Whanganui High School Sports

NZ SECONDARY SCHOOLS SWIMMING WRAP

Our four Whanganui High School swimmers have returned from the 2026 NZ Secondary Schools Swimming Championships at the National Aquatic Centre in Auckland, where a record 810 competitors took to the pool this year!

It was a big few days of racing, with plenty of highlights for Rachel Pui, Zoe Baskett, Ryleigh Dorricott and Harriet Aplin.

Rachel had an outstanding championships, recording FIVE Top 10 finishes in the 15-year-old age group and setting TWO new Whanganui Open Records in the 50m Butterfly and 50m Freestyle! (All that athletics training might be paying dividends in the pool too! 😉)

Zoe’s standout result was a 4th place finish in the 200m Backstroke, along with a HUGE 3-second PB in her relay split.

Ryleigh achieved 9th place in the 200m Butterfly, with her other best performance coming in the 400m Freestyle, where she knocked 3.2 seconds off her PB.

These championships marked Harriet’s debut at a senior national championship event, where she raced right on her personal bests across her individual swims. She then took on the anchor leg of the relay, recording her fastest-ever 50m Freestyle split to help secure 12th place nationally for the school in the Girls’ 15 & Under 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay.

The girls were the first Whanganui High School relay team in some time to race at a national swimming event, improving on their seed time to finish in 1:58.40.

It was all a fantastic experience for our team of four and one they can all be proud of!

4/8/26