The championships will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre from Friday to Sunday.

Liam Novley will compete in the 50m freestyle (17-and-over age division) and Maddie Coombs will contest the 50m freestyle (15 to 16-years division). Zoe Palmer will compete in the 15-16 years 100m butterfly and the open 50m butterfly.

Kurt Rennick, 15, has risen rapidly through the ranks and has qualified for the prestigious titles for the first time. He will contest the 15 to 16-years 100m butterfly, while Bayley Williams will make his debut appearance in the 15 to 16-years 100m backstroke.

With the new eight-lane 50m pool under construction at Gunnedah, training space has been limited to the 25m indoor pool complex. But the club is grateful to have the facility, and with the new aquatic centre is slated to open in October.

With tough qualifying times, it was an achievement to qualify for the titles.

Meanwhile, a 13-member Swimming Gunnedah squad contested the combined New England North West Championships and Speedo Sprints at Werris Creek.

Darcey Hannaford, 10, topped the medal count with six wins, and a third place in the under-12 relay. The youngster’s medley swim was especially impressive with an improvement of 7.23 seconds on his entry time, while his little sister Audrey, 8, improved 5.50 seconds for butterfly and freestyle silver.

Kurt Rennick, 15, was in fine form against tough competition – winning the 200m medley, along with four seconds and two thirds in personal best times. He was also part of the second-placed medley and freestyle relay teams.

His brother Jedd, 11, picked up a silver as part of the 11 to 12-years relay team while Brooke Rennick, 14, improved in four of her events and won relay gold.

Bayley Williams, 16, registered a PB of 27.54sec to grab third place in the 50m freestyle and picked up another bronze in the 15 and over individual medley. He claimed two relay silvers.

Cooper Williams, 11, scored a big win in the 11 to 12-years 100m butterfly, where he stripped 8.28sec from his best. He was third in the 50m butterfly.

Sophie Williams, 14, was part of the winning open medley relay team, along with sisters Chelsea, 14, and Zoe Palmer, 16.

Zoe won gold in the freestyle relay and the 50m butterfly, with a second place in the 50m breaststroke and a third place in backstroke. 

Coombs, 15, clipped 3.17sec from PB to nail second place in the medley. She finished first in the 50m freestyle, second in butterfly, and third in the 100m backstroke, freestyle and fly.

Novley, 17, scored three silvers and a bronze, with an improvement of 2.57sec in the 100m butterfly.

Brodie Coombs was another big improver on the day and helped the 11 to 12-years relay team into second place, while Amelia Lush also nailed PBs and won bronze in freestyle.

Audrey and Darcey Hannaford, Lush and Williams have qualified for the Speedo Sprints finals on March 11.