WA Stands up at Coolum

16 March 2021

Western Australian swimmers have once again risen to the occasion at the recent 2021 Australian Open Water Swimming Championships on Queensland’s, Sunshine Coast.

With the smallest contingent of representatives in recent history, there was no doubting the COVID-19 pandemic had affected Western Australian athletes. However, there was no stopping the 22-strong team that took on the country last weekend.

One of the standouts of the Meet was Kyle Lee (North Coast, c: Ian Mills) who was dominant in the 19-year-olds events. Lee won Gold in both the 10km and 5km, finishing 4th overall in the 10km and 3rd in the 5km.

Lee’s achievements see many doors open for him, as well as the opportunity to represent Australia at the 2021 FINA Junior World Open Water Swimming Championships in Seychelles this August. Lee who made the move from Bunbury in April last year has gone from strength to strength over the past 6 years, under the careful tutelage of coaches, Nick Ciffolilli, Jason Evans and now Ian Mills.

Lee’s performance in the Men’s 10km, saw him just place just 12 seconds behind the event winner, Kai Edwards (TSS Aquatic), who will move forward in Olympic selection. Although Lee won’t be representing Australia in Tokyo, there is no doubting he is one to watch moving forward.

Joining Lee on the Australian team at the 2021 FINA Junior World Open Water Swimming Championships will be Kara Svenson (Bunbury, c: Elisha Hunt) who has made an emphatic return to the sport over the past 10 months. 

Svenson finished 8th overall in the Women’s 10km event on Saturday, however, finished 2nd for any swimmer under 20, thus qualifying for the Australian team.

Svenson followed her coach and mum, Elisha Hunt, who both made the move from Queensland to Bunbury at the start of the season. Both Svenson and Hunt have seen success since making the move to WA, with many Bunbury swimmers achieving personal bests at recent events.

This team will be Svenson’s second time representing Australia at a Junior level after qualifying for the Junior Pan Pacs team in 2018.

In addition to these magnificent performances, several athletes stood out throughout the Meet.

Leading the way, was Max Coten (Westside Christchurch, c: Jon Harrison) who had a breakout performance in the Boys 18-year-olds 10km, claiming Gold by an astonishing 8 minutes. Coten, who recently finished 4th in the 2021 South32 Rottnest Channel Swim is clearly doing the right work under the watchful eye of Jon Harrison, as they continue to produce great performances.

Another standout was Byron Kimber (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Shaw) who finished just 0.01 behind Kyle Lee in the Men’s 10km. Kimber who was crowned the OWS Series winner yet again continued his fine form, narrowly missing out on the opportunity to represent Australia.

Kaiden Richings (Bunbury, c: Elisha Hunt) also took home silverware after claiming Bronze in the Boys 17-year-old 7.5km and Silver in the 5km.

Amongst the other medallist were Fiona Cullinane (Rockingham, c: Brooke Kemp), Thomas Dreverman (South Shore, c: Craig Murray) and Rubie Turner (Peel Aquatic, c: Patrick Stellino).

Whilst this year’s Championships missed the big names of WA Open Water Champions, such as Nicholas Rollo, Simon Huitenga and Sacha Downing, there was a new wave of stars forging their own path, proving yet again, WA open water is a force to be reckoned with.

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