Conor wins bags of gold

A talented Karratha teenager made a splash at a major swim meet in Perth recently and returned home with a bag full of gold.

Karratha Amateur Swimming Club member Conor Langlands, 13, was crowned 2020 SunSmart Country Championship winner across four different legs at the HBF Stadium event earlier this month.

The youngster won the 50m race with a time of 27.81sec., as well as the 100m division (1:02.09), 200m (2:13.87) and 800m (9:46.74).

Despite having a slow dive at the start of the 800m, Conor won the gold, taking 23sec. off his personal best.

“We just kept going back and forwards. I could see them in the corner of my eye,” he said. “I knew that if I could keep up with someone or just be a little bit behind them, on the last lap I could overtake them.”

Conor was also awarded the 2020 Aqua Technics Rising Star Award and $150 for demonstrating strong leadership skills and consistently swimming at a high standard.

He has been swimming competitively for two years and said his commitment to his training routine contributed to his success.

“I swim every day but Thursday, and we do around about 4km,” he said. “In the mornings we swim as well at 5am for one hour.”

The Country Championships at HBF Stadium were held for two days from January 4 and invited regional swimmers from across WA to compete in a variety of strokes and distances.