Last month, young Mighty Blues talent, Olivia Wunsch, delivered a standout performance at the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships, securing multiple gold medals for the Aussie team and emerging as a dominant force in the global swimming arena.
Back on home soil, we asked Olivia about the competition and what she took away from the experience. These are her reflections, in her own words:
"I’m very grateful to have had the to represent Australia at the World Junior Championships in September competing against the best junior swimmers in the world.
The trip began at our Staging Camp in Cyprus, where after over thirty hours of travel, the Australian Junior Team came together and spent a week adapting to the warm weather and fine-tuning our preparations.
The experience offered invaluable exposure to the international competition scene, where I raced a heats, semi-finals, finals format for the first time and practised racing a big program under physical and emotional fatigue.
Coming away as Junior World Champion in the Women’s 100m Free on Night 3 was definitely a highlight and one of my greatest achievements, yet at the time, I had to remain focused on my next race. Later that night, I was a part of the 4x100m Mixed Freestyle Relay team who broke the Junior World Record. I remember standing up behind the blocks before that race and seeing the rest of the team cheering from the stands, thinking ‘this is my favourite pat’.
It was very special to share the experience with Australian athletes and support staff and to be a part of such a supportive team. I was also very fortunate to have my coach Michaela on the team, who reminded me to enjoy each race and have fun. It was also a great opportunity to meet athletes from other countries (we were staying at the same hotel as the teams from Japan, Italy, and Spain, among others).
For me, the experience highlighted the power of self-belief when stepping outside of your comfort zone and the importance of only focusing on things you can control."
Dive into the highlights from the World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships, Netanya, Israel (4-9 September 2023).
