Six West Australian athletes have been shortlisted for the 2019 WAIS Young Athlete of the Year with a quality list of nominees from rowing, wheelchair basketball, sailing and athletes attracting attention with strong results over the year.
Rowing again leads the way with three athletes nominated with sailing, wheelchair basketball and athletics each attracting one nomination. All six athletes have won medals while wearing the green and gold in 2019 at the World Championships.
Bronwyn Cox (Rowing)
The winner two years ago, Bronwyn Cox made her elite World Championship debut in 2019, despite still being eligible to compete at the Under 23 World Championships. The decision was a wise one for Bronwyn and the Australian Rowing Team as she claimed silver in the eight. Her 2019 season also saw gold and silver World Cup medals.
Mary Friday (Wheelchair Basketball)
A member of the Australian Devils wheelchair basketball team at the 2019 Women’s U25 Wheelchair Basketball World Championships in Thailand, Mary has gone from strength to strength this year. Following her silver medal at the world championships Mary has moved up to be an important member of the Gliders.
Hamish Henriques (Rowing)
18 year old Hamish joined forces with Harrison Fox to claim the gold medal in the men’s double sculls at the Junior World Championships in Japan. Coached by Jamie Hewlett they were unstoppable across the competition winning their heat, semi-final and storming to gold by two seconds. The high level of competition saw the men’s double sculls the fastest class of the championships.
Zac Littlewood (Sailing)
At the 2019 Youth World Championships, in Gdynia, Poland, Zac Littlewood won silver from the 57 boat fleet to be crowned Under 18 Laser Radial World Champion, the feeder class to the Olympic Laser class. His second place finished improved from third a year earlier and sees him stand out as a future star of Australian sailing.
Giorgia Patten (Rowing)
A silver medal in the double sculls at the Under 23 World Championships sees Giorgia’s status as one of the rising stars of the sport. Her silver medal improves from her fifth place finish a year earlier and is a sign of her ongoing progression. Just 21 Giorgia will join the National Training Centre in Penrith later this year.
Sasha Zhoya (Athletics)
Sasha Zhoya marked his name out as one of the rising stars of Athletics at the Australian Championships, where he blitzed the field to win three gold medals and set two world age group leading times. A world Record in the under 20 Pole Vault and world leading time in the under 18 110m hurdles a sign of his talent in both track and field.
The winner of the 2019 WAIS Young Athlete of the Year title will be announced at the WAIS 2019 Annual Awards of Excellence on Thursday, November 14 at the Pan Pacific Hotel. Coach, Program and Athlete of the Year will also be announced.
