Swimming WA has concluded the highly anticipated National Awards of Excellence with great success, held at the prestigious New Town Toyota dealership. This event honoured the exceptional accomplishments of Western Australian swimmers, coaches, and officials who proudly represented the state on a national level, with the generous support of New Town Toyota.
The CEO of Swimming WA, Sophie Row, expressed her delight at hosting the Swimming WA National Awards of Excellence at the magnificent New Town Toyota showroom. She stated, "The event was a resounding success and provided a memorable platform to honour the remarkable dedication, talent, and commitment of individuals who have made significant contributions to the sport by representing WA at the recent championships on the Gold Coast."
The event brought together members of the swimming community who participated in the Australian Championships for pool and open water events, including athletes, coaches, officials, special guests, and parents/guardians. They enjoyed a vibrant celebration set against the sophisticated backdrop of the dealership.
New Town Toyota Open Water Swimmer of the Meet Award
This is the second year that the award has been named the New Town Toyota Trophy and we wish to thank our wonderful partners, New Town Toyota, for their ongoing contribution to Open Water Swimming in WA and their support of Swimming WA in general.
North Coast’s Kyle Lee (c: Ian Mills) was honoured with the New Town Toyota Open Water Swimmer of the Meet award. Kyle's victory in the Men's 5km race, with a margin of just 0.06 seconds over Nick Sloman (QLD), secured him a well-deserved place on the Australian Dolphins team for the 2023 Open Water World Championships in Fukuoka.
Nominee – Jack Wilson (North Coast, c: Ian Mills)
Nominee – Bianca Monaco (Westside Christchurch, c: Jon Harrison)
The Bob Bestman Trophy
The trophy is awarded to the swimmer who returns the most outstanding achievements by a Western Australian at the 2023 Australian Age Championships.
Breaker’s Lucas Fackerell (c: Harry Clark) received the Bob Bestman Trophy for being the top WA performer at the Australian Age Championships. Lucas clinched gold in the Boy's 14-15 years 1500m and 800m freestyle events, adding to his impressive collection of four national medals.
Nominee – Jordan Berryman (UWA West Coast, c: Brett Tongue)
Nominee – Inez Miller (St Hilda’s, c: Deb Jones)
The Kevin Duff Trophy
Awarded to the highest performing coach across the 2023 Australian Para, Age and Open Swimming Championships based on the accumulated points of their athletes across all meets.
St Hilda’s Head Coach Deb Jones was presented with the Kevin Duff Trophy. Deb's experience was acknowledged by Swimming Australia last year when she was appointed to the Australian team in Budapest. This year, Deb led her program to nearly 20 finalists, half of whom came away with medals, showcasing the exceptional quality of her coaching.
Nominee – Rob Palfrey (UWA West Coast)
Nominee – Ben Higson & Will Scott (WAIS)
The Hancock Prospecting Perpetual Trophy
Our last trophy to award during the 2023 National Awards of Excellence was our prestigious Hancock Prospecting Perpetual Trophy, awarded to WA's most outstanding open age category swimmer at the 2023 Australian Swimming Championships.
The Hancock Prospecting Perpetual Trophy was awarded to Joshua Yong (UWA West Coast/WAIS). Joshua had an extraordinary season, setting a World Record in the 4x100m Medley Relay at the FINA Short Course World Swimming Championships last year. At the recent Nationals, he demonstrated his prowess as a breaststroker, winning silver in both the 50m and 100m breaststroke events. Joshua is currently recognized as one of Western Australia's top swimmers.
Nominee – Alex Saffy (Bunbury/AIS, c: Martin Roberts)
Nominee – Talara-Jade Dixon (St Hilda’s, c: Deb Jones)
Swimmers
Congratulations to all of our National Finalist and Medalist swimmers.
