Albany Swim Club hosts successful Albany Short Course Carnival featuring host of young talent from across WA

Albany Swim Club members shone in their home pool over the weekend as part of the Albany Short Course Carnival at the Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre. The two-day meet attracted about 150 swimmers from across the State, pitting some of WA’s best swimmers against a stack of local talent. The hosts were represented by a total of 35 athletes who recorded a personal best rate of 45 per cent across their 263 events, with Seth Lawson and Tariq Malpass both named in the meet’s top 10 achievers. Ashton Henrickson, Tommy Bavcevich and Megan Pascoe filled roles as team captains. ASC’s Kalarny Williams was named the junior champion of the meet with personal best times across six races including a gold medal in the 50m butterfly (38sec.). Team captain Henrickson shaved 1min.44.85sec. off the entry time for his 400m freestyle, while Thomas Bavcevich improved on the 400m freestyle by 27.95sec. Lars Collin bettered his previous time by 18.34sec. in the 200m individual medley (4:18.72) while Holly De Jonge made an improvement of 14.78sec. on her 200m freestyle (2:48.76). Jack Gledson stopped the clock at 3:56.06, smashing his previous best time with a 15.08sec. improvement. Seth Lawson rose to the occasion, winning four gold medals across his nine races, including a 15.79sec. improvement in the 200m breaststroke (1:52.87). Sophie Loverock in her 50m backstroke (55:62), Robbie Monaghan in the 100m freestyle (1:44.04) and Jason Wenbourne in the 200m freestyle (2:42.68), also notched PBs. Malpass finished his 100m freestyle in a time of 59.77sec., giving him a first sub-60 in that event. Samuel Forgus had three new State times (100m freestyle, 50m freestyle, 100m individual medley), Sunny Gretton recorded one new State time (100m individual medley), and Seth Lawson tallied three in the 100m medley, 100m breaststroke and 100m freestyle. In the relay results, the Albany under-14 girls won gold in the 4x50m freestyle and the medley, while the women’s open also claimed top spot in the 4x50m freestlye. Team Albany also won gold in the under-14 4x50m freestyle, the under-14 4x50m medley, the men’s open 4x50m freestyle, and the 4x50m medley. “Team Albany performed extremely well at our home meet,” ASC head coach Nola Osborne said. “Malachy Williams continued to perform at his best, swimming another new State time for 200m freestyle. “This sees Malachy now qualified for 10 individual swims at the Junior States meet in Perth in September, which is an awesome achievement. “Newcomer Sam Forgus was also impressive, swimming three State qualifying times after only joining the club a few months ago. “Seth (Lawson) finished the meet with three new State times, taking his total number of State qualifying times to five, which is a great accomplishment. “It was also exciting to see our seven-year-old athletes Stephanie Forgus, Faolan Williams, Taj Gretton and Charlie Gledson competing in their first Splash and Dash events. “Faolan and Charlie both (broke) club records with their swims.” Osborne said there were a host of team highlights in the pool. “Tommy Bavcevich continues to shine in the longer distance events, taking 27.95 seconds off his 400m freestyle entry time,” she said. “Tommy has continued to improve over the longer distance events, with the 400m freestyle fast turning into his pet event. “Team relays were another highlight, with the under-14 girls’ team of Summer Lawson, Holly De Jonge, Tessa Steer and Sophia Riddell winning gold in both the 4x50 freestyle and medley relays. “It was a similar story for the men’s open team of Ashton Henrickson, Tariq Malpass, Scott West and Clyde Fernandes, with gold medal performances in the same relay events. “Overall, it was a job well done by all 35 athletes.”