World Championship representative Chelsea Gubecka is on a golden run after taking out the girl’s 15 years Australian Age open water title at Eastern Beach in Geelong just two weeks after picking up the Australian Open title in the same event at the BHP Billiton Aquatic Super Series in Perth.
The talented teenager was the first to hit the finish gate, successfully defending her 2013 crown to stop the clock at a time of 2:09:17.37, to collect her second 10km title for this year.
Gubecka will now race in Portugal at the Open Water World Cup in the hopes of gaining selection onto the senior Australian team for the Pan Pacific Championships.
Second place in the girl’s 15 years age group went to Grace Hull in 2:09:51.02 with Sarah Thompson bagging the bronze in 2:10:55.93.
West Australian Sacha Downing finished just behind Gubecka, hitting the gate in 2:09:47.07 to take first place in the girl’s 16 years 10km ahead of Suzanne Ryan (2:11:29.95) and Renee Holdstock (2:14:16.39).
The boys in the 14-18 years 10km event kicked off proceedings at the 2014 Australian Age Open Water Championships, in Geelong, with Queensland basedLachlan Colquhoun first through the gate in a time of 2:02:11.57.
The TSS Aquatic swimmer took out the 17-18 years title ahead of William Rollo (2:0240.85) from Perth City with Clovercrest’s Ethan Owens (2:02:55.03) rounding out the top three.
Perth City swimmer Brett Fielding finished just a touch behind Colquhoun to collect the title in the boy’s 16 years 10km, recording a time of 2:02:40.83.
Second place went to Dean Wilson (2:05:50.04) from Water Lions Swim Club with Yeronga Park’s Kurt Hogan third in 2:06:14.42.
The first two finishers from both the girl’s and boy’s 10km events; Downing, Hull, Colquhoun and Fielding have now met the selection criteria and will be nominated to represent Australia at the 2013 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Hawaii this August.
The final two events of the day saw the girl’s and boy’s 13 years 5km Australian Age champions crowned.
In the boy’s 13 years 5km, Nicholas Hards couldn’t be caught with the New South Wales swimmer taking the top spot in a time of 1:05:05.29 ahead of Hayden Cotter in 1:05:16.06 with the bronze medal going to Dylan Mason in 1:05:19.70.
While the girls top three were in a tight tussle for the title with Ellodie Reid coming out on top in 1:10:45.11, Jemima Hutton second in 1:10:48.28 and Jade Slee third in 1:10:50.80.
The championship events will continue tomorrow with full results and information at http://www.swimming.org.au.
Other events, top three…
Boy’s 14 years 10km
1 Jack Brazier, QLD, 2:03:05.58
2 Cormac Guthrie, NSW, 2:09:41.84
3 Callum Lauriston, WA, 2:15:14.51
Boy’s 15 years 10km
1 Bradley Woodward, NSW, 2:05:39.75
2 Daniel McConnell, QLD, 2:05:55.61
3 Bailey Armstrong, QLD, 2:07:17.35
Boy’s 16 years 10km
1 Brett Fielding, WA, 2:02:40.83
2 Dean Wilson, VIC, 2:05:50.04
3 Kurt Hogan, QLD, 2:06:14.42
Boy’s 17-18 years 10km
1 Lachlan Colquhuon, QLD, 2:02:11.57
2 William Rollo, WA, 2:02:40.85
3 Ethan Owens, SA, 2:02:55.03
Girl’s 14 years 10km
1 Bianca Crisp, QLD, 2:14:27.02
2 Sheree Farrell, NSW, 2:20:08.98
3 Victoria Carta, QLD, 2:21:52.64
Girl’s 15 years 10km
1 Chelsea Gubecka, QLD, 2:09:17.37
2 Grace Hull, WA, 2:09:51.02
3 Sarah Thompson, QLD, 2:10:55.93
Girl’s 16 years 10km
1 Sacha Downing, WA, 2:09:47.07
2 Suzanne Ryan, QLD, 2:11:29.95
3 Renee Holdstock, QLD, 2:14:16.39
Girl’s 17-18 years 10km
1 Emily Seymour, 17, 2:10:43.27
2 Emma Payne, NSW, 2:11:45.33
3 Sarah McNevin, NSW, 2:14:29.86
Boy’s 13 years 5km
1 Nicholas Hards, NSW, 1:05:05.29
2 Hayden Cotter, QLD, 1:05:16.06
3 Dylan Mason, QLD, 1:05:19.70
Girl’s 13 years 5km
1 Ellodie Reid, VIC 1:10:45.11
2 Jemima hutton, VIC, 1:10:48.28
3 Jade Slee, QLD, 1:10:50.80
This release was provided to SwimSwam courtesy of Swimming Australia.