Australia Names Six-Strong Open Water Lineup For Budapest

Swimming Australia has revealed its 6-strong lineup for the open water events at the 2022 FINA World Championships in Budapest.

Swimming Australia’s State Technical Lead, Mel Tantrum, will be at the helm of the squad which includes Moesha Johnston, Chelsea Gubecka, Finella Gibbs-Beale, Nick Sloman, Bailey Amstrong and Kyle Lee.

The roster was determined based on performances rendered at the Australian Open Water Championships which took place in South Australia at the end of January.

There at Brighton Beach, Noosa’s 25-year-old Sloman topped both the men’s 10k and 5k open water races, while Armstrong came in was the runner-up in the former whileLee was the silver medalist in the latter.

On the women’s side, Johnson of Griffith was also a double champion, taking bo the 10k and 5k race titles. Yeronga Parks’ Gubecka placed second in both races, while Gibbs-Beale was the women’s 5k open water race winner for the 18-year-old age gorup.

As such, Johnston will contest both the 5k and 10k races alongside Gubecka, while Gibbs-Beale will take on the 5k.

Sloman will contest both the 5k and 10k, with Armstrong in the 10k and Lee in the 5k.

Swimming Australia High Performance Director, Tamara Sheppard, congratulated the athletes and coaches on their selection and believes the team are primed for a strong performance in Hungary.

“We’ve taken great momentum from our performances in the Open Water events at the Tokyo Olympics and what is most pleasing about this team is the depth of talent as we build to Paris,” Sheppard said.

“There were some strong swims at the Nationals in Adelaide and we certainly anticipate that standard to continue to rise, both in the training environment, and when it comes time to perform in Hungary.”