The last day of the 2024 Australian Olympic Swimming Trials certainly lived up to expectations with some thrilling finals plus the eagerly awaited announcement of the Australian Olympic Swimming Team.
The night got off to a fast start with the final of the W 50m Freestyle where the Mighty Blues were represented by Bronte Campbell (Cruiz – Coach Shannon Rollason – ACT Performance Centre – AIS) and Olivia Wunsch (Carlile – Coach Michaela Pattinson). In the one lap dash the duo just missed the coveted top 2 spots with Olivia finishing in 4th place in a time of 24.45…yet another PB, and Bronte finishing in 5th place in a time of 24.46…both were under the qualifying time such was the standard of this race!
Next we had the final of the mens 400m IM with Callum Thomas (The Hills – Coach Sander Ganzevles – Newcastle Performance Centre) putting in a mighty effort to finish in 5th place in a time of 4:24.59.
In the corresponding womens 400 IM Kayla Hardy (Cruiz – Coach Shannon Rollason – ACT Performance Centre – AIS) placed 6th in a time of 4:48.87 and Charli Brown (Manly SC – Coach Justin Rothwell) placed 7th in a time of 4: 49.45.
In the mens 100m Butterfly Shaun Champion (Abbotsleigh – Coach Amanda Isaac) put in a terrific effort to just miss out. In a hard fought race Shaun came 3rd in a time of 51.40.
In the final race of the meet Tayla Martin (Carlile – Coach Chris Nesbit) placed 5th in the womens 1500m freestyle swimming a time of 16:43.97 taking 4.7 secs off her entry time…a rare feat at this meet!
So, with the racing over all what was left was the announcement of the team. In a grand production with many former Olympians on deck (including our own CEO Kirsten Thomson) the team was unveiled…a huge congratulations to:
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Bronte Campbell (Cruiz) – Coach Shannon Rollason – her 4th Olympics
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Se-Bom Lee (SOPAC) – Coach Adam Kable – his 2nd Olympics
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Bradley Woodward (Mingara) – Coach Adam Kable – 1st Olympics
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Olivia Wunsch (Carlile) – Coach Michaela Pattinson – 1st Olympics
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Will Yang (SOPAC) – Coach Adam Kable – 1st Olympics
Huge congratulations to Coach Adam Kable who placed 3 swimmers on the team and was rewarded by being named as a team coach…congratulations Adam!
So, what a meet! It is without a doubt one of the hardest meets and teams to qualify in the World. Congratulations to all the Mighty Blues swimmers and coaches who attended…what an experience!
GO THE MIGHTY BLUES!
