The penultimate day of the 2020 Westpac Swimmer of the Year awards saw a further two awards announced as we continued to celebrate the 2019/20 season.
Open Water Swimmer of the Year
The Swimming WA Open Water Swimmer of the Year is awarded to the resident Western Australian swimmer who returns the most outstanding performance during the defined period.
Once again, the Open Water Swimmer of the Year was a tightly contested battle with Jack Wilson (North Coast, c: Ian Mills) awarded the honours ahead of Nicholas Rollo (Perth City, c: Matt Magee) and Kyle Lee (Bunbury, c: Jason Evans).
Wilson has made a significant leap in the 2019/20 season finishing 3rd Australian in the Men’s 10km Marathon at the 2020 Australian Open Water Championships, just ahead of fellow Western Australian, Nicholas Rollo. With this result, both Wilson and Rollo were selected to represent Australia at the 2020 FINA Marathon Swim Series in Doha, which doubled as the Olympic selection event for Australia.
Although both Wilson and Rollo missed the opportunity to further the Olympic dream, they swam valiantly and put themselves well and truly on the radar as ones to watch in years to come.
Locally, Wilson was dominant at the 2019 Western Australian Open Water Championships winning the 10km swim in emphatic fashion over a talented field that included both Rollo and Bunbury local, Kyle Lee.
Swimming WA would like to congratulate Wilson and the nominees on a fantastic season, their success is a true testament to the talent, resilience and hard work of the Western Australian Open Water Swimming community.
President's Award
This Award is presented to a Swimming WA Member who is recognised by the President of Swimming WA as making a significant contribution to the sport of swimming in WA.
Swimming WA is proud to announce the 2020 President Award recipient is Peter Anderson from Thornlie and Districts Swimming Club.
Over the past 37 years, Peter has been a loyal servant to swimming, dedicating his time and energy to helping develop the sport and officiating on all levels including being on deck for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Peter was instrumental in the development of officiating in the state, often assisting at development level meets, providing a friendly and familiar faces for swimmers, parents and officials across the state.
Additionally, Peter has assisted numerous Swimming WA operational committees, most recently acting as the chair of the Honours and Awards committee.
After recently retiring from a successful officiating career, Peter will now continue to follow his beloved sport from afar.
Swimming WA would like to thank Peter for his service and support to the sport and congratulate him on a well earned, President's award.
