The 2019 SunSmart Junior Short Course Championships took place at HBF Stadium, on 21 – 22 September. A total of 461 junior swimmers, from 39 Clubs competed for a chance to medal and stand tall on the podium in front of a huge crowd!
There were some outstanding performances across the board, some of the highlights are outlined below:
The 2019 SunSmart Junior Short Course Championships started with a cracking battle in the Boys 11 – 13 Years 400m Freestyle, with Charlie Hodge (UWA-West Coast) claiming gold in 4:22.04 after a dominant second half of the race. Hodge, who entered with a huge programme throughout the two-day Meet, went on to win 10 golds from 13 races!
Event 33 saw an incredible effort from St Hilda's A-Team in the Girl's 11 – 12 Years 4x50m Medley Relay as they broke the WA All-Comers, WA All Time and WA Residential records touching home in 2:09.23. A monumental breakthrough for the young swimmers, especially for their lead off backstroker Isabella Russell, who managed to take down an individual record in the process. Russell touched the wall in 32.34, breaking the WA Residential Record which has stood since 2003.
Continuing the record-breaking efforts, Bridgette Brodalka (Breakers) excelled in the 11-year-old Girls 50m Freestyle finishing in an incredible 27.89. Not only did Brodalka drop half a second off her personal best time, she managed to also break the WA All-Comer, WA All Time and WA Residential State Records. Brodalka continued her fine form when she took to the water in the 11-year-old girls 100m Freestyle, once again dominating the race, winning gold in a time of 1:00.45. In the process Brodalka broke WA All-Comer, WA All Time, and WA Residential records as well as ranking her as the fastest 11-year-old in Australia by almost 1.5 seconds.
The incredibly resilient and versatile Katie Otway (Southside Penrhos Wesley) finished off an extraordinary Meet with seven individual events throughout Sunday’s session. Otway recorded a remarkable 120 points throughout the Championships and claimed 15 medals, 11 of which were gold. At only 11 years of age, Otway well and truly highlighted her name as not only one of the best young swimmers in the State, but also a very exciting prospect for years to come.
With all these fantastic individual achievements Swimming WA also recognise the overall achievement of the Clubs. Congratulations to UWA-West Coast and Mandurah for claiming the highest Club point scores throughout the Meet for the Metropolitan and Regional Clubs respectively. The top three Club were as follows;
Metropolitan
- UWA-West Coast Swimming Club
- St Hilda’s Swimming Club
- Southside Penrhos Wesley Swimming Club
Regional
- Mandurah Swimming Club
- Peel Aquatic Club
- Geraldton Amateur Swimming Club / Bunbury Swimming Club
Additionally, the Club point scores from the 2019 SunSmart Junior Short Course Championships have been combined with the Club point scores from the 2019 Swimming WA Short Course State Championships to award the 2019 Winter Shields for both Metropolitan and Regional Clubs. Congratulations to UWA-West Coast and Peel Aquatic for another outstanding winter season.
As the 2019 Short Course season comes to a close, you can’t help but feel the excitement. We now move forward to a jam-packed summer season that will not only feature the exhilaration of our local season, but additionally will provide the chance for Australia’s best to showcase their ability at the 2019 Asia-Pac Super Splash, as well as the 2020 Hancock Prospecting Australian Age Swimming Championships and the 2020 Hancock Prospecting Australian Club Championships to be held here in Perth.
All this and much more as we carry on the #roadtoTokyo.
