Swimming WA Awards of Excellence recognise Mt Barker Amateur Swimming Club as 2026 regional club of the year

Mt Barker’s amateur swimming club has been making a splash, taking home Swimming WA’s award for the regional club of the year.

The 2026 Swimming WA Awards of Excellence, held at Fremantle Yacht Club on Saturday, recognised the club as a heartbeat of the town, and its reputation as an inclusive and family-friendly organisation.

Last season the Barracudas celebrated winning the C-grade country pennants after a mammoth fundraising effort to send the team to Karratha paid off in the pool.

This summer, the club hope the C-grade victory lifts it up a peg into the B-grade for the next competition in Geraldton.

Club secretary Kelly Osborne said the Swimming WA award was recognition for the way the club operated as an extended family.

“The theme of the awards this year was ‘swimming is a team sport’ and the win was a testament to our whole club environment, the feel and the club culture,” she said.

“We are very much known as an extended family, and it was such an incredible moment for our little country swimming club.

“We couldn’t think of a more fitting way to describe our Barracudas family.”

Ms Osborne said the 50m pool was an important community meeting space and a hub for families during the summer months.

“The 50m pool is a dying breed in the region, but it is so important to us,” she said.

“I feel for those shires who are losing them.”

There is no time for the club, which has approaching 100 members, to rest on its laurels as the new season is fast approaching.

Mt Barker is hosting the Great Southern Regional Championships on December 6, which will be a top opportunity for swimmers to qualify for State Championships.

“We will be getting straight into it,” said Ms Osborne, who thanked the parents, coaches and volunteers who were key to the club’s fortunes.

“From a small regional town to standing amongst the very best in WA … what an achievement,” she said.

“It’s a reflection of the countless early mornings, endless laps, personal bests, hard work, dedication and the incredible community we’ve built together.”

The club pipped fellow nominees Gingin, Onslow and Mandurah to the title.