| Our National Age & Open Finalists | |
| Abby Davies | Highlanders |
| Adriano Todoro | Scarborough Beach |
| Alessio Macri | North Coast |
| Alexander Broadbent | Southside Penrhos Wesley |
| Alexey Ulupov | Kwinana |
| Alice Massey | UWA West Coast |
| Alyssa Burgess | Arena |
| Anisha Raja Azizi | Western Sprint |
| Anna Monaghan | Westside Christchurch Aquatic |
| Annabelle Frederic | Southlake Dolphins |
| Ashton Brinkworth | UWA West Coast |
| Atlan Devin | UWA West Coast |
| Bel Dabic | Bunbury |
| Ben Popham | Arena |
| Bianca Monaco | Westside Christchurch Aquatic |
| Boston Yoong | South Shore |
| Brielle Dredge | Kwinana |
| Caitlyn Ribbons | UWA West Coast |
| Calia Vlastuin | Peel Aquatic |
| Charlotte Bass | St Hilda’s |
| Charlotte Ericksen | Arena |
| Ciara Conroy | Southside Penrhos Wesley |
| Cody Zambon | Peel Aquatic |
| Crystal Edwards | Scarborough Beach |
| Damian Badenhorst | Rockingham |
| Delta Cross | Highlanders |
| Eilidh Milne | Southlake Dolphins |
| Elyse Weston | Breakers |
| Emma Stewart | Arena |
| Filip Fraczek-Krygier | Peel Aquatic |
| Freya Bowyer | Arena |
| Freya Weston | Breakers |
| Harrison Farmer | Central Aquatic |
| Harrison Hynes | Southside Penrhos Wesley |
| Heidi Gstaettner | Rockingham |
| Helen Smith | Highlanders |
| Iona Anderson | Breakers |
| Isabella Russell | Highlanders |
| Jack Woods | South Shore |
| Jackson Anderson | Highlanders |
| Jacob Hale | UWA West Coast |
| James Hansford | St Hilda’s |
| Jamie Anderson | Arena |
| Jasmine Mercer | UWA West Coast |
| Javier Marginet | UWA West Coast |
| Jayden Yong | UWA West Coast |
| Jemma Apps | UWA West Coast |
| Jessica Bourke | Newman Churchlands |
| Jessica Louw | Southside Penrhos Wesley |
| Jett Walker | Southside Penrhos Wesley |
| Joel Davies | Bunbury |
| Joshua Powell | Breakers |
| Kaitlyn James | All Saints |
| Kate Baxter | Peel Aquatic |
| Katie Hankin | Breakers |
| Kristian Seidl | Westside Christchurch Aquatic |
| Lachlan Ison | Westside Christchurch Aquatic |
| Lachlan Rowles | UWA West Coast |
| Lachlin Wilks | Westside Christchurch Aquatic |
| Lauren Gastevich | Arena |
| Liam Foley | UWA West Coast |
| Liam Smith | UWA West Coast |
| Linus Schad | St Hilda’s |
| Lucia Anderson | Kwinana |
| Luciana Taraborrelli | St Hilda’s |
| Lucinda Foley | UWA West Coast |
| Mackenzie Hall | Breakers |
| Maeve Mckenna | St Hilda’s |
| Matthew Loffler | Riverton |
| Mia Salamone | Breakers |
| Miranda Kiewiet | Australind |
| Mitchell Mckell | St Hilda’s |
| Neeve Fasher | St Hilda’s |
| Oliver Brehaut | Peel Aquatic |
| Rebecca Tuitupou | Kwinana |
| Rebekah Fraser | Riverton |
| Romeo Zver | Rockingham |
| Rosie Wilson | North Coast |
| Sam Carmignani | Breakers |
| Sam Coveney | UWA West Coast |
| Samantha Lourey | UWA West Coast |
| Samuel Hicks | Westside Christchurch Aquatic |
| Scarlett Riddle | Busselton |
| Seria Hasebe | Westside Christchurch Aquatic |
| Sienna Hepworth | Southside Penrhos Wesley |
| Sienna Pitt | Southlake Dolphins |
| Summer Houston | Peel Aquatic |
| Tadhg Smith | Breakers |
| Tegan Reder | UWA West Coast |
| Tex Cross | Highlanders |
| Tiana Forrestal | Arena |
| Tristan Lin | Riverton |
| Tristan Van Waas | Rockingham |
| Tyrone Crees | Southside Penrhos Wesley |
| Zachary Mccamley | UWA West Coast |
|
Our National Age & Open Medalists |
|
| Thomas Prowton | Arena |
| Tom Wyatt | Arena |
| Alex Saffy | Bunbury |
| Daniel Boshart | Scarborough Beach |
| Isabel Sheldrick | St Hilda’s |
| Talia Wilkinson | St Hilda’s |
| Lucy Porter | Westside Christchurch |
| Xavier Collins | Westside Christchurch |
| Sean Alcorn | Peel |
| Ingrid Blandford | Bunbury |
| Inez Miller | St Hilda’s |
| Jack Wicks | Rockingham |
| Joshua Yong | UWA West Coast |
| Talara-Jade Dixon | St Hilda’s |
| Samuel Hicks | Westside Christchurch |
| Anouk Potter | Southside Penrhos |
| Sienna Pitt | Southlake Dolphins |
| Our National Age & Open Champions | |
| Jordan Berryman | UWA-West Coast |
| Lucas Fackerell | Breakers |
| Sylvia Czajko | UWA-West Coast |
| Braden Fyneman | UWA-West Coast |
| Alexander Sillitoe | Southlake Dolphins |
| Johann Szymanski | Highlanders |
Technical Officials
All officials listed below did an incredible job officiating the 2023 Australian Para, Age, Open and Open Water Championships throughout the beginning of the year.
