At the conclusion of the 2015 Georgina Hope Foundation Australian Age Championship session tonight, a 30-strong team was announced to contest the World Junior Championships.
The Championships will be held in Singapore from 25 – 30 August and will act as a great stepping stone for some of Australia’s brightest young stars as they head towards the senior ranks.
The team will be headlined by three rising stars in Kyle Chalmers, Shayna Jack and Matthew Wilson who have started 2015 on top of the podium and with record-breaking swims.
Chalmers, who was last week selected onto the senior team to contest the World Championships in Kazan, will head to Singapore with invaluable experience from the senior event. The 16-year-old from Adelaide picked up four titles at the Age Championships including the sprint freestyle treble (50m, 100m & 200m) and the 100m butterfly.
Mimicking his success was 16-year-old Jack from Chandler in Queensland. She won the girls’ 16-years freestyle treble as well as picking up a fourth title in the 100m backstroke.
With the ink only just dry on his Australian age record from two weeks ago at the National Championships, Wilson beat his own time at the Age Championships to rewrite the record books in the boys’ 16 years 200m breaststroke. His time of 2:12.83 would have won him silver at the open nationals and puts him in a good position for a successful campaign at the World Juniors. Wilson also took Age Championships gold in the 100m breaststroke and the 200m individual medley.
They will be joined by a strong team of competitive and ambitious swimmers from across Australia.
Minna Atherton is an exciting young prospect in backstroke, edging closer and closer to Emily Seebohm’s age records. Chelsea Gubecka will also join the team but not before she attempts to qualify for the senior team in the 10km open water.
Gubecka will head to Mexico to contest the World Cup at the start of May, with the top two Aussies qualifying for Kazan.
The 2015 Australian team for the 2015 FINA World Junior Swimming Championships:
| NAME | CLUB | STATE |
| Minna Atherton | Brisbane Grammar | QLD |
| Grayson Bell | TSS Aquatics | QLD |
| Ella Bond | Marion | SA |
| Jack Cartwright | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Kyle Chalmers | Marion | SA |
| Tamsin Cook | West Coast | WA |
| Gemma Cooney | River City Rapids | QLD |
| Vincent Dai | Cherrybrook Carlile | NSW |
| Mitchell Davenport-Wright | Melbourne Vicentre | VIC |
| Amy Forrester | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Damian Fyfe | West Coast | WA |
| Bowen Gough | Nunawading | VIC |
| Nicholas Groenewald | Nunawading | VIC |
| Chelsea Gubecka | Kawana Waters | QLD |
| Shayna Jack | Chandler | QLD |
| Lucia Lassman | Miami | QLD |
| Clyde Lewis | Brothers | QLD |
| Tristan Ludlow | St Peters Western | QLD |
| Brayden McCarthy | Palm Beach Currumbin | QLD |
| Lucy McJannett | Bayside | NSW |
| Joshua Parrish | TSS Aquatics | QLD |
| Dominic Richardson | TSS Aquatics | QLD |
| Calypso Sheridan | Brisbane Grammar | QLD |
| Callum Sherington | Carlile | NSW |
| Ariarne Titmus | Launceston | TAS |
| Jacob Vincent | Miami | QLD |
| Matthew Wilson | SOPAC | NSW |
| Elyse Woods | Melbourne Vicentre | VIC |
| Bradley Woodward | Mingara | NSW |
| Samuel Young | East Brisbane | QLD |
| Head Coach | Glenn Beringen |
| Coaches | Shelly Jarrett |
| Adam Kable | |
| Chris Nesbitt | |
| Michael Palfery | |
| Josh Stern | |
| Rohan Taylor |
Adelaide is 90 minutes ahead of Singapore time wise. This allows Kyle to attend many of his school classes via Skype.
This is every boy’s dream come true.
Current USA Teams’ Selection procedures unfortunately preclude US Youth same/similar developmental opportunities. I believe Australia got it right! Why choose one or the other if you can do it all! The experience gained especially in lead up to Olympic year is invaluable and these types of opportunities should be available to developing US Youth!
I believe that this is essence is wrong. I feel that australia’s junior do not get the same exposure to high quality racing that the american system does and I along with many other coaches believe that the junior teams need to be used to give swimmers an opportunity to see what real competition is like.
How many grand prix meets can a junior swimmer race at in America each year. There is only 3 maybe 4 meets a year including trials that reach the same standard.
Great decision for Kyle Chalmers to do both meets. He will inevitably gain valuable experience from both. It’s unfortunate that rising Canadian star Javier Acevedo (who is racing in Mesa this weekend) did not do the same thing. He finished 3rd in the 100 free at Canadian Trials and rightfully earned a spot on the relay for Worlds, but for some unknown reason he declined the Worlds team (and presumably the Pan Am Games Team) and is just going to World Juniors.
Was this his decision or was it pressure from his coach? Who declines the World’s team??? Who knows? He may never have another chance.
I really hope for his sake this decision does not come back… Read more »
KEEN OBSERVER,
it s not easy to hold a taper for 3/4 weeks.Too much rest, and you lose mass muscle and fitness.
Chambers will have to fight with that.In 100free, Chambers is the heavy favourite, with his 48.69 well ahead of the Brazilian and British guys(49.16 and 49.19). With his time served for Australia, there is a chance he will not be 100% at Junior Worlds.In this case, I approve Chambers choice because Australia has medal chances.Canada don t.
There’s a world of difference between 50-point and 48-mid. Chalmers has a legit spot on potential medal winning relay, Acevdo would get a swim in the heats on a relay that won’t final.
I think Acevedo’s focus on Junior Worlds is the right decision.
I think Javier should have been able to have given a shot on the world’s team and pan ams team. In Canada most youth athletes don’t do all that well on the senior stage due to a lack of experience. This would have been a great opportunity for a 17 year old to see what it is like racing the big boys and learn from it.
Javier went 49.85 at Canadian Trials, pretty good for a 16 or 17 year old. He is rapidly improving and could be in a very good position to make the team for Rio. Do you not think it would be valuable for him to get the experience of being at Worlds heading into Olympic year?
Hard to say without knowing the kid but I think you’re better off holding athletes back a bit rather than pushing them forward. I think that’s especially true now, given that careers in the sport can be so long.
If he went to Worlds, he’d have one swim in the heats on a relay. To my mind, that’s hardly exposure for the big time. He goes to Junior Worlds, he’ll swim the 50, the 100, the 200 and – I think – 100 ‘fly, plus a bunch of relays. He’ll have to swim heats, semis and, hopefully, finals in his individual swims and heats plus finals in the relays. That’s far, far better practice for Rio and beyond.
Chalmers is… Read more »
Please read my original comment. I am suggesting he should go to both.