12 year old wins 8 swimming medals at the National Aims Games

Turua Primary school student Ciara Duncan has recently competed at the Aims Games and won a gold, seven silvers and one bronze medal in her events.

She competed in the 100m and 200m Freestyle, 100m and 200m Backstroke, 100m and 200m I.M (individual medly), 50m and 100m Butterfly.

Duncan got gold in the 200m freestyle and also set a new Aims Games record.

Ciara, 12, says she didn’t think she would place because they whole way through she was ranked fifth.

“I thought if I wanted a medal I have to swim faster then I have ever swam before. I just believed in myself that I would do it and it worked.”

Duncan has been swimming competitively since she was eight, after her mother encouraged her.

“I have done many other competitions, NZ Juniors three times, Victorian age group in Melbourne, Waikato Regionals, Central North Islands, and lots of little small meets.”

At the age of nine, Duncan placed second in 200m backstroke, and at 10-years-old she won  nine golds in her nine events and the next year  three golds and four silvers at the NZ Juniors.

Duncan says her favourite events are the 200m Freestyle and 200m Backstroke.

When she received all her medals she said she looked over to her mother in the stands and she had a massive smile on her face.

“She came down afterwards and gave me a big huge and said how proud she was of me, as I am an only child I guess this is a big thing for her,” says Duncan.

The Aims Games is the New Zealand aims international sporting championships where it gives 11, 12 and 13-year-olds an opportunity to compete against others their age.