Jon Shaw's Mighty Blues Wrap - 2023 Australian Open Water

02 February 2023
2023 Australian Open Water Championships Busselton Luke Higgs Sterling Tuxford NIcholas Macher

NSW swimmers and coaches travelled to Busselton, Western Australia to compete in the 2023 Australian Open & Age Open Water Championships. I believe that we were all eager to see the venue as we hadn’t competed there previously…wondering about the conditions as all reports were saying it would be similar to Adelaide.

Well, our swimmers did a great job and after four days of competition, NSW came away with 5 GOLD, 3 SILVER and 10 BRONZE medals in the individual competition and 1 SILVER from the 14-15yrs 4 x 1500m Mixed Relay.

10km event

Day 1 presented our swimmers with the Men’s and Women’s 10km that doubled as a competition wherein athletes could score points that would go towards selection to the Australian Team for the 2023 FINA Open Water World Championships. This event is the first of two qualifying events and the second will be in Israel at LEN Cup 10km Series Qualifying Event. The first four will go on to the race in Israel.

Congratulations to both Kai Edwards (Carlile) and Madeleine Gough (Carlile) – coached by Chris Nesbit – both coming 3rd and putting themselves in a strong position for round 2 of qualifying. We wish them success come round two!

In the Boy’s 18/19yrs 10km there were some outstanding swims…some swimming the distance for the first time. In the 19yrs race Caleb Dryer (Trinity Grammar – Coach Ben Tuxford) won the SILVER medal with Euan Liney (Knox Pymble – Coach Nick Dobson) coming away with the BRONZE medal. Congratulations to both swimmers and their respective coaches!

In the 18yrs event Charlie Gray (Revesby Workers – Coach Alex Clarke) just missed a medal finishing 4th with Kai Robertson also from Revesby finishing in 7th position. In the corresponding Girls event, the first NSW swimmer was Charlotte Brown (The Hills – Coach Josh Stapley) coming home in 7th position, with Hannah Jeffree (AquaBlitz Toongabbie – Coach Alyce Bradac) coming 8th.

7.5km event

NSW had more success with the Boys 16/17yrs 7.5km event with Daniel Carter (The Hills – Coach Josh Stapley) winning GOLD in the 16yrs age group in great style…a terrific swim and congratulations to Daniel and Coach Josh!

Also, in the same age group Brodie Vella (ACU Blacktown – Coach Sarah-Jane Weir) came 4th and in 5th position was Ali Fadel (Revesby Workers – Coach Tony Sobkowski).

In the 17yrs race Samuel Higgs (Warringah – Coach Cameron Gledhill) won the BRONZE medal touching out the 4th placegetter by 0.01! Also putting in a good performance was Noah Katehos (SLC Aquadot – Coach Gavin Stewart) finishing in 5th position.

In the Girls 16yrs 7.5km event Chloe Brodrick (Tuggeranong Vikings – Coach David Murphy) came a valiant 4th with Macy Beuzeville (Warringah – Coach Cameron Gledhill) coming in 6th position.

5km event

NSW had great success in the Boy’s 14/15yrs 5km events with a one-two finish in the 15yrs age group.

Congratulations to Luke Higgs (Warringah – Coach Cameron Gledhill) winning the GOLD medal followed closely by Nicholas Macher (Revesby Workers – Coach Alex Clarke) winning the SILVER medal…great job swimmers and coaches!

In the 14yrs event Sterling Tuxford (Trinity Grammar – Coach Calum Timms) won the BRONZE medal after getting smashed at the start! Coming 4th in the same race was William Bestic (Shore School – Coach Paul Hardman). Well done all!

In the Girls 14/15yrs 5km a brave Amber-Skye Stevenson (Woy Woy – Coach Graeme Carroll) won the SILVER medal…if you saw the welt on her ribs from the stingers you would understand why I used the word brave! As they say, pain will go away, but a medal lasts a lifetime!

Filling places 4-7 were Charli Barbour (Manly – Coach Blake Medhurst); Lara Morgan (Hunter – Coach Kerry Saunders); Hanna Lewis & Piper Phillips both from ACU Blacktown (Coach Sara-Jane Weir).

In the 15yrs the NSW swimmers just fell short of the podium filling places 4-7… Elisha Higgins (ACU Blacktown – Coach Sarah-Jane Weir); Lily Katehos (SLC Aquadot – Coach Gavin Stewart); Charlotte Bowmer (Trinity Grammar – Coach Calum Timms); and in 7th position was Jana Lowalski (Sydney Uni – Coach Jake Hodgetts).

Day 4 saw the rest of the 5km races that brought some excellent results for NSW. A big congratulations to Madeleine Gough (Carlile – Coach Chris Nesbit) picking up her first Open Water title winning the sprint to the touch pad and securing the GOLD Medal in the Open Women’s 5km.

Coming home in 3rd place was Tayla Martin (Carlile – Coach Chris Nesbit)…well done swimmers and Chris!

In the Open Men’s 5km Kai Edwards (Carlile – Coach Chris Nesbit) finished with the BRONZE medal.

In the 18/19yrs 5km event Euan Liney (Knox Pymble – Coach Nick Dobson) won the BRONZE medal in the 19yrs age group.

In the 16/17yrs 5km Daniel Carter (The Hills – Coach Josh Stalely) won his second GOLD medal in the 16yrs age group…great effort Daniel & Josh!

Picking up the BRONZE medal in the Girls 18yrs 5km was Charlotte Brown (The Hills – Coach Josh Stalely).

We witnessed terrific swims in the Men’s 14 & Over 5km Multi-Class. Winning the GOLD medal in a very good time was Alex Tuckfield (SLC Aquadot – Coach Gavin Stewart)…great job Alex & Gavin!

Winning the BRONZE medal was Johan Briedenhann (Revesby Workers – Coach Tony Sobkowski).

Relay events

In the Mixed 14-15yrs 4 x 1500m Relay the team from Revesby Workers won the SILVER medal. Congratulations to the swimmers and their respective coaches!

I must say the conditions were tough with a lot of swimmers having to endure jelly fish stings…but to their credit and toughness, the Mighty Blues continued to battle on…Great job and congratulations to all our MIGHTY BLUES swimmers and coaches…you did our State proud! Bring on the 2024 Championships!

See you on deck soon

Jon Shaw

Swimming NSW Coaching Director

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