Busselton swimmers sink the competition at States

Busselton Swimming Club’s team of 16 swimmers proved they are among the best in the State at the recent WA State Open and Age Championships held in Perth from 15-19 December.

The small team of state qualifiers travelled to Perth over the weekend and raced their way into 34 state finals and came home with 14 WA State Championship medals, with seven swimmers making national qualifying times in the process.

The two gold, five silver and seven bronze medal haul caps off a successful year for the Club and Head Coach Andrew Sexton and is an outstanding result for a Regional Club.

16 year old Lily O’Meara was WA State Champion in the 16 year 50m butterfly winning gold in a time of 29.2 secs and took home a bronze in the 16 year 100m butterfly and 200m Individual Medley.

14-year-old Brooklyn Rayne dominated with silver medals in the 14-year 100m freestyle and 50m breaststroke and bronze medals in the and 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke.

Multi-Class swimmer Luther Frost Barnes won gold in the MC Class 100m breaststroke.

Rebecca Camm (15) won silver in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, while Marcus Van Rooyen (14) took nearly 4 seconds of his time to manage a silver on the 200m breaststroke.

Brooklyn’s twin sister Madison took bronze in the 200m breaststroke, and narrowly missed medals in the 50 and 100m breaststroke placing fourth with Violet Reynolds (16) winning a bronze medal in the 100m back stroke.

Head Coach Andrew Sexton said the team had done the Busselton Swimming Club proud.

“To have won so many medals, to have had so many qualifying times and to have achieved the number of national qualifying times they have, is a really positive reflection on our team.

“Perhaps even more gratifying is our swimmers have bonded as a team to support and inspire each other with their performances and have also learned to bounce back from illness prior to the championships and disappointing heat swims to perform wonderfully in the finals.

“You cannot ask for more as a coach.”

The Club will now turn its focus to the Australian National Open Water Championships which will be held in Busselton in January 2024 with two swimmers, Ruby McLellan and Ariane Diggins (both 15) qualifying to race in the 5km Open Water event.

The rest of the team will have a short break before hitting training hard ahead WA Country Championships in January and the Australian National Age Championships in April.