The 2022-23 summer swimming calendar has come to a thrilling conclusion as our country’s best swimmers gathered on the Gold Coast for the largest annual event on the Australian swimming calendar.
The Australian Multi-Class Age and Australian Age competitions, 7-21 April, gave NSW swimmers an opportunity to qualify for Australian Junior Teams and for the SNSW Pathway Squads. The championships also doubled as trials for our Multi-Class swimmers vying for selection onto the Australian Para Swimming Team.
NSW swimmers had some outstanding results over the championships, with many multiple medallists and memorable performances in both competitions, like Tim Hodge (ACU Blacktown) breaking his own World Record in the SM9 200 IM…twice in one day…!
Congratulations to the Mighty Blues athletes who have been named in the Australian Dolphins teams off the back of their standout performances.
In the Australian Multi-Class Age competition some of the standouts were:
- Beau Matthews (SLC Aquadot) – Coach Alex Sheil – 6 GOLD & 1 SILVER
- Declan Budd (Knox Pymble) – Coach Rafael Rodrigues – 4 GOLD & 2 SILVER
- Gemma Sellick – (Warringah) – Coach Sandi Edwards – 3 GOLD & 2 SILVER
- Darren Sisman (Engadine) – Coach Craig Stevens – 3 GOLD & 2 SILVER
There were many more outstanding efforts (too many to mention), including the following GOLD medallists: Nicole Taylor (Griffith); Amelie Springett-Kelly (City of Sydney); Alexander Tuckfield (Southern Sydney); Ethan Blokey (Macksville Marlins); Stephanie Bruzzese (Trinity Grammar); Milicent Campbell (NUSWIM); Jack Gibson (Dapto); Emmeline Giraud (Randwick City); Jayden Van Stralen (Picton) and Sebastian Webster Stroud Seals.
Congratulations to all our MC swimmers and coaches who amassed a total of 86 medals – 36 GOLD; 32 SILVER & 23 BRONZE!
In the Australian Age competition once again, the Mighty Blues swam really well over the seven days of competition. Some of the highlight performances were as follows:
- Luke Higgs (Warringah) – Coach Cameron Gledhill – 6 GOLD & 1 SILVER
- Lillie McPherson (Manly) – Coach Justin Rothwell & Blake Medhurst – 5 GOLD, 1 SILVER & 1 BRONZE
- Olivia Wunsch (Carlile) – Coach Michaela Pattinson – 5 GOLD & 1 BRONZE
- Lachlan Davies (Warringah) – Coach Cameron Gledhill – 3 GOLD, 1 SILVER & 2 BRONZE
- Heidi Scumack (SOPAC) – Coach Ryan Frost – 3 GOLD, 3 SILVER
- Marcus Da Silva (Cranbrook) – Coach Bec Wheatley – 3 GOLD
Also worth mentioning were some other great performances by the following GOLD medallists:
Alexander Foreman & Cash Milner (Kincumber Pacific Dolphins); Bella Grant & Grayson Doig (Trinity Grammar); Haig Buckingham, Hayden Hoang & Matthew Kim (SOPAC); Isabella Johnson (CRUIZ); Isobel Mulcahy (Carlile); Jaimie De Lutiis & Jessica Cole (West Illawarra); Joshua Kerr (Manly); Nicholas Gladen (Macquarie Uni); Samuel Higgs (Warringah) and William Brownlie (MLC Marlins).
Over the course of the competition, NSW swimmers amassed a total of 147 individual medals – 47 GOLD, 54 SILVER & 46 BRONZE. Collectively, our Mighty Blues swimmers took home an impressive 233 medals, making it one of NSW's most successful Australian Age Championships. In addition, the clubs won 13 medals – 4 GOLD, 4 SILVER & 5 BRONZE in the Club Relay events. In the State Relays NSW teams won 6 GOLD, 1 SILVER & 3 BRONZE.
Congratulations to the following clubs who finished in the Top 10 of the Combined Club Point Score: 3 – SOPAC; 4 – Warringah; 5 – Knox Pymble; 9 – Carlile & 10 – West Illawarra. Five NSW clubs placed in the Top 10… more than any other state!
The Australian Championships produced some great performances considering where the swimmers are in their preparations for the Australian Trials for the Australian World Championship Team. It is well known that most swimmers were still in heavy training with some coming into the championships off the back of training camps and heavy training blocks.
Some other great performances were:
- Bradley Woodward (Mingara) Coach Adam Kable (NSWIS HUB) - 100m & 200m Backstroke
- Madeleine Gough (Carlile) – Coach Chris Nesbit – GOLD 1500m Freestyle
- Matthew Galea (SOPAC) – Coach Adam Kable (NSWIS HUB) – took BRONZE in the 800m Freestyle to go with the SILVER he won in the 1500m
- Shaun Champion (Abbotsleigh) – Coach Amanda Isaac – BRONZE – 100m Butterfly
- Matthew Wilson (SOPAC – NSWIS HUB) – Coach Adam Kable – Silver – 200m Breaststroke
- Angus Menzies (Knox Pymble) – Coach Nick Dobson – Bronze – 200m Breaststroke
So now we turn our attention to the World Championship Trials to be held in Melbourne from 13-18 June.
Congratulations to all our swimmers and coaches who attended the 2023 Australian Championship events – the Mighty Blues certainly made a statement!
You can catch up on all the highlights from each day of the Championships via our news page.
