Western Australia’s best swimmers and brightest hopefuls will take to the pool on Friday in a bid to be crowned state champion .
WA’s premier swimming event, the SunSmartState Open & Age Long Course State Championships, launches at HBF Stadium on Friday 18th December and runs until Monday 21st December.
Olympic hopefuls Blair Evans, Brianna Throssell, Tamsin Cook, Nic Brown and Tommy Sucipto will be among those vying for a State Championship title during the four-day event, which represents the pinnacle of swimming in WA.
There is potential Evans (UWA West Coast), Throssell (Perth City) and Cook (UWA West Coast) will go head-to-head in the Women’s 200m Freestyle for the first time at a championship level, with the 16-year-old Cook looking to cement her growing reputation as a star on the rise.
Cook swam a personal best time of 1:58.16 in the 200m Free at the FINA World Junior Swimming Championships in Singapore in August, which was her last major event before an intensive 10-week training schedule.
Coach Mick Palfrey said Cook was in very good shape and injury-free.
“She has three races on the first day and it will be important for her to backup. Tamsin will do well because she is a good competitor and she’ll race hard,” he said.
“”For me, with an Olympic year approaching, it is about being level-headed and logical. Coaching is about improving a swimmer’s strengths and cutting out their weaknesses.”
Throssell’s coach Matt Magee emulated Palfrey’s comments, saying his focus with the 19-year-old medical student was to ensure she stayed focused on her past 365 days of training.
“For a coach, it is about fulfilling a swimmer’s potential,” Magee said. “Especially for a major meet, there is pressure on the swimmer to perform.
“They have been working all winter with their coach practicing certain aspects, and a major meet is an opportunity for all that hard work to come into fruition.”
Finals sessions of the SunSmart State Open & Age Long Course Championships will commence at 5.30pm each evening, and updates will be available via the Swimming WA website, as well as the Swimming WA Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds.
Swimming news courtesy of Swimming WA.