Australian Junior World Champs Squad Announced
A group of 28 of the country’s most talented up-and-coming swimmers will represent the Georgina Hope Swimmers Foundation Australian Swim Team at the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai this year from August 26-31.
Swimmers aged between 14 and 17 for girls, and 15 and 18 for boys, will come together from all over the world to race at the Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Sports Complex in Dubai for the chance to be crowned the 2013 Junior World Champion.
Selected off the back of the 2013 Georgina Hope Swimmers Foundation Australian Age Championships and the EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships, held in April and May in Adelaide, the Australian team will be led by Head Coach and Olympian Glen Berringen.
Tommy Sucipto is the sole Western Australian Institute of Sport representative on the Australian team, but fellow WA athlete Brianna Throssell will also compete in the green and gold in Dubai.
With many swimmers selected recording nationally and internationally competitive times at both meets, Australia will take a strong team to Dubai, with the aim for all athletes to improve on their seasons best performances at their benchmark international meet.
One of those swimmers was silver medallist from the EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships Mack Horton, who narrowly missed selection onto the senior World Championship team after clocking a 14:59.66 in the men’s 1500m freestyle.
Horton’s time moved him into seventh position on the Australian all-time top ten for that event with the Victorian now getting the opportunity to prove he is one of the best young swimmers in the world when he competes in Dubai.
A triple Australian Age champion and gold medallist from the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in January, the Junior World Championships will give Horton the international race experience needed to make a move onto the senior teams in the years to come.
Another rising star who impressed selectors was 15-year-old Alanna Bowles, who finished with a silver medal in the 800m freestyle and was also a finalist in the women’s 400m individual medley at the EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships.
Just weeks earlier at the Australian Age Championships, Bowles also picked up a total of five Australian Age titles in the 15 years age group.
Sprinter Shayna Jack will also head to Dubai after just missing out on a medal at the EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships, finishing fourth in the women’s 50m freestyle just behind five-time Olympic medallist Alicia Coutts in a time of 25.03.
Jack took a clean sweep of the 50, 100 and 200m freestyle events at the Australian Age Championships and will be looking to prove her potential on the world stage this August.
Swimming Australia’s Director of High Performance Michael Scott said he was impressed with the young talent coming through the swimming ranks.
“Australia is fortunate to have such depth of talent in the sport of swimming and that is evident following the number of young swimmers that stepped up at the EnergyAustralia Swimming Championships to challenge their older competitors,” Scott said.
“I am excited to see such a talented group of young swimmers represent Australia at the World Junior Championships in Dubai and hope that this experience will provide them with the required motivation to take that next step in their swimming career,” Scott said.
Other promising young swimmers heading to Dubai include Junior Pan Pacific Championship representatives and Queenslanders Georgia Bohl and Regan Leong as well as World Short Course representative Brianna Throssellfrom Western Australia.
Swimming Australia would also like to thank the Australian Commonwealth Games Association for their support and assistance of promising junior athletes through the Australian Junior Commonwealth Games Squad (AJCGS) program.
Congratulations to the following swimmers who will represent the Georgina Hope Swimmers Foundation Australian Swim Team at the 2013 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Dubai – A ugust 26-31
– Swimming Australia