Brie Runeckles - Bunbury
Caron Bennier - Guildford Kalamunda
Darren Michael - Peel Aquatic
Debbie Doody - Riverton
Dorothy Harris - Corrigin
Fiona Christie - Riverton
Greg Wilson - Breakers WA
Helen Harding - Southside Penrhos Wesley
Ian Arblaster - Breakers WA
Jacqui McNamara - York
Jim Bolger - Albany
Katherine Hurford - Canning Districts
Kaye Bolger - Albany
Kim Blake - Geographe Bay
Kylie Baker - South Shore
Lois Runeckles - Bunbury
Mark Foster – City of Perth
Neil Doherty - Canning Districts
Nick Short - Geraldton
Raymond Pearce - Riverton
Sam Coten – City of Perth
Sarita Bennett - Curtin University Victoria Park
Stella Carrara - Southside Penrhos Wesley
Steven Hill - UWA West Coast
Steven Jones - Mandurah
Trevor Verran - Guildford Kalamunda
Our officiating ranks are the best in the country and we look forward to what the next 12 months have in store.
Coaches
We need to send a huge thank you to all of the coaches who travelled to Busselton and/or the Gold Coast for these Championships.
National Finalist Age & Open Coaches
Andrew Sexton - Busselton
Brooke Kemp - WAIS
Christopher Purcell – Southside Penrhos Wesley
Clark Carlson/Ralph McManis – Newman Churchlands
Dion Mepham – Western Sprint
Fiona Njirich - Arena
Gemma Harrington - Riverton
Laksham ‘Lucky’ Weerakkody – Kwinana
Nick Watkins - Southside Penrhos Wesley
Taarna Cam - Australind
Taj Jones – St Hilda’s
Thurston Hewitt - Highlanders
Wayne De Lacy – Central Aquatic
Tom Stachewicz – All Saints
National Medalist Coaches
Ben Higson - WAIS
Cam Hawthorn/Drew Corrigan – Scarborough Beach Swimming Club
Craig Murray (Open Water) – South Shore
Deb Jones – St Hilda’s
Eliza Stewart - Southside Penrhos Wesley
Jon Harrison – Westside Christ Church Aquatic
Mickie Castieau - Bunbury
Ryan Spencer - Rockingham
Simon Redmond – Arena Swimming Club
Will Greenwood – Westside Christchurch Aquatic
Will Scott - WAIS
Zoe Baker – Peel Aquatic
National Champion Coaches
Harry Clark – Breakers
Rob Palfery – UWA West Coast
Stefano Di Bernardo – South Lake Dolphins
Ryan Steenkamp – Highlanders
Brett Tongue - UWA West Coast
Ian Mills (Open Water) – North Coast
Sophie Row expressed immense pride in all the award winners including the swimmers who were finalist, medalist and champions, stating, "Their dedication, talent, and commitment exemplify the spirit of swimming in Western Australia and serve as an inspiration to the entire swimming community."
Swimming WA extended heartfelt appreciation to New Town Toyota for their generous support and commitment to the sport of swimming in Western Australia. The New Town Toyota dealership in East Victoria Park provided a prestigious and fitting venue for the National Awards of Excellence, contributing to the overall success of the event.
The Swimming WA National Awards of Excellence not only celebrated the achievements of Western Australian swimmers but also served as an opportunity to unite the swimming community and acknowledge their invaluable contributions. The event showcased the commitment of Swimming WA and New Town Toyota in nurturing and developing the next generation of swimming champions in Western Australia.
