WA Swimmers Complete Busy Schedule at Junior World Champs
The 2019 FINA Junior World Championships have come to an end in Budapest with four Western Australian swimmers making their representative debut for Australia.
Josh Edwards-Smith, Kalani Ireland, Josh Yong and Alyssa Burgess all wore the Aussie green and gold at the Championships hosted in Hungary.
Edwards-Smith was the busiest of the WA four, swimming in a calendar-busting seven events.
He was mighty close to earning an individual final in the 200m backstroke but missed the medal round by one spot after taking the ninth fastest qualifying time.
His series also saw him make the semi finals stage of the 100 back, whilst he swam in the heats in the 100m free and 50m backstroke too.
Edwards-Smith was a member of three relay teams, which included a fourth placed effort in the 4x100m mixed medley squad that also featured WA’s Josh Yong. Edwards-Smith swam the opening backstroke leg, whilst Yong swam the breaststroke.
The pair were also members of the men’s 4x100m medley relay, where the Australian’s finished fifth. That squad featured a third WA member, with Kalani Ireland taking on the butterfly leg.
Yong for his own part, swam the individual 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke events, making the semi finals of the one lap 50m race, where he eventually finished 13th fastest overall.
Ireland gave a strong account of his talents in making the semis of the 50m free and the 100m back, whilst he also competed in the heats of the 200m Individual Medley.
In addition to the aforementioned mixed medley relay, he was also a member of the Australian 4x100m mixed freestyle relay, where the Aussie team again took fifth place.
Alyssa Burgess was entered in a single event in Budapest, taking 14th place overall in the women’s 200m backstroke.