Students were in a competitive spirit as they swapped uniforms for bathers during the Tacking Point Swimming Carnival at Port Macquarie Olympic Pool on Tuesday, February 11.

Swimmers competed for first to fourth placings in a number of events including freestyle, backstroke and novelty races.

Carnival organiser Michael Connolly said the carnivals are a good opportunity for kids to take up competitive swimming.

"All the schools have to qualify for that PSSA swimming carnival and send their entries in," he said.

"It's always this time of year when it is very busy because they have to get all the carnivals in before the North Coast one.

"It's a mixed bag on competitive swimmers, we have some high level squad level and we have kids who are there for fun and participation.

"There's always kids in the squads that you know will be up high in the rankings but some kids come out of the blue. Some are surprises because they have grown up and gotten stronger, they come out of the holidays after they have been training.

"A lot of our kids are in the nippers on Saturday mornings, so there are some good swimmers from that."

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