The 2022 Hancock Prospecting State Championships was held at HBF Stadium from Friday, 16 December to Tuesday, 20 December. Over 1,000 competitors from 60 clubs including a few athletes from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Ireland, Thailand, and Singapore. The cheering from the crowd was extraordinary. It was fantastic to have interstate and international competitors at our Championships creating extra energy throughout the five days.
Friday night relays were full of energy and a great way to kick off the competition. The UWA West Coast girls, Haylee Nowrojee, Jasmine Mercer, Jemma Apps and Sylvia Czajko broke three records in the Women's 4x100m Medley relay: WA All-Comers, Club record and WA Residential record which were previously set by the club more than 10 years ago!
On Saturday night, Ms Kate Chaney MP, Independent Member for Curtin and Swimming WA CEO, Sophie Row officially opened the competition. Thank you to Ashton Brinkworth (UWA West Coast), Nick Short (Geraldton) and Brooke Kemp (WAIS) for their respective oaths.
Johann Szymanski (Highlanders, c: Ryan Steenkamp) took out the first individual WA Residential record of the Championships in the Boy’s 16-17 400m Freestyle heat swim (3:58.56) and he shaved an extra 2 seconds off in the finals. "I was going into this meet aiming to break it and I was pretty happy to achieve this," he said. The record was previously held by Travis Nederpelt 20 years ago.
The Men’s 14&O 400m IM were next on the agenda, Kieran Pollard (North Coast, c: Ian Mills) wasn't shying away from breaking his own WA Residential record from last year’s Championships. Pollard’s main goal for the meet was purely practice and preparation for the season ahead.
The next WA Residential record was broken by UWA West Coast swimmer, Sylvia Czajko (c: Rob Palfrey). The 14-year-old competed in the Women’s 13&O 50m Freestyle and finished with a time of 25.85, breaking not only her age group record but the 15-year-olds as well. Later in the Championships, Czajko competed in the Girl’s 13-14 50m Freestyle and improved her time by 0.07 smashing the 16-year-old record.
Alex Saffy (Bunbury, c: Martin Roberts, AIS) dominated the butterfly at the Championships, however in this race he was amongst the able-bodied athletes racing in the Boys 16-17 200m Butterfly. The Bunbury Bullet touched under S10 World record time. He said, "I've pretty much been back after two months now, after the break. It's good to be out doing 200 fly again, you know how it's not a para event. It's good to verse all the able bod boys and all my mates."
Lucinda Foley (UWA West Coast, c: Rob Palfrey) broke an 18-years Australian Age record (S7) in the Women’s 12&O 100m Backstroke Multi-Class (1:44.78). We asked Lucinda how she felt, "It was such a surprise, a bit of a shock... a bit of motivation to keep training and see what I can do into next season".
More records were smashed on day three, Talara-Jade Dixon (St Hilda’s, c: Deb Jones) competed in the Women’s 13&O 50m Breaststroke and finished with a time of 31.32. Dixon broke the WA All Time and Residential record. The 26-year-old said, "I really enjoy swimming... I love coming to training each morning and being competitive with my teammates... I'm pretty stoked to go a PB in the 50."
The Men’s 14&O 800m Freestyle saw North Coast’s Kieran Pollard dominate the field at a time of 8:01.95, ahead of Johann Szymanski in 8:08.72. Pollard broke the Open WA Residential record and Szymanski broke the 17-years and 18-years WA Residential record.
MC swimmer Ella Hodgson (UWA West Coast, c: Rob Palfrey) had a very successful day as she shattered the Australian National Age records (S16) in both the Women’s 12&O 50m Backstroke Multi-Class (36.77) and Women’s 12&O 50m Freestyle Multi-Class (32.28).
Isabella Russell (c: Ryan Steenkamp) smashed under 30 seconds in the Girl’s 13-14 50m Backstroke (29.92) and just scraped under Iona Anderson’s 2020 record (29.95). The Highlanders swimmer broke 14-years WA All-Comers, WA All Time, and WA Residential records.
With many of our 50m and 100m sprint events on Monday, most of our sprinters came out to shine. Day four saw Sylvia Czajko break Brianna Throssell’s 2009 record in the Women’s 13&O 100m Freestyle. Czajko finished with a time of 56.50. Arena swimmer, Tom Wyatt competed in the Boys 16-17 50m Backstroke (26.39) and broke Joshua Edwards-Smith’s record (26.56).
