Dolphin Madeleine Gough shone at Brighton Beach on the second day of the Australian Open Water Swimming Championships, taking home the Women’s 5km Open title and gold medal in 58:08.56.
The 20-year-old from TSS Aquatic was the only competitor to swim sub one hour in what was a strong field of 25 athletes.
Her Queensland club was dominant in the race as her fellow teammates charged home to round out the top four. Moesha Johnson clocked 1:00:51.96 to secure silver, while Bianca Crisp – who took home bronze in Women’s 10km yesterday – added another third place to her name after posting 1:01:08.79. Laura Taylor finished fourth in 1:01:14.55.
In the same event for the men, experienced campaigner and Olympic champion, Ferry Weertman from the Netherlands, backed up his gold medal performance from yesterday in the Men’s 10km Open – this time crossing the finish line first in the Men’s 5km Open. While Weertman (56:00.24) touched first, it was Kawana Waters’ Matthew Robinson who claimed the Australian title as the fastest Aussie, placing third overall in 56:19.98. Canada’s Jon McKay was second in 56:19.19, with Nicholas Rollo (Perth City) snaring silver as the second fastest local and Cormac Guthrie from Sydney Uni nabbing bronze as the third fastest Australian in 56:24.53.
William Thorley from Hong Kong also backed up his swim from day one, prevailing in the Boys 18-year-old 5km event. Hitting the gantry in 56:28.68, he was two seconds clear of the first-placed Australian, Revesby Worker’s Nicholas Middleton (58:11.49). Middleton, who finished third in the 10km age event yesterday, bagged his first gold and national title of the year as he placed ahead of Bunbury’s Kyle Lee (58:12.65) and Manly’s Logan Kaye (58:13.59).
After progressing to the next stage of the Olympic process on day one, North Coast WA’s Jack Wilson took home the national title and gold medal in the Boys 19-year-old 5km. It was an extremely tight race as he and his North Coast WA teammate Byron Kimber went head to head, with the duo only separated by only .50 of a second at the finish line – 56:22.00 to 56:22.50. SOPAC’s Matthew Galea touched for third in 56:26.80.
Capitalising on her win from day one and her qualification on to the world junior team, Chloe Gubecka (Kawana Waters) scored her second gold of the meet, triumphant in the Girls 18-year-old 5km event. Recording a time of 1:0:18.02, Gubecka beat out Miyu Nagao from Japan (1:05:07.60) and fellow Kawana Waters’ teammate, Chloe Johnston (1:05:31.67). Although Johnston placed third overall, she was the second fastest Australian, earning her the silver medal, while Ellie Richardson from Kincumber Pacific Dolphins was the third fastest Aussie (1:07:23.65) and received bronze.
In the Girls 19-year-old 5km race, Sydney Uni’s Frances Shires claimed gold in 1:01:21.01 ahead of international competitors from Japan, Mia Yamamoto (1:01:23.78) and Airi Ebina (1:01:38.07). Nudgee College’s Jessica Mouatt (1:01:43.13) grabbed silver as the second fastest local, while Kelsey Eastwood (1:02:52.57) from North Coast WA won the bronze as the third fastest Australian.
Japan had a fruitful Sunday as Koichiro Iwazumi finished first in the Boys 16-year-old 5km event, posting a time of 1:00:02.27. Wests Illawarra Aquatic’s Bailey Krstevski (1:00:19.36) captured the title as the quickest Australian, with Bunbury’s Kaiden Richings (1:00:21.66) taking the silver spoils and Trinity Grammar’s Gabriel Wilczak (1:00:23.56) snaring bronze.
In the 17-year-old boys 5km race Miami’s Ruben Rees scored his second gold medal of the meet, taking the top place on the podium with a time of 58:46.11. He was the only swimmer to duck below the one-hour barrier, with Japan’s Kuu Motoyama placing second in 1:00:22.00. As the second and third fastest locals, The Hills’ Alex Weeks (1:00:23.87) was presented with silver while Miami’s Kaiden Hubbard (1:00:24.17) received bronze.
Jacqueline Davison-McGovern pushed herself on Sunday morning to take home her first gold medal of the meet. After claiming a bronze medal in the Girls 16-year-old 7.5km event on Saturday, she bettered her performance in the 5km race – taking it in 1:05:36.64. Davison-McGovern finished ahead of Ally Hamilton-Moss (1:07:08.79) from Mountain Creek Mooloolaba and Rosie Wilson (1:07:12.16) from Breakers WA.
Miami’s Sara Tazaki asserted her dominance in her 17-year-old age category, narrowly taking top spot in the 5km race with a time of 1:05.31.78. It came down to the wire between Tazaki and Revesby Workers’ athlete Hayley Rowlands, who touched whiskers behind in 1:05:31.99. SOPAC’s Georgia Platts snared bronze in 1:07:08.64.
Tuggeranong Viking’s athlete and Australia Dolphin Joshua Alford came out on top in the Men’s 5km Multi-Class race, hitting the finish line in 1:04:19.36 to take the gold. He placed ahead of Alexander Tuckfield (SLC Aquadot) who clocked 1:05:15.46 for silver and Lewis Bishop (Rackley) who recorded 1:13:45.59 for bronze.
Hitting the water for the first time at a national event, 14-year-old girls and boys took to the sea for their 5km race early this morning.
Taking out the boys’ race to claim gold in 1:03:52.12 was Daniel Ebzery from Uni of Queensland, while Noah O’Donnell from Western Melbourne Propulsion touched for silver in 1:04:18.09 and Carlile’s Samuel Thorpe received bronze in 1:04:57.38. For the girls it was Hayley Andrejic from Townsville Tourists who claimed her first national title in 1:07:25.37 ahead of Revesby Workers’ Milly Pollock (1:08:22.82) and Hannah Mayne from Aquablitz Toongabbie (1:10:05.15), who won silver and bronze respectively.
Kai Robertson (Revesby Workers) and Thomas Dever (Hunter) battled it out in the Boys 15-year-old 5km event, with the duo fighting right up until the final metres. In the end it was Robertson who touched narrowly in front of Dever, 1:03:05.07 to 1:03:05.44. International competitor Alex Dunkley from New Zealand finished in 1:03:07.59 to pace third overall. As the third fastest Australian, Charlie Gray from Cambelltown received the bronze medal in 1:03:10.69.
In the corresponding event for the girls, Abbey Connor (Revesby Workers) pushed hard to prevail in a time of 1:06:34.15, while Dyana Crabb from TSS Aquatic recorded 1:06:46.78 for silver and Isabella Campbell from Hunter clocked 1:07:47.80 for bronze.
Day three action kicks off at Brighton Beach in Adelaide tomorrow morning at 7:30am. To access live race results during the competition, click here for open results and here for age results, while you can view the program here.
