Swim talent selected for Australian Youth Olympic Festival

Swimming Australia
Published: Oct 31, 2012 11:25:49 AM Updated: May 29, 2013 02:12:19 PM

Thirty-six of Australia’s best young swimmers have been selected to compete at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival (AYOF) in Sydney this January, in a meet that has proven to be a strong pathway to Olympic selection.

Last held in January 2009, six swimmers from that team in Mitchell Larkin, James Roberts, Daniel Tranter, Jessica Ashwood, Bronte Campbell and Leiston Pickett went on to represent Australia at the London Olympics this year.

The 2013 AYOF to be held from January 16-20 at Sydney Olympic Park, will see swimmers aged between 13 and 17 compete against the likes of China, New Zealand, Brazil, Hungary, Canada, Japan and a combined Oceania team.

Swimming Australia’s High Performance Youth Coach Vince Raleigh, who will also look after the team as Head Coach for the meet, says the opportunity for these young athletes to race internationally is a huge step in their development.

“Racing international opposition is very different from an Age championships, or even State Teams event and to get the opportunity to do that in Sydney is a really good experience for these young athletes,” said Raleigh.

“We know that performing well on this team can play an important step in the pathway for a young athlete, and with China, Japan and Canada set to be some of the stronger competitors, the chance to race these nations is vital at this stage of their young careers.”

The 2013 team will see Australia’s best 1500m swimmer for the year, 16-year-old Mack Horton line up alongside multiple Australian Age Group medallist and record holder Nicholas Groenewald, while 13-year-old Shayna Jack from Brisbane will be the youngest on the team.

Gold Coast teenager Brittany McEvoy, the younger sister of debutant Olympian Cameron, will represent Australia for the second time having swum against New Zealand in the Trans-Tasman series in 2012, while fellow Queenslander Alanna Bowles will be keen to continue her good form which saw her dominate the recent State Teams Short Course meet.

The 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival team is as follows:
First Name	Last Name	Age	Club	State
Male Athletes
Liam	Cunneen	17	Atlantis	NSW
Damian	Fyfe	15	Perth City	WA
Alexander	Graham	17	St Kevins	VIC
Nicholas	Groenewald	15	Nunawading	VIC
Mack	Horton	16	Melbourne Vicentre	VIC
Blake	Jones	15	Southport Olympic	QLD
Jesse	King	17	Foster	NSW
Regan	Leong	17	Kokoda	QLD
Edward	Marks	16	MLC Marlins	NSW
Lachlan	McLeish	17	Surrey Park	VIC
Jack	McLoughlin	17	Nudgee Brothers	QLD
Luke	Percy	17	Southport Olympic	QLD
Mitchell	Pratt	17	Tigersharks	VIC
Alex	Press	17	TSS Aquatics	QLD
Jayke	Rees	16	Carlile	NSW
Joshua	Tierney	17	Logan Vikings	QLD
James	Traiforos	15	Trinity Grammar	NSW
Lachlan	Wells	16	Melbourne Vicentre	VIC

Female Athletes
Hayley	Baker	17	Melbourne Vicentre	VIC
Alanna	Bowles	14	Rock City	QLD
Megan	Gianotti	16	Waterworx	QLD
Chelsea	Gillett	15	Clayfield	QLD
Tianni	Gilmour	16	Pelican Waters Caloundra	QLD
Amelia	Gould	17	SOPAC	NSW
Madeline	Groves	17	St Peters Western	QLD
Jessica	Hansen	17	MLC Aquatic	VIC
Shayna	Jack	13	Chandler	QLD
Brittany	McEvoy	16	Southport Olympic	QLD
Alexandra	Purcell	17	Southport Olympic	QLD
Lauren	Rettie	15	River City Rapids	QLD
Caitlyn	Richardson	16	Sans Souci Sea Devils	NSW
Jemma	Schlicht	15	Surrey Park	VIC
Mikkayla	Sheridan	17	Chandler	QLD
Jenna	Strauch	15	Melbourne Vicentre	VIC
Sophie	Taylor	15	Ryde-Carlile	NSW
Brooke	Thornton	15	Acaia Bayside	QLD