A well-established Bull Shark star and an up-and-coming South Australian backstroke and butterfly gun have been announced as Bond University’s Hancock Prospecting Swimming Excellence Scholars.
Junior swimming highflier Flynn Southam, a product of Lindisfarne Anglican School in northern New South Wales, won’t have to go far to take up his scholarship. He already trains at Bond under Bond Bull Sharks Head Coach Chris Mooney. He’ll study a Bachelor of Psychology in 2023.
Backstroke and butterfly specialist Fergus McLachlan, who hails from Norwood Swimming Club in Adelaide, will move to the Gold Coast in the new year to study a Bachelor of Commerce.
McLachlan said he’s thrilled to have been chosen.
“It’s an incredible offer and an absolute honour,” he said. “The facilities at Bond are as good as any in the entire country, and Bond’s unique ability to be able to blend my sporting and academic needs with practical employment opportunities down the track is pretty exciting. Being an athlete is a different kind of life and especially being away from home it’s good to know that I’ll have that level of support, understanding and awareness around me.”
Southam, definitely one to watch in the lead up to the Paris 2024 Olympics, will start his student life at Bond after a stellar year in the pool.
He claimed gold as part of Australia’s 4 x 50m freestyle team to accompany silver medals in the 4 x 100m and 4 x 200m FINA World Short Course Championships in Melbourne last week. Those medals will look right at home next to the three relay gold medals he collected at the Birmingham Commonwealth Games back in July and the four gold and two silver he claimed at the Junior Pan Pacs.
"It's an absolute honour and also a big responsibility," Southam said. "I'm pretty passionate about being a role model. I want to use the opportunity to set an example for others by striking the right kind of balance between my academic and sporting lives."
The Hancock Prospecting Swimming Excellence Scholarship is one of the most prestigious scholarships available in Australia. In addition to a 100% fee remission for eligible degree programs, scholars also receive a $21,000 living allowance for each year of their study and a unique mentoring experience through Bond Swimming Ambassadors, who provide both sport and career mentoring to assist in the development of the students’ sporting performance and preparation for life beyond sport.