The Bull Sharks dived into another packed competitive schedule at the weekend when they competed in a Queensland Preparation meet at Chandler Aquatic Centre.
After a bumper 2024 where Bull Sharks featured at the Paris Olympics, the World Long and Short Course Championships and the Junior Pan Pacific Championships, the athletes in Head of Swimming Kyle Samuelson’s program enjoyed a well-earned Christmas break before another long year of racing.
With an altitude training camp at Thredbo next week Samuelson and head coach Chris Mooney decided to take a full-strength side up the M1 for some racing and came away with some strong results.
Olympians:
With Ben Armbruster rehabilitating a shoulder injury, Paris Olympics silver and bronze medallist Flynn Southam led the program. Southam has built a reputation for his ability to compete a packed schedule and this was no exception – racing in the 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle over 2.5 days – winning the 200m, 400m and 800m.
The next big thing:
Our 2025 Hancock Prospecting Swimming Excellence Scholarship recipient Milla Jansen, who made her first Dolphins senior side late last year, also impressed winning the 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m freestyle .
Making his mark:
Josh Collett broke through for his first Dolphins side last year for the World Short Course Championships in Budapest. He has added the 400m individual medley to his schedule and shaved a whopping 10 seconds off his personal best in his first race in the event.
World Aquatics:
Our international swimmers were in a record-breaking mood in their fist meet as Bull Sharks.
Siwakhile Dlamini broke the Eswatini national record in the 100m freestyle and Enkhtamir Batbayar broke his own Mongolian national records in the 100m and 200m freestyle.
The squad will now head off to Thredbo for a 12 day camp before returning to Queensland for the Australian Championships starting April 21. They will then attempt to defend the UniSport Nationals Championship in May and then onto World Championships trials in Adelaide ahead of the World Championships in Singapore.