WAIS athletes had a successful and final hit out prior to Nationals at the South Australian State Championships held at West Lakes which will also host the National Championships in a fortnight.
In the men’s 200m events WAIS athletes dominated with Steve Bird (Doubleview) winning the event in a fast 35.53 with Brodie Holmes (Sorrento) and Jesse Phillips (Doubleview) close behind in 35.81 and 35.87 respectively. The K2 200m event also saw a WAIS/WA trifecta with Bird and Phillip recording a comfortable victory ahead of Holmes and Todd Brewer (Vic Park) with junior athletes Alexander Graham (Stoneville) and Nick Pond (Scarborough) highlighting their potential by coming third ahead of a host of SASI crews.
The women’s 200m events saw the WAIS dominance continue with Alana Nicholls (Leederville) and Jaime Roberts (Bullsbrook) coming 1 – 2 and teaming up in the K2 to record a comfortable win in a very fast 38.6 sec. The 500m events saw a similar result with Nicholls executing her race plan to perfection to record a comfortable win ahead of National U23 rep Cat McArthur from SASI with Jaime Roberts narrowly behind in 3rd. Nicholls and Roberts once again teamed up in the K2 to comfortably win the 500m and show that they will be one of the favoured crews running into nationals from 26 – 30 March.
WAIS Head Coach Ramon Andersson said, “The regatta provided an ideal hit out for the squad leading into Nationals and provide some course familiarity. The West Lakes course has some unique features in that it can get quite lumpy and with the water being really salty the athletes sit higher in the water which can create some balance problems for some athletes and by having that exposure a couple of weeks out will give them some time to adapt”.
This weekend will see a lot of the WAIS squad compete in the State Surf Lifesaving Championships.