The Breaststroke Queen, Talara-Jade Dixon, broke her third WA Residential record in the Championships. Dixon finished the Women’s 13&O 100m Breaststroke with a time of 1:08.32. UWA West Coast swimmer, Jordan Berryman, smashed the Australian National Age record and Australian National Open record in the Women’s 12&O 50m Breaststroke.
The Roy Hammond Trophy, awarded to the first placed Western Australian female swimmer of the Women’s Open 100m Freestyle at the Hancock Prospecting State Championships – Crystal Edwards – Scarborough Beach Swim Club - c: Cameron Hawthorn.
The Hicks Ive Trophy, awarded to the first placed Western Australian male swimmer of the Men’s Open 100m Freestyle at the Hancock Prospecting State Championships - Ashton Brinkworth - UWA West Coast - c: Ben Higson, WAIS.
The final night of the 2022 Hancock Prospecting State Championships saw the curtain close on what has been a massive five days of racing.
The Boy’s 14-15 200m Butterfly saw Peel Aquatic swimmer, Sean Alcorn (c: Zoe Baker) touch with a time of 2:06.14, breaking William Smith’s 2011 WA Residential record. Iona Anderson (Breakers, c: Ben Higson and Will Scott, WAIS) dominated the Women’s 13&O 50m Backstroke by touching with a time of 28.21, breaking the 17-years and 18-years WA All Time and WA Residential records.
Jordan Berryman claimed her second Australian National Age Record for the Championships in the Women’s 12&O 100m Breaststroke Multi-Class. The 16-year-old was only 0.09 off the Australian Open Record held by Ellie Cole. Both herself and coach, Brett Tongue, deserve a huge congratulations.
Each day, during the Championships, the club that represented the Swimming WA's values the most (Safety, Passion, Integrity, Respect & Inclusion), was awarded the "SPIRIT award". Congratulations to the following clubs/teams below who won the prize money!
Saturday - South Australia, Sunday - Kwinana Swimming Club, Monday - Westside Christ Church Aquatic and Tuesday - Arena Swim Club.
To conclude our Hancock Prospecting State Championships swimmers and clubs were awarded our traditional annual trophies. Congratulations to all 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 State Championships - Alyssa Burgess - Arena Swim Club
The Hall of Fame Alumni Trophy, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer with the most outstanding performance at the Hancock Prospecting State Championships – Iona Anderson – Breakers Swim Club
The Swimming WA Life Members Trophy, awarded to the swimmer who is the most consistent able-bodied performer at the Hancock Prospecting State Championships, aged 17-18 for female athletes and 18 – 19 for male athletes – Rosie Wilson – North Coast Swim Club
The Eamon Sullivan Trophy, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer who is the most consistent performer at the Hancock Prospecting State Championships, aged 16 years for female athletes or 17 years for male athletes – Inez Miller – St Hilda’s Swim Club
The Jack Howson Trophy, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer who is the most consistent performer at Hancock Prospecting State Championships, aged 15 years old for female athletes or 16 years old for male athletes – Helen Smith – St Hilda’s Swim Club
The Jennifer Reilly Trophy, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer who is the most consistent performer at the Hancock Prospecting State Championships, aged 14 years old for female athletes or 15 years old for male athletes – Isabella Russell – Highlanders Swimming Club
The Frank Osman Memorial Shield, awarded to the able-bodied swimmer who is the most consistent performer at the Hancock Prospecting State Championships, aged 13 years old for female athletes or 14 years old for male athletes – Alice Massey – UWA West Coast Swimming Club
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 – Jordan Berryman – UWA West Coast Swimming Club
The Metropolitan Long Course Club Shield, presented to the metropolitan Club gaining the most points at the Hancock Prospecting State Championships – UWA West Coast Swimming Club
The Country Long Course Club Shield, presented to the country Club gaining the most points at the Hancock Prospecting State Championships – Peel Aquatic Club
It’s so incredible to see dozens of records smashed and so many competitors who are committed and have pushed themselves in training to achieve great results from their races. Thank you coaches for always supporting your swimmers to be the best they can be.
Thank you to all our partners, officials, volunteers, parents and competitors for making this such an amazing Hancock Prospecting State Championships.
Want to grab some high-definition images from our professional photographer Steven Powell from the Nomad Company? Click here to view his incredible images!
