Australia Sending Nine Swimmers to FINA Open Water World Cup

Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick

CANBERRA, Australia, October 8. Nine of the country’s top open water swimmers will leave Australia tonight, bound for China to take part in the 2014 FINA Open Water World Cup.

After spending the last two weeks at a distance camp at the National Training Centre in Canberra, the swimmers will race in the 10km events in China on Sunday October 12 and then Hong Kong on Saturday October 18.

Open water Head Coach Ron McKeon said the swimmers would use this World Cup racing experience to broaden their skill set in preparation for the 2015 World Championships in Kazaan, Russia.

“The world cup events are the perfect opportunity for the open water swimmers to gain race practice in a competitive environment.

The Asian legs especially are great, as they are close to home, with minimal time difference but strong international competition. While the depth of field in the Asian legs of the World Cup are comparatively lower than other open water events, the quality remains high as swimmers chase World Cup rankings. ” McKeon said.

The nine-strong team features a mix of experience and emerging talent including Olympian Melissa Gorman, silver and bronze medallists from the open water 10km event at the Pan Pacific Championships Jarrod Poort and Chelsea Gubecka respectively, and Junior Pan Pacific Championship bronze medallist in the 10km event Lachlan Colquhoun.

“The team has been at a distance camp at the National Training Centre, sleeping at altitude and honing in on their race skills and we will be looking for podium finishes in both China and Hong Kong,” McKeon said.

The 10km race in China will begin at 9:00am local time, on Sunday October 12 with full results available at www.fina.org

Please see below for the full list of swimmers competing in China and Hong Kong at the FINA Open Water World Cup.

Australian Open Water World Cup Team:
Swimmers –
Lachlan Colquhoun, QLD
Melissa Gorman, QLD
Chelsea Gubecka, QLD
Kareena Lee, QLD
George O’Brien, QLD
Jarrod Poort, NSW
Josh Richardson, QLD
Sam Sheppard, QLD
Jessica Walker, QLD

Coaches –
Colin Braund, QLD
Richard Sleight, QLD
James Greathead, NSW

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworld.com.

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