WA athletes at the Australian Age & MC Championships on the Gold Coast have delivered some outstanding performances in the last three days of competition.
Highlanders teammates Jackson Anderson and Tex Cross (c: Ryan Steenkamp) swam times under Junior Pan Pacific qualification times in their respective events. Anderson smashed the boys' 16 years 100m freestyle, securing silver with a fast time of 50.54. Anderson dropped 1.39 seconds off his entry time, unofficially breaking the WA All Time record.
Cross dominated the boys' 17 years 400m freestyle, securing a gold medal with a time of 3:52.98. Cross dropped over a second from his entry time and unofficially set a new WA All Time record.
Inez Miller (Fenix, c: Deb Jones), recently named Emerging Athlete of the Year finalist, clinched gold in the girls' 17 years 400m freestyle. Commonwealth Games Australia announced Miller as a finalist of the award this morning, after her incredible achievements at Trinbago 2023. The winner of the award will be announced at the annual Commonwealth Games Australia President’s Dinner.
World Junior Dolphins athlete, Johann Szymanski (Highlanders, c: Ryan Steenkamp), fought neck and neck with Flynn Southam (NSW) and Anders McAlpine (QLD) up to the last few meters in the boys 400m freestyle. The 18-year-old secured bronze with a time of 3:52.93, shaving off half a second from his entry time. Szymanski unofficially broke his previous WA All Time record set in December last year.
Ciara Conroy (South Shore, c: Matt Magee) secured bronze in the girls' 14 years 100m breaststroke, clocking at 1:13.55. Lucy Porter's (St Hilda's, c: Zoe Baker) time of 2:18.70, in the girls' 15 years 200m individual medley, unofficially broke the WA All Time record.
In the multi-class events, Jordan Berryman SB7 (UWA West Coast, c: Rob Palfery) secured two gold medals in the first two days of the Championships. The 17-year-old dominated in the girls' 50m and 100m breaststroke multi-class events.
Rebekah Fraser S15 (Riverton, c: Gemma Herrington) is taking home two gold and one bronze in her events over the weekend. Fraser's success comes after competing at the 2024 Australian Deaf Games in January, where she secured a total of eight medals.
Elijah Rowles S10 (UWA West Coast, c: George Harnetty) secured two bronze medals from the boys' 12-13 years 100m breaststroke and 50m freestyle multi-class events.
Last night, the WA Relay Teams competed against the rest of Australia in the freestyle relays. We are proud to announce that four WA teams won medals.
- Silver | Boys 14-18-Years 4x50m Freestyle Relay: Johann Szymanski, Samuel Hicks, Lachlan Ison, Atlan Devin.
- Bronze | Girls 15-16-Years 4x50m Freestyle Relay: Alice Massey, Isabel Sheldrick, Lian Bewsher, Sylvia Czajko
- Bronze | Boys 16-17-Years 4x50m Freestyle Relay: Alexandar Sillitoe, Sean Alcorn, Xavier Collins, Jackson Anderson
- Silver | Boys 14-15-Years 4x50m Freestyle Relay: Tristan Lin, Griffin Szczecinski, Joshua Powell, Beau Mepham
What a fantastic start to the Championships! Best wishes to our athletes heading into the finals for Day 4 tonight!
