to Dubbo previously so it was good for the town," Forrester said.

Forrester also thanked his own committee as well parents and those from other clubs who helped ensure the weekend ran smoothly.

"Swimming is around the individual and the club does its part in the background so it was good to see these clubs working to support the area," he said.

"People from around here didn't need to travel as far and it was good other clubs volunteered for time-keeping and the running of the carnival. There was no delays.

"As a club, it was a proud achievement and shows all the work our swimmers and coaches put in.

"We don't like taking accolades away from the kids because they're the ones doing it in the water but the committee volunteers their time to support the kids and that is valuable. They get them up and get them to training, they look after diet and the routine so they and the parents and committee play a a big role in giving the kids that opportunity."

The event is one of a number of major sporting events to be held at Dubbo early in 2023.

The Cricket NSW State Challenge ran last week while the weekend also featured the 2023 NSW Country Athletics Championships at Barden Park and next months thousands of people will descend on Dubbo for the NSW Touch Football Junior State Cup - Northern Conference carnival.

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