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Major swimming event a great showcase for Karratha

Peter LongPilbara News
Swimmers take off from the starting blocks in the Karratha Leisureplex pool, at the 2019 Country Pennants.
Camera IconSwimmers take off from the starting blocks in the Karratha Leisureplex pool, at the 2019 Country Pennants. Credit: Pilbara News, Alicia Perera

The City of Karratha was proud to host the 2019 Country Pennants swimming championships on March 2 and 3.

More than 500 of regional WA’s top swimming talent from 32 clubs descended on the Karratha Leisureplex for one of the biggest competitions on the State’s country swimming calendar.

The annual tournament, now in its 60th year, attracted up to 1000 people to our city, including junior and senior competitors, officials, volunteers, families and spectators.

From Hedland in the north to Esperance in the south, young swimmers came to compete in a wide range of individual and team races.

The Karratha Amateur Swimming Club is commended for the enormous work entailed in hosting this successful event — the second time it has done so.

Karratha also hosted the competition back in 1989.

Karratha has undergone a remarkable transformation in the past decade, growing from a dormitory settlement for the resources industry to the thriving regional capital of the north it is today.

We have so much more than mining on offer to our communities and visitors.

Hosting sporting events of Statewide significance like the Country Pennants demonstrates the high standard and capacity of the Karratha Leisureplex and is part of the council’s ongoing work to attract more major sporting and cultural events to our region.

It is also a great opportunity to showcase our vibrant city to new faces, with visitors providing significant economic flow-on benefits to local small businesses.

Congratulations to Karratha Amateur Swimming Club for winning the C-grade division and to other North West clubs Hedland, who won E-grade, and Exmouth, who won B-grade. Wickham also competed, with many records broken in the pool.

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