SAVANNAH Winston was all nerves when she lined up for the start of the 8 years girls 50 metre freestyle at the State finals of the Speedo Sprint Series at the Olympic Park Aquatic Centre at Homebush.
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"I couldn't even eat breakfast that morning because I was so nervous,'' she admitted.
"I was shaking a little bit.''
She also hadn't been in the best of health for a couple of weeks leading into the event and remembers being 'really tired' as she approached the finish. Savannah was a member of the Swimming North Coast squad.
While her time was a bit outside her personal best, Savannah was still happy enough with her performance, claiming 37th spot from nearly 50 starters.
Savannah is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana.
She was the only member of the Taree Torpedoes club to swim at the meet. She gained selection in the North Coast squad following trials held at Kempsey earlier this year, where she clocked a PB for the 50 metres.
She finished seventh in her age group but earned a spot for Homebush after three other qualifiers dropped out.
Savannah is in her first year with the Torpedoes and made her carnival debut at Laurieton in December. The North Coast qualifying heat at Kempsey was just her second outside of club events.
I couldn't even eat breakfast that morning because I was so nervous
- This week's sportstar, Savannah Winston
She chose swimming as a summer sport after playing football for Old Bar Barbarians during the winter.
"It's good, you don't get hurt like in football,'' Savannah explained.
"I have a few friends from school who are also swimming and I've met a lot of new friends in the club.''
The 50 metre free is her favoured stroke although she's keen to add to her repertoire. She has squad training two days a week under coach Kim Smith at the Manning Aquatic Leisure Centre.
There's not much rest for swimmers and Savannah will continue training during winter, although she's not sure if there will be any carnivals until next season.
Last weekend she finished with three firsts and three seconds at the Taree club championships. She also qualified to swim at Manning zone level from the Old Bar school carnival, where she claimed a third placing in the freestyle, although her time wasn't good enough to progress to the regionals.
She said that will be her goal for next year - to make it to the regional carnival.
And speaking of goals, she'll be lining up for the Old Barbarians again in the upcoming football season.
