Talented young swimmer's achievements awarded

Busselton Freight’s latest Rising Sports Star Award recipient is 14 year old Busselton Swimming Club member, Ruby McLellan.

The talented young athlete kept busy over summer, winning a silver medal at the WA State Age Championships in the 1500m freestyle, then going on to win gold in the 800m freestyle, silver in the open 1500m freestyle and a bronze in the 100m butterfly at the WA Country Championships in January.

Ruby’s success continued at the WA Open Water State Championships in January, where she came seventh in the 5 kilometre event – less than a minute between second and seventh place.

At the Koombana Bay Open Water Swim, Ruby achieved a national qualifying time of 1:13 for the 5 kilometre event.

Then she was off and racing against 68 competitors from across Australia at the Australian National Open Water Championships in Busselton, taking three mins off her personal best to place 16th overall with a time of 1:10 in the Girls 5km open water swim.

Ruby also raced in the 4x1500m open relay for Busselton, in a team which came seventh overall against both national and international teams.

In February competed in the Busselton Jetty Swim Gold caps (under 50 minute wave) for the first time, having placed in the top three in the U15 category for the past two years in the same event.

This year, Ruby went on to finish the swim in 49 minutes and 7 seconds, finishing first in the Under 15 category as well as the 12th fastest female, and in 46th place overall.

“This is Ruby’s first year competing in the Open Water Series and to make a national qualifying time and race against the best open water swimmers in Australia is an outstanding result,” said Busselton Freight’s Natasha O’Neill.

“We look forward to seeing what Ruby can achieve in the future with her open water and distance swimming.”