WA Stars Step Up at State Champs

06 September 2020
State Champs

The 2020 Hancock Prospecting Western Australian Open and Age Short Course Championships took place at HBF Stadium this weekend with a spectacular range of events taking place.

With over 430 competitors from 35 Clubs taking part in Australia’s first Championships in the post-COVID-19 world, spectators were treated to one of the most successful Short Course Championships in recent history.

The weekend featured an immense amount of highlights which included over 150 records falling with the WA stars standing up and a new wave of talent coming to the party in a big way. 

One of the main highlights of the weekend was on Friday night as teammates, Adam Sudlow (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Shaw) and Joshua Edwards-Smith (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Shaw) both lit up the pool.

Sudlow was the first in action as he took to the water in the Men’s 1500m Freestyle. The rising star, who has continued to grow consistently through the past seasons, took another step forward as he led the race from start to finish. Sudlow, turned through the 800m mark at 8:02.58, leaving spectators skeptical of a sub-15-minute performance, however the 19-year-old had plenty left up his sleeve as he stormed home to touch in 14:55.72. An effort that saw him break the WA Residential Record and WA All-Time Record, which has stood since 2004.

Up next was Edwards-Smith in the Men’s 200m Backstroke, who, to no surprise, absolutely crushed his first event of the weekend. Turning through the 100m in 54.93, spectators were on the edge of their seats as they knew they were witnessing history in the making. Edwards-Smith didn’t take his foot off the pedal in the last 100m and flew home to touch in 1:52.29. This swim sees Edwards-Smith become the fastest ever Australian Age Grouper in this event and is now the 10th fastest Australian of all time, an incredible feat at just 17 years of age. 

Continuing the theme of incredible individual achievements, Iona Anderson (Breakers, c: Harry Clark) had an outstanding weekend in the Backstroke events. Anderson claimed 5 Gold, 2 Silver, and 2 Bronze medals as well as decimating the 50m Backstroke 14-year-old WA Residential Record. Anderson’s record-breaking performance came in the first leg of the Breakers 4x50m Medley Relay which spurred her team on to claim Silver, just behind Westside Christchurch.

Country superstar and Breaststroke prodigy, Finlay Larmour (Peel Aquatic, c: Patrick Stellino) also landed himself well and truly on the radar after dominating the Breaststroke events over the weekend. The highlight was undoubtedly his 100m Breaststroke which saw the youngster obliterate his age group, winning by over 6 seconds as he finished in 1:01.84. Larmour’s time re-wrote the record books as he took all Country Records as well as the WA All-Time Record and WA Residential Record.

In addition to the up-and-coming stars, WA’s best and brightest owned the spotlight throughout the weekend with the likes of Alex Milligan (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS), Zac Incerti (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS), Holly Barratt (Rockingham, c: Will Scott, WAIS), Kieren Pollard (North Coast, c: Ian Mills) and Brianna Throssell (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS) all having stellar meets. Incerti, in particular, was in fine form claiming Gold in the 100m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke, putting his name as one to watch as we approach Tokyo 202One.

With all this excitement surrounding the weekend, it’s hard to not feel excited as the WA Swimming community moves forward in the post-COVID-19 world. Attention is now turned to the Junior Swimmers as we prepare for the 2020 SunSmart Junior Short Course Swimming Championships which will run from Saturday, 19 September to Sunday, 20 September at HBF Stadium.

Once again, Swimming WA would like to thank our wonderful Technical Officials who work tirelessly to ensure the success of events such as this weekend. The Officiating community in Western Australia is the best in the country and without their ongoing support, Swimming WA would not be able to continue to prosper.

Full results here: 

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