Henry Allan, Lincoln Wearing, Amelie Smith Head Up Aussie Junior Pan Pacs Roster

Correction: a previous version of this roster said it was for the Junior World Championships, but it is for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.

The conclusion of the eight-day Australian Age and MC Championships brought about a 32-strong roster of youngsters being selected to represent the nation at this year’s Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, headed to Vancouver in August.

The championships saw a remarkable 18 national records bite the dust over the coures of the competition at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, giving us a glimpse into the up-and-coming talent rife in Australia.

The youngest member of the just-named line is Ava Hogan, 15, from Chandler, while 18-year-old Tristen Waugh represents the eldest.

Of note, breaststroking ace Sienna Toohey is among those named; however, Swimming Australia has indicated the teen has expressed her intention to race at selection trials for the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacific Championships.

Team head coach and National Youth Coach Simon Cusack said of the roster,  “We’ve had great success with our Next Gen camps. For example, we had terrific progress in the boys’ 400 IM, where we had the top three go under the qualifying time and that shows increasing depth and return on investment.

“And while not eligible yet for the national junior team, we are really excited about the 13-14-year age group. And it’s also a relief that our young swimmers have come out of the COVID years and seem unaffected.”

Here are some of the key highlights from the championships:

Amelie Smith (Rocky City): 7 Golds, 1 Silver

The girl they call “Smiley” just north of the Tropic of Capricorn, swept the pool in the 17 years age group.

Not only did Smith win gold in all of distance freestyle events (1500m, 800m & 400m), she claimed the 200m-400m IM double AND won 200m butterfly and 200m breaststroke gold. Smith also picked up silver in the 100m breaststroke. Now that is something to smile about.

Henry Allan (Bendigo East) : 5 Golds, 3 National Age Records, 3 All-Comers Record

The ridiculously talented backstroker started his campaign smashing Mitch Larkin’s old national age record from 2011 in the 17-year boys’ 200m backstroke heats (1:57.56). Later that day in the finals, Allan went even quicker (1:57.00) and broke USA Olympian Aaron Peirsol’s all-comers old mark that had stood for almost 26 years. The boy from Bendigo also clocked an all-comers record in the 50m backstroke heats (24.84) before taking Isaac Cooper’s Australian age record to win gold (24.51). In all, Allan claimed the backstroke three-peat (50m, 100m & 200m) as well as won the 200m free and 50m free to be the most successful swimmer in his 17-year boys’ age group.

Leny Grigor (Somerset GC): 4 Golds, 3 National Age Records, 1 All-Comers Record

Leny Grigor shot out of the blocks from his first final when he smashed Mitch Larkin’s 400 IM national age record to set a new mark of 4:16.15. The Somerset GC athlete went on to set an all-comers record of 2:12.48 in the 200m breaststroke and break the 200 IM national age record (2:00.53). Grigor closed out his campaign in with a sizzling 1:01.40 in the 100m breaststroke to claim his fourth gold and third national age record.

Lucy Ma (MLC Aquatic): 7 Golds, 1 Silver 

A jack of all trades, Lucy Ma won eight medals in nine contested individual events – seven of which were gold. The MLC Aquatic athlete claimed the 14-year girls’ 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke, the 100-200m backstroke double and the 200-400m IM double. She also won silver in the 200m freestyle.

Ishaaq Ismail (Surrey Park): 4 Golds, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze, 1 National Age Record

Surrey Park’s Ishaaq Ismail quickly turned heads when he set a national age record of 24.80 for 14-year boys’ 50m butterfly. In total, Ismail won the 50m fly, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 50m backstroke – and celebrated in style. He also claimed three silver: 50m free, 200m freestyle and 200m IM and a bronze on closing night in the 200m butterfly.

Molly Young (Carlile): 7 Golds

This Young gun could not be stopped sweeping up seven golds across her 13-year girls’ age group. Molly Young from Carlile tallied up a whopping 268 points for her club who finished on top of the club point score. Young swept the distance events from 1500m through to 200m freestyle and claimed the 100-200 butterfly double and the 400m individual medley.

SELECTED ATHLETES

SELECTED COACHES:

• Chris Urqhart – Somerset GC
• Steve Miller – Newmarket Racers
• Tsuyoshi Kimuara – Chandler
• Stewart Melton – Nudgee College
• Steve Goodier – Knox Pymble
• Justin Rothwell – Manly