Rising swimmers Luke Molenda and Kaleb Glas compete strongly at School Sport swimming meet on Gold Coast

Great Southern swimmers Luke Molenda and Kaleb Glas recently competed for WA at the 2024 School Sport Australia Swimming Championships meet held at the Southport Aquatic Centre on the Gold Coast.

The meet was held between July 24-31 and attended by all States as well as the Cook Islands and Fiji.

Albany Swim Club’s Molenda competed in two individual events and in two relay teams.

The nine-year-old swam the backstroke leg of the boys 4x50m relay and the final leg of the 4x50m medley relay in a rapid time of 38.44 seconds.

Molenda finished 16th in the 50m backstroke event and 16th in the 50m breaststroke.

Mt Barker Amateur Swim Club’s Glas is a multiclass athlete, swimming under the classification of SB13 for swimmers with a visual impairment.

A gun across all strokes, 14-year-old Glas absolutely smashed some of his personal best times, finishing ninth in the 100m breaststroke and notching a 17.52sec PB and touching the wall eighth in the 200m freestyle 15.69sec faster than his previous best.

He finished 10th in both the 50m freestyle and 100m backstroke, ninth in the 50m breaststroke and 50m backstroke and fifth in the 100m freestyle.

Glas swam the last leg of the freestyle leg of the 4x50m medley relay, helping his team to fifth and swam the last leg of the 4x50m freestyle relay.

Because the event was held in an outside pool, Glas must wear special S11 classification goggles which are entirely black, rendering him completely blind.

ASC coach Nola Osbourne said their pair’s achievements are reflective of their hard work at training and results garnered at swim meets.

“Selection into the 2024 School Sport Australia Swimming Championships team is a major achievement for both Luke (Molenda) and Kaleb (Glas), and is a testament to their hard work at training and the results they achieve at swim meets,” she said.

“Luke and Kaleb are both accomplished State level swimmers and medallists and have bright futures ahead of themselves.

“They have both achieved some awesome results and are swimming at the top of their age groups within WA.

“They continually strive to better themselves and their results and achievements speak for themselves.”