The final night of the 2021 Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships saw the curtain close on what has been our biggest State Championships ever.
523 swimmers in total from 42 clubs have taken to the pool over the last four days, with dozens of individual records smashed across brilliant individual performances.
Here is some of the highlights from the concluding night of the Championships!
Tegan Reder nearly claimed her fourth Australian Age Record for the Championships in the Women's 15&O 100m Freestyle Multi-Class. The 18-year-old finished in 1:29.21, around one second off the record, although she has had a tremendous meet that will go down in history as one of the all time best in WA. Both herself and her coach, Rob Palfrey, deserve a standing ovation.
The Men's 18&O 200m Freestyle saw Freestyle sensation, Alec Mander, walk away victorious with a time of 1:52.60. In second place behind Mander was North Coast's Adam Sudlow in 1:54.07, followed by his team mate, Kyle Lee in 1:54.32. All three men had to recover and return to the pool quickly for their longest event of the Championships, the 1500m.
The Men's Open 50m Backstroke saw St Hildas James Hansford make it a clean sweep of the 50m, 100m, and 200m Backstroke titles, after he claimed gold in the splash and dash 50m in a time of 27.19 seconds. Alyssa Burgess continued her dominance at the Championships by scorching the pool to win gold in the Women's 50m Backstroke, in a time of 29.03.
Lucy Porter also made it a clean sweep in her Breastroke events. She comfortably claimed gold in the 50m, 100m and 200m Breastroke for the Girls 13-years after she posted an impressive time of 34.38 seconds in the 50m.
The final event of the 2021 Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships came down to one of the hardest, the Men's 1500m Freestyle. Perth City's Alec Mander took the race out incredibly hard, turning the first 100m in 57.60. On his tail setting the early pace was the North Coast Swimming Club pair of Kyle Lee (19) and Robert Bonsall (19).
Mander held a four metre lead over Lee at the 1km mark, turning in 10:27.31 and holding sub 1:03 pace per 100m. Lee and Bonsall were dead even going stroke for stroke at the 1100m mark, with Mander starting to stretch his lead out on the pair to more than five metres.
Mander showed true grit with his underwater work, holding his butterfly kicks in his streamlines out to 10m for all 29 turns. The 18-year-old stormed home in the final 50m to touch in 15:40.66. Lee came home strong in his usual fashion to claim silver in a solid 15:46.53, while Bonsall broke the 16-minute barrier for the first time in his career, crushing the final 100m to touch in 15:52.69.
The icing on the cake of our Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships was awarding the swimmers and clubs with our traditional annual trophies for their hard work and achievements across the event. A huge congratulations goes out to all of our trophy, shield and cup winners below!
The Old Court Cup, awarded to the swimmer who is the most consistent Open Category able-bodied performer at the Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships - Alyssa Burgess - Arena Swim Club
The Hall of Fame Alumni Trophy, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer giving the most outstanding performance at the Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships - Kieren Pollard - North Coast Swim Club
The Swimming WA Life Members Trophy, awarded to the swimmer who is the most consistent able-bodied performer at the Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships, aged 17-18 for female athletes and 18 – 19 for male athletes - Alec Mander - Perth City Swim Club
The Eamon Sullivan Trophy, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer who is the most consistent performer at the Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships, aged 16 years for female athletes or 17 years for male athletes - Iona Anderson - Breakers Swim Club
The Jack Howson Trophy, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer who is the most consistent performer at Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships, aged 15 years old for female athletes or 16 years old for male athletes - Harrison Farmer - Central Aquatic
The Jennifer Reilly Trophy, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer who is the most consistent performer at the Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships, aged 14 years old for female athletes or 15 years old for male athletes - Joint winners Helen Smith (South Shore) and Joel Davies (Bunbury Swim Club)
The Frank Osman Memorial Shield, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer who is the most consistent performer at the Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships, aged 13 years old for female athletes or 14 years old for male athletes - Kaci Curtis - South Lake Dolphins
The Max Gerber Multi Class Championship Trophy, awarded to the WA Resident multi-class swimmer who is the most consistent performer at the Hancock Prospecting WA Swimming Championships - Josh 'The Hoff' Hofer - Perth City Swim Club
What a four days it's been! We've seen dozens of records shattered and more than five hundred swimmers putting immense training and dedication into their races, along with their coaches supporting them every stroke of the way.
Thank you to all our sponsors, partners, officials, volunteers, parents and competitors for making this one of the best Hancock Prospecting WA State Championships we've ever had. Enjoy your Christmas and New Years and we'll be back in the office on January 4th, 2022!
