For the second year, the Secondary Schools Open Water Swimming Championships returned to Coogee Beach on November 22, supported by the City of Cockburn and what a day it was!
Over 440 swimmers from 36 schools competed in distances ranging from 250m to 1km and a huge total of 95 teams competed in the crowd-favourite relay event.
Going for gold, Lucas Fackerell (Prendiville) and Eleanor Flowers (Carine Senior High School) won Male and Female Swimmers of the Competition respectively. Both took out the 1km wins again this year, marking two years in a row.
Fackerell smashed the 1km event with a time of 11 minutes and 35.7 seconds, leaving Hayden Headling (Hale School) and Eli Hickman (Aquinas College) to battle it out for second and third. Flowers cruised to gold with a time of 12 minutes and 39 seconds, ahead of Delta Cross (St Hilda's Anglican School for Girls) and Tahla Croome (St Mary's Anglican Girls' School).
St Mark's Anglican Community School walked away as the winning school after racking up the most points, while Quinns Baptist College brought the energy, taking home the SPIRIT Award for their cheering.
In the 250m race, Archie O'Beirne (Margaret River SHS) dominated the boys’ category, followed by Keno Palenberg (Emmanuel Catholic College) and Marcus Quinn (Frederick Irwin). For the girls, it was Lian Bewsher (Methodist Ladies' College) leading the pack, with Hitomi Cording (Frederick Irwin) and Cienna Tinkler (Coastal Lakes College) close behind.
Over in the 500m, Lachlan Bean (St Mark's ACS) claimed top spot for the boys, with Nicholas Kryachok (Hale School) and Jacob Monaco (Emmanuel Catholic College) rounding out the podium. Anouk Potter (St George's) crushed it in the girls’ race, ahead of Alice Massey (Methodist Ladies' College) and Aoife Malone (Prendiville).
Santa Maria College’s Physical Education Teacher, Bianca Petite, commented: "It's gorgeous out here today, and it's been a lot of fun. Everyone seems to be having a great time, and they're all doing an excellent job. We've had swimmers in the 250m, 500m, and 1km events, and they've all performed really well. I'm super proud of them."
