Ten-year-old Maiika Hegamaea brought home the bronze from her first swimming state championships. Photo: Supplied.
Cooktown Amateur Swimming Club (CASC) is celebrating its first state championship medal and several personal best (PB) performances after members returned triumphant from the 2025 Queensland Representative School Sport Swimming State Championships in late March.
Ten-year-old Maiika Hegamaea brought home bronze in her favourite event, the 200-metre individual medley, at her very first state-level competition.
The young star qualified last year but was too young to compete, a scenario that drove her to come back even harder in 2025 as she qualified for the maximum number of events allowed – nine plus relays.
“I was excited that I qualified for so many events, but at the same time, I was nervous about racing at such a big pool,” she said.
“I was surprised that I won the bronze medal for the Peninsula team and Cooktown, as this was the first medal won by the team.
“It has motivated me to train harder and hopefully make the Queensland team to go to nationals in October in Ballarat.”
In the 13-19 year age groups, Cruze Ryder, Jett Ryder, Haila Hegamaea, Natalie Treloar and Lakea Hegamaea also proudly represented Cooktown, achieving six PBs and nine placings between top 20 to 40 across nine events and four relays.
Cruze Ryder smashed his PBs for the 100m backstroke and 50m freestyle, Jett Ryder achieved three new PBs in 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke and 100m butterfly, Haila Hegamaea set a new PB for 50m freestyle, Natalie Treloar finished the 50m freestyle just outside of her PB, and Lakea Hegamaea finished just outside of her PBs for 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke.
“The children were very focused leading up to the event; we added extra morning sessions where they were swimming 3 kilometres per morning, plus their usual three afternoon sessions,” CASC president Melissa Gunton said.
“Making top 20, even top 30 in Queensland, is a big achievement for remote kids.
“Having limited training and access to 50m pools is a big challenge in itself for our members; going from a 25m six-lane pool to a 50m 10-lane pool is challenging, and bringing home a medal to a small community like Cooktown is just the icing on the cake.”
Ms Gunton thanked the Cooktown RSL, Cook Shire Council, Endeavour Lions Club, Cooktown Bowls Club, Hinterland Aviation, CB Industries, Cooktown Hardware, Endeavour Christian College, Cooktown Bakery and Gungarde Community Aboriginal Corporation for supporting the club in getting swimmers to Brisbane for the event.
Cooktown Amateur Swimming Club members celebrated smashing myriad goals and personal bests while wearing Peninsula colours at the state championships. Photo: Supplied.
