Courtesy: Swimming Australia
The Australian Age Championships and Australian Open Championships will return to the Gold Coast in April 2024.
The largest annual event on the Swimming Australia calendar, the meet will attract thousands of athletes and spectators to one of the country’s premier swimming venues from April 6-20.
SwimSwam Note: This is not the Australian Olympic Trials.
In what is a multi-million economic boost to the local economy, the Australian Age Championships attracts the best young swimmers from across the country to compete on the national stage.
And the Open Championships gives our Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls the chance to race against Australia’s best ahead of the three-month countdown to the Paris 2024 Games.
Swimming Australia Interim CEO Steve Newman said the sport was pleased to return to the gold-standard venue for this year’s event.
“2024 is a big year for the sport and we are delighted to have locked in the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre for our biggest event,” he said.
“This is a great opportunity to see our Olympic and Paralympic athletes compete, and to also see our LA and Brisbane hopefuls in the Age Championships.
“We expect to see some great racing across the two weeks of competition.”
The 2024 event is supported by Major Events Gold Coast, with Gold Coast Acting Mayor Donna Gates welcoming Swimming Australia back to the venue.
“What a coup to secure the Australian Age Championships and Australian Open Championships for 2024,” Gates said.
“We are rapidly forging a reputation as a key destination for national swimming events and the age championships will help discover tomorrow’s Dolphins.
“Congratulations to Swimming Australia and Major Events Gold Coast for bringing this fantastic carnival together for 2024. I can’t wait.”
Entries and accreditation for the Multi-Class Age and Able-Bodied Age Championships will open in two to three weeks, with qualifying times and the program of events already available online.
Tickets for the event will go on sale in the new year.
Points to improve on:
– medal ceremonies, swimmers train all year to attend age.
– fix the ticket debacle of 2022. Ensure enough seating at a reasonable price.
– create a hub for families.
– make the pool look and feel special, as it is the biggest event of the year!
Gold Coast itself is great but the swimming venue is always subject to the elements as the above refuse to put roof over the stands to cut costs
Sydney should host Trials again as they’ve been ignoring this city for a good decade now .. anywhere but Sydney it seems
Agreed, the outdoor factor automatically rules it out as “one of the country’s premier swimming venues”
Why did they not announce dates for Olympic trials as well which will be a massive meet
This is not a popular decision here. And no location for open water or olympic trials have been announced. Open water being held in january. Bit swimming australia knows best
There was essentially no choice due to the size age has grown too and the availability of other venues large enough.
Adelaide or Brisbane ?
Adelaide is too small for the numbers from last year.
Only venues that could have hosted a meet the size of National Age last year were Sydney, GC, Brisbane and Melbourne.
Brisbane was unavailable. I believe dates clashed with a waterpolo event.
Melbourne is big enough but a lot of people were unhappy with conditions at trials last and it also ended up being a pretty slow meet. Not sure if this was THE reason it wasn’t there but wouldn’t have helped. Also National Age is never there.
I’ve got no clue in regards to Sydney.
Not sure that it’s “not a popular decision here”. Location is great with plenty of reasons why it should be held on the Gold Coast, it’s a families playground with so much to see and do, fantastic accommodation for a wide variety of budgets. If you want to “reward” the kids for their achievements, it would be easy to stay on after the age group swims, fill in a few days living it large at the theme parks and beaches then go watch the big boys and girls strut their stuff in the opens. (Does Swimming Australia need a new promotions guru? 😉 LOL!!)
Couldn’t agree more about the lack of clarity with Openwater Nationals and Trials however. 2024 Openwater… Read more »
Let’s hope they make the qualifying times faster to avoid heats going late into the afternoon.
-also a bigger area for coaches
-also a lot more shade for spectators. (QLD is the melanoma capital of the world unfortunately).
At least it’s not on the Easter weekend this time.
The times have been out for ages, slightly faster than last year, but some should probably be a little faster again in my personal opinion, especially the 50s.