Five Queensland Teenagers Rewarded With Selection In The Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games

28 May 2023
Written by: Ian Hanson OAM

Five Queensland Teenagers Rewarded With Selection In The Trinbago  2023  Commonwealth Youth Games

Between them they won 14 medals at the Australian Age Championships in April and now five of Queensland’s fastest teenagers have been rewarded with selection on Australia’s 10-strong swim team for the Trinbago 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games (August 4-11).

The seventh Commonwealth Youth Games will take place on the Islands of Trinidad and Tobago with over 1000 athletes and para-athletes between the ages of 14 and 18 who will participate in seven sports.

And five of Queensland’s exciting new faces, led by Iona Swim Club pair, 17-year-old Hannah Allen and 15-year-old Zoe Ammundsen, along with Jye Bennion, 18 (St Peters Western, QLD), Mikayla Bird, 16 (Bond, QLD) and Poppy Stephen, 17 (Nudgee, QLD), will form half of the Australian team.

The Iona duo, under Head Coach Zane King, shared six of those 14 medals on the Gold Coast with Ammundsen winning the 15-years 100 (1:02.04) and 200m backstroke (2:14.35) double as well as taking silver and bronze in the 50m backstroke (28.50) and 100m freestyle (56.50) respectively.

Allen chiming in with silver in the 1500m freestyle (16:57.71) and bronze in the 400m freestyle min 4:16.29.

Bird, under head coach Chris Mooney in the Bond program, was one of the real stars of the Age Championships – winning triple gold in the 100m butterfly (59.90), 200m butterfly (2:12.76) and 200m freestyle (2:02.55) as well as silver in the 50m butterfly (27.59). 

Bennion, under SPW’s National Age coach Richard Sleight was a dual bronze medallist in the 16-18 years 800m (8:15.32) and 1500m freestyle (16:00.88) respectively while Stephen under head coach Shaun Crow earned herb place on the team winning silver in the 200m butterfly (2;13.18) and bronze in the 50m backstroke (29.61).

The Commonwealth Youth Games selections follows the naming of 18 Queenslanders on the 30-strong Australian Junior Dolphins team for the World Junior Championships in Israel in September.

Poppy Stephen, 17 (Nudgee, QLD) 3rd 50m back 29.61, 2nd 200m butterfly 2:13.18

 

Since its first edition in 2000 in Edinburgh the Commonwealth Youth Games has produced a host of Commonwealth and Olympic stars, led by Jodie Henry and including Linda McKenzie, Meagen Nay, Ariarne Titmus, Shayna Jack, Jack Cartwright and Clyde Lewis.

Henry, one of Queensland’s greatest, burst onto the scene in Edinburgh where she won five gold medals, before adding a total of seven medals, with four gold, across both the Manchester 2002 and Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games – and becoming a triple Olympic gold medallist – headlining in the 100m freestyle – at the 2004 Athens Games. 

And at the last Commonwealth Youth Games held prior to forced postponements due to COVID-19, it was another Queenslander, the girl from Mackay, Meg Harris won the women’s 50m freestyle and has since gone on to become a Commonwealth, World Championships and Olympic gold medallist herself.

Swimming Australia’s General Manager – Performance Pathways, Gary Barclay, said the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games would not only provide the Australian team with a valuable opportunity to swim against international opposition, but also deliver the athletes the unique experience of taking part in a significant multi-sport competition.

“The Commonwealth Youth Games is an exceptional way for our young athletes to gain crucial experience on the international stage,” Barclay said.
 
“The meet provides these athletes with an opportunity to test themselves against some of the best young athletes across the world, and it is great recognition of how they have performed in the pool to date.”


 

Bringing a diverse perspective of the twin island country in the West Indies to the nations of the Commonwealth, as well as showcasing a festival of the country’s activities.

 

The 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games will be held from 4 to 11 August with swimming events taking place at the National Aquatic Centre in Couda, Trinidad.

2023 Commonwealth Youth Games Swimming Team


Hannah Allen, 17 (Iona, QLD)
Zoe Ammundsen, 15 (Iona, QLD)
Jye Bennion, 18 (St Peters Western, QLD)
Mikayla Bird, 16 (Bond, QLD)

Braden Fyneman, 16 (UWA-West Coast, WA)
Samuel Higgs, 16 (Warringah Aquatic, NSW)
Tommy Lane, 17 (Haileybury Aquatic, VIC)
Clancy Luscombe, 17 (Marion, SA)
Inez Miller, 16 (St Hilda’s, WA)
Poppy Stephen, 17 (Nudgee, QLD)

Head Coach - Tracey Menzies-Stegbauer (Swimming Australia)
Team Coach - Kelly Stubbins (Haileybury Aquatic, VIC)
Team Coach - Cameron Gledhill (Warringah Aquatic, NSW)

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