Today saw the beginning of the 2020 Hancock Prospecting Western Australian Swimming Championships with a stellar showing from a range of athletes. With many new initiatives introduced to the Championships, there was a buzz on the pool deck with anticipation for what was to unfold.
The day kicked off with Tamsin Cook (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS) making a triumphant return to competition, claiming the Open title in the Women’s 200m Freestyle. Cook, of course, a part of the Silver medal-winning Australian 4x200m Freestyle Relay at the 2016 Rio Olympics was strong from the start, asserting her dominance and reassuring the comeback is well and truly on track.
The Men’s 200m Freestyle saw another dominant performance, this time by Cook’s teammate, Zac Incerti (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS). Incerti, who had a strong heat swim touching home in 1:49.68, took his performance to another level in the finals. Incerti was out fast, turning through the 100m mark in 53.42 and went on to finish in 1:48.36, in the process breaking the WA Residential Record, which was previously held by Olympian, Tommaso D’Orsogna. Although the time itself is impressive, the fact it was swum whilst in full training, strengthens Incerti’s 2021 Olympic campaign.
In the age group ranks, there was a monumental performance from Conor Langlands (Karratha) in the Boys 14 Years 200m Freestyle. Langlands, who was swimming from lane 7, led the field by 2.5 seconds through the first half of the race. Whilst the field closed quickly on the Pilbara youngster, he managed to dig deep and held on by 0.11 to claim his first State Age title.
In amongst all the action was the Women’s 50m Backstroke Multi-Class where Lucinda Foley (UWA-West Coast, c: Rob Palfery) managed to hold off Tegan Reder (UWA-West Coast, c: Rob Palfery) to claim gold. Although Reder took Silver, her time of 50.73 was an unofficial Australian Age Group Record.
With all this action and much more, it was hard to go past Kieren Pollard (North Coast, c: Ian Mills) for the performance of the night. Pollard, who was dominant throughout the heats and final of the 400m Individual Medley, had a groundbreaking performance, touching in 4:20.17 and breaking the WA Residential Record which has stood since 2004, previously held by UWA-West Coast, Adam Lucas. The performance was a new personal best for the youngster who was recently announced in the Swimming Australia, MLC National Flippers Squad. The more impressive fact was his 1:12.80 breaststroke split, helping him become the fastest Australian this season, beating out Elliot Rogerson who swam a 4:20.49 at the recent Queensland State Championships. This was an incredible effort at for Pollard at just 21 years of age.
With too many highlights to mention, this certainly isn’t a Meet to miss. The action kicks off again tomorrow at 9 am (AWST), with finals starting at 5:30 pm (AWST). You can watch every heat via SwimTV, visit the Swimming WA website for more information.
