Article by Cain Andrews courtesy of the Broome Advertiser.
The Broome Barracudas made a splash at the 2023 Hancock Prospecting Pilbara Swimming Championships held from November 24 to 26, securing an impressive haul of 50 gold medals.
The championships, hosted at the Karratha Leisureplex, saw swimmers from clubs across the North West attend including Carnarvon, Exmouth, Hedland, Onslow, Paraburdoo, Tom Price and Wickham.
A contingent of 20 swimmers and their families from Broome made the journey to compete against the 171 other regional swimmers over the three days of competition.
The Broome Barracudas excelled, collecting 50 gold medals, 48 silver and 22 bronze, with Ruby Onofrio, Jessica Coggins, Neve Grant, Lochlan Penegar, Felix Carroll, Beau Fosker and Matilda Beatty all breaking Pilbara swimming records at the meet.
Despite the sensational performance from the Barracudas, the Karratha team reigned supreme, taking out the overall victory for the meet on 1331.5 points and reclaiming the championship trophy after 11 years.
Broome secured a commendable second place with 1140.5 points, followed by the Tom Price Amateur Swim Club third with 860 points.
But the Barracudas managed to secure the Handicap Trophy for the fourth consecutive year, finishing at the top of the handicap results with 1438 points.
Karratha Swim Club placed second in the handicap results with 1332 points while the Tom Price Amateur Swim Club secured the third spot with 1121 points.
A group of three youngsters from Broome also took part in the unscored Dash ‘n’ Splash, going up against 30 other swimmers from across the North West.
