Mooloolaba next stop en-route to Rio for open water swimmers
Swimming Australia, February 11, 2016: Australia’s open water swimmers will take another step towards Olympic selection when they line up in this weekend’s Australian Open Water Championships in Mooloolaba.
Already Sunshine Coast teenager Chelsea Gubecka and WA surf lifesaver Simon Huitenga have secured their places in the Rio Olympic qualifier in Portugal in June.
The best placed male and female from the Australian Shadow Squad in Saturday’s Olympic distance 10km championships will join Gubecka and Huitenga for Portugal.
Australia can only secure one male and one female for Rio, based on a top-nine placing in Portugal or the best placed Oceania representative.
Mooloolaba has attracted two all-star international fields with competitors from the USA, Canada, Japan, Great Britain and New Zealand bolstering the line-ups.
From Australia’s Rio nomination view point most of the interest will centre around the men’s race, with four major contenders, joining Huitenga in what will be a real face-off.
Australian open water head coach Ron McKeon, himself a two-time Olympian and former Australian surf champion, knows it will be go right down to the wire.
Victorian lifesaver and five-time winner of the Lorne Pier-to-Pub classic, Sam Sheppard, has thrown his hat into the ring as has 2012 Olympian Jarrod Poort (NSW), 2015 Australian open surf champion George O’Brien (QLD) and Rhys Mainstone (WA) who was third in the overall 2015 FINA 10km World Cup point score
Sheppard, Poort and O’Brien all joined Huitenga in Australia’s FINA World Championship team in Kazan, Russia last year.
“The battle of the men will be an enormous race. They are all very equal – on the same level going into this but each one has different strengths,” said McKeon.
“We are going to witness an exciting race within the race that’s for sure.
“Adding further flavour to the day will be the presence of a host of top internationals, including the USA’s reigning world champion from Russia last year, Jordan Willimovsky.”
Willimovsky will be joined by two of the best 10km swimmers in the world in Jack Burrell (Great Britain) and Richard Weinberger (Canada).
Burrell was fifth behind Willimovsky and Weinberger eighth in Kazan, with all three securing automatic Olympic nomination.
Also in the field will be Japan’s leading 10km swimmer in Yasunari Hirai who was 11th in Kazan, four places ahead of Australia’s best placed swimmer, Huitenga, who was 15th.
Guebecka, who was 13th in Kazan to earn her place for a shot at Rio in Portugal, will be joined by fellow Shadow Squad team member Kareena Lee, who was 20th in the Word Championship.
With two-time Olympian from 2008 and 2012, Mel Gorman and Kazan team member Jess Walker deciding against swimming in Mooloolaba, it leaves the door open for Lee to snare the remaining position for the next selection leg.
Issued on behalf of Swimming Australia by
Ian Hanson| Media Manager
Ian Hanson| Media Manager Triathlon Australia Managing Director
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