2023 OCEAN SWIM FESTIVAL/AUSTRALIAN OW CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, January 25th – Saturday, January 28th
- Busselton Jetty, Western Australia
- Open Water
- Recap #1/Recap #2
- Live Results
The 2023 Australian Open Water Championships concluded today with a thrilling finish in the men’s 5k event.
Kyle Lee of North Coast spent most of the race in the 5th position but charged Nick Sloman of Noosa during the final meters. The pair saw their duel come down to the finish, with just .06 separating the men when all was said and done.
Lee got there first, touching in 53:20.90 with Sloman, the men’s 10k winner here on day one, capturing silver in 53:20.96. Carlile’s Kai Edwards rounded out the top 3 with a bronze medal-worthy 53:22.78.
This race marks Lee’s first-ever open water national title as he looks toward the Australian 10k Championships later this month, as well as the LEN 10k series in March.
The women’s 5k saw a little more separation, with 24-year-old Maddy Gough getting it done for gold in a time of 57:12.93.
That gave the Carlile swimmer an almost 2-second advantage over runner-up Chelsea Gubecka, the women’s 10k gold medalist from day one. Gubecka finished this 5k in 57:14.65 while Gough’s teammate Tayla Martin also landed on the podium in 58:17.40 for bronze.
This is only Gough’s 4th open water race, as the swimmer says she ‘would love’ to represent Australia both in the pool and open water in Paris 2024.
Additional Notes
- Japan secured multiple golds to close out the final day of competition, with Kaito Tsujimori earning gold in the boys’ 17-year-old 5k race (56:01.11). 18-year-old Miku Kojima won her age group’s crown in 59:34.95 while her 19-year-old teammate Ichika Kajimoto did the same in her age category (57:16.41).
- Perth’s North Coast was awarded the C.B. Rickards trophy as the Champion Club of the 2023 Australian Open Water Championships with 331 points, ahead of Yeronga Park on 275 and Noosa on 253.
Positions and analogy of a thrilling Men’s 5km is totally correct, but Kyle Lee can’t be looking forward to Australian 10km Champs later this month as that race was a few days ago where he earned 5th position in another thrilling race.