Westpac Swimmer of the Year Awards

On Saturday night the 18^th of May 2019, Swimming WA held their Night of Nights, the Westpac Swimmer of the Year Awards, at the Hyatt Regency Perth.  Saturday was a night of celebration and a chance to recognise excellence in all aspects of Western Australian swimming.

Holly Barratt from Rockingham Swimming Club was named 2019 Westpac Swimmer of the Year, taking home the coveted Lyn McClements medal at Swimming WA’s Annual Awards, that was held Saturday night at Hyatt Regency Perth.

The Award, named after one of Western Australia’s greatest swimmers Lyn McClements, was awarded to the 31-year-old Warnbro swimmer who is coached by WAIS coach Will Scott.  Holly returned from the World Short Course Championships where she achieved Silver in the 50m Butterfly, Bronze in the 50m Backstroke, and Bronze in the 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay.  

Barratt was up against some stiff competition from her fellow Dolphin teammates, namely Nicholas Brown (UWA West Coast, coach Bud McAllister), Brianna Throssell (UWA West Coast, coach Michael Palfery) and Ben Roberts (Breakers, coach Bud McAllister)

Other major Award winners for the evening were:

• Open Water Swimmer of the Year – Rhys Mainstone (UWA West Coast Swimming Club);
• Multi-Class Swimmer of the Year – Ben Popham (Arena Swimming Club);
• Coach of the Year – Bud McAllister (WAIS);
• Technical Official of the Year – Jacqui McNamara (York Swimming Club); 
• Volunteer of the Year – Ron Barnes (Breakers Swimming Club).

Also during the evening was the induction of Ms Dianne Saunders as the 59^th Member of the Swimming WA Hall of Fame.   34-year-old Saunders is a 2004 Paralympian (Athens) competing in the SB7 100m Breaststroke, finishing 4^th. Saunder’s highest world ranking was 2^nd. Since retiring from competitive swimming, Saunders has remained an active Member of the Superfins Swimming Club and competes at a Masters State and National level.

The Swimming WA Hall of Legends recognises gold medal swimming performances at an international level.  The 3rd inductee to earn this status is Kingsley Bugarin who competed at five Paralympic Games and won five Paralympic Gold medals throughout his career. Kingsley still holds the World Record for the S12 200m Breaststroke, 23 years after having achieved it.   

Swimming WA President Louis Van Aardt said;

 “Each year the Westpac Swimmer of the Year Awards grow in popularity and status amongst all levels of swimming.  Congratulations to all winners.  The 2018/19 season was an outstanding success for WA swimmers, and we are immensely proud of what these swimmers have achieved.  Not to mention the coaches, support networks and Clubs that surround these individuals. 

I also would like to thank all of the 85 Clubs and more than 12,000 registered swimmers that are Members of Swimming WA and for their ongoing support.  We are grateful to Westpac for their support of this evening and throughout the year, as well as our presenting partner Hancock Prospecting. We are all looking forward to what the future holds for WA swimmers in the lead up to Tokyo 2020”.

Other winners throughout the night include;

Photos of the winners on the night can be found at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1UnlizkIPxTEu456b4IK5wkYjy5P2-V3r 

All other photos can be found at: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1bjUwgiV7BL3oZveZe3Bm5D2T421NBwLc