2021 Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships - Day 2 Finals Recap

19 December 2021

Our Western Australian swimmers are putting on a clinic of solid performances, with more records tumbling across day two of the 2021 Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships.

Here are some of the exciting moments witnessed at HBF Stadium on Saturday, December 18th!

The night kicked off with a star-studded field in the Men's 14&O 800m Freestyle. North Coast Swimming Club's Kyle Lee and Alec Mander from Perth City went stroke-for-stroke throughout the entirety of the whole race, before both were locked into a nail-biting final 50m. Mander showed incredible underwater work under fatigue for the final 50m turn, setting up an enthralling sprint finish. Lee narrowly won gold by 10cm in 8:11.12 to Mander's 8:11.26, with the crowd on their feet and screaming for the final lap.  

Kyle Lee Alec Mander

WA's Multi-Class swimmers were simply incredible. Bunbury Swimming Club star and Paralympic prospect, Alex Saffy (S9), scorched his 50m Freestyle in 27.04 seconds, with UWA West Coast's Liam Smith (S9) second in 29.48 and his team mate Colin Jackson (S14) third in 32.10.

The first record to fall came from 18-year-old UWA West Coast star Tegan Reder, who smashed her own Australian National Age record (S11) in the Women's Multi-Class 50m Freestyle. Reder touched in 36.09 seconds, in front of her incredibly talented team mate, Lucinda Foley (S7) in 39.72 seconds. 

Alex Saffy Lucinda Foley

Lucy Porter from Westside Christchurch came remarkably close to breaking the WA Residential record in the Girls 13-years 200m Breastroke final. Porter blitzed the field to win gold in 2:42.88, only 1.3 seconds outside Kathryn Raffelt's record from 2018. 

Joel Davies absolutely dominated the field in the Boys 15 years 200m Breastroke, with the Bunbury Swimming Club star winning by over 12 metres in a time of 2:31.70. Adrian Frederic took silver in 2:39.35, with Eben Prinslow taking third in 2:44.41. 

Next up was the blue-ribboned event of the 100m Freestyle for the 16-17 year Boys. Oliver Brehaut (17) boiled the pool in 52.12 seconds, with Mitchell McKell (17) finishing in 53.03 and Harrison Farmer (16) narrowly behind in 53.14 seconds. Eight swimmers in total from the 16-17 year Boys swam sub-54 seconds in the finals, a promising sign for future sprinters in WA. 

The Girls 15-years 100m Freestyle finals also demonstrated the immense talent coming through our younger swimming generations in WA. St Hildas star, Inez Miller (15) touched in 57.60. Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medallist, Bill Kirby, showed talent runs deep in his family genes, with his daughter Sahmara Kirby (15) finishing narrowly behind Miller in 57.81 seconds. Telani Woodham (15) took bronze in 58.49 seconds. 

Inez Miller

Sarah Overheu stormed ahead in the final stretch of the Women's 17&O 200m Butterfly, touching in 2:18.85 in front of Eliza Hodder in 2:25.89 and Ale Marginet in 2:34.72. 

Kaci Curtis (13) deserved a standing ovation for her efforts across both the heats and finals on Saturday. The Southlake Dolphins youngster smashed the 13-years Girls 50m Backstroke WA All Time and Residential records in the morning session, touching in 30.51 seconds. She then surpassed her own mark in the final, finishing in 30.29 seconds to break the record a second time within eight hours. 

One of the most painful swimming events came next in the form of the Men's 18&O 200m Butterfly. Kieren Pollard (22) medalled in this event at the Australian National Championships earlier this year and turned at the 100m mark in 59.23 seconds, before finishing strongly in a 2:01.83. His North Coast Swimming Club team mate, Kyle Lee (19) finished in 2:08.89, slightly ahead of St Hildas Jackson Govers in 2:09.88. 

Kieren Pollard

The Men's 18&O 50m Breastroke saw Finlay Larmour from Peel Aquatic break the magical 30-second barrier in 29.52 seconds. Both John Shepherd in 30.10 seconds and Rielly Joyce in 30.11 seconds were a fraction away from achieving the same difficult feat, with Shepherd pipping Joyce to silver by only one centimetre. 

St Hildas star, Talara-Jade Dixon (25) continued her dominant run of Breastroke titles in Western Australia, touching first in the Women's 17&O 50m Breastroke in 32.12 seconds despite suffering from chronic knee pain prior to the race. Caitlyn Ribbons (18) finished in 32.12 seconds, ahead of Seria Hasebe (19) in 32.58. 

Talara-Jade Dixon

James Hansford became the only swimmer in the 18&O category to crack the minute mark in the Men's 100m Backstroke, demonstrating impressive underwater skills and popping up just before the 15m mark at both ends to finish strongly in 58.81 seconds. Alyssa Burgess showed off her brilliant skills in the following final of the Women's 17&O 100m Backstroke, touching in 1:01.35 to prove Arena Swim Club Coach, Simon Redmond, is a master of developing young swimmers into stars. 

Talia Wilkinson from St Hildas showed just how important Breastroke legs are during Individual Medley events! Wilkinson was five metres behind Iona Anderson at the halfway mark of the Girls 16-years 200m IM, before storming past Anderson in the Breastroke leg and charging home to take gold in 2:22.33, ahead of Anderson in 2:24.32. Neeve Fasher claimed bronze in 2:26.84. 

Butterfly

The Boys 16-years 200m IM saw a dominant display from Central Aquatic's Harrison Farmer. Leading from the opening 50m, Farmer simply extended his lead with ease throughout each stroke, touching in an impressive 2:10.62. Joe Quirk finished six seconds behind Farmer in 2:16.44, with Thomas Prowton third in 2:18.29. 

Both the male and female distance specialists returned for the final event of the night in the 400m Freestyle. Kieren Pollard demonstrated why he is one of Australia's best, recovering quickly after his 200m Butterfly dominance earlier in the night to scorch the field and finish in 3:56.98. Perth City star, Alec Mander, held off an incredibly fast closing Kyle Lee in the final 50m to redeem his second place in the 800m, touching in 4:01.30 to Lee's 4:02.17. 

Less than three seconds separated the top three women in the 17&O 400m Freestyle. Samantha Macfarlane (18) finished strongly in 4:25.71, narrowly ahead of Alyssa Burgess (19) in 4:27.45. Lily Beste (18) took nearly seven seconds off her heat time to finish in 4:28.39. 

Want to keep up to date with all the action? Make sure you check the Swimming WA story and individual posts on Instagram and Facebook! A huge thanks to all of our sponsors below and stay tuned for more incredible swims on night three of finals! 

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