by Grace Knight
Three Bond swimmers have booked spots at the 2023 Junior World Championships.
Flynn Southam (Bachelor of Psychology), Gideon Burnes and Milla Jansen have all qualified to represent Australia.
Selection in the Australian team was based on performances at the National Australian Age Championships last month.
Southam managed to win first place in every one of his freestyle races in the 17-and-under division. He swam 22.4s in the 50m, 49.49s in the 100m and 1min 46s in the 200m.
Burnes, a breaststroker, was similarly successful in the 17-and-unders with wins in the 50m (28.84s), 100m (1min 02s) and the 200m (2min 15s).
Milla Jansen secured her national squad spot with a 54.55s second place in the 16-and-under division 100m freestyle.
World Aquatics - formerly known as FINA - will this year hold the championships in the Mediterranean resort city of Netanya, Israel.
The competition will run from September 4-9. More than 600 of the world’s best young athletes will attend.
Gideon Burnes will enjoy his official debut on the international swimming stage. while Milla Jansen and Flynn Southam will make their second World Juniors appearances.
As the talented Bond trio ramp up their preparations in the pool, so too will Bond’s Director of Swimming Kyle Samuelson who was appointed as one of six coaches to accompany the Australian team.
“We’re just so proud of our three swimmers who qualified,” Samuelson said.
“We also had another Bondy who only narrowly missed a spot, but it’s not an easy team to make.
“It’s quite a step up from last year’s competition because they only select the top two in each event.”
The Australian team will scale up their preparations at a staging camp in Cyprus in August.