Bronze win buoys young swim star

Albany swimming sensation Tom Gawned has come away with a bronze medal after a hectic schedule at the 2018 Australian School Sports Swimming Championships in Tasmania last month.

Gawned was the only Albany representative in the WA schoolboys team that competed in the championships held at the Hobart Aquatic Centre from July 26-31.

The 14-year-old Albany Swim Club star produced an impressive set of results, making a number of finals that was highlighted by his swim in the 50m boys 14 freestyle final.

After qualifying for the final, Gawned won a bronze medal after finishing in a time of 25.58 seconds, which was only beaten by New South Wales pair Joshua Collett (25:14) and Luke Garment (25:37).

At the championships Gawned also finished fourth in the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke finals.

In the boys 13-14 age group he was sixth in the 50m butterfly, 100m butterfly and 200m individual medley to go with eighth in the 50m breaststroke and ninth in the 100m breaststroke.

ASC head coach Marshall McAleese said it was a set of strong results for Gawned this early in his season.

“It’s really early in the season for him to be swimming that fast, which is good signs for the nationals,” McAleese said.

“It was a long course event so to do that well was encouraging for year ahead given he’s training short course. Tom is the State record holder in the 50m freestyle so his time was a bit over his record but still a pretty good effort.

“The meet has again showed his versatility in a variety of disciplines and distances.”

McAleese said Gawned would now focus on building for the WA State Short Course Championships at the end of this month where he would try to secure a place on the WA team for the national championships in Canberra later in the year.