WA’S Man-Of-The-Moment Kyle Lee Adds Second Gold At Australian Open Water Championships
Paris Olympian And World Relay Champion Kyle Lee has added gold medal number two to his 2026 Australian Open Water Championship collection, anchoring his North Coast team to victory in today’s 4x1500m relay at Bunbury’s Koombana Bay in WA.
The 23-year-old successfully defended his 10km National title yesterday in a thrilling finish with Thomas Raymond and today he combined with teammates Bianca Monaco, Eleanor Flowers and Adam Sudlow to claim the coveted relay gold in a time of 1:01:14.00.
The North Coasters finished ahead of Moesha Johnson’s Miami, QLD foursome, who clocked 1:01:14.00, Japan (1:01:14.10) and St Peters Western, QLD (1:04:03.30).
It was yesterday’s women’s 10km champion Johnson who barged her way past Japan’s Miro Uchimura to help secure silver for her Gold Coast teammates, holding off Japan who claimed bronze.
Lee said: “The Japanese took it out last year and we knew we had some good competition coming into this one with Miami and Japan. Seeing how good my teammates performed up front, Bianca (Monaco), Eleanor (Flowers) and Adam (Sudlow) all got me into a good lead, (so) I tried my best to close it and get the result we did. We’re very happy.”
Johnson said the race plan was to hold the boys’ feet as long as possible.
“I probably chose the wrong boy’s feet … (but) it ended up being a fight to the finish line between (us) and the Japanese.
“For us particularly (with) Mia (Feltham) who is little bit new to open water….we wanted to try and give her some clean water and put me in with the boys instead and just mix it up a little bit, it’s always interesting (to) try a few things a little bit differently.”
The day’s racing also featured aspiring LA and Brisbane 2032 Olympic talent in the 14-15 years’ boys and girls 5km events as swimmers were chaperoned around the 1.25km course by a local pod of dolphins.
Mia Hoo (Carlile, NSW) won gold in the girls’ 14 years 5km; Adam Fruscalzo (Nambour, QLD) the corresponding boy’s event; Delinda Thompson (Nepean, NSW) the girl’s 15 years and Mason Kopff (Sunshine Grammar, QLD) the boy’s race.
And in a landmark day for Para Swimming in Australia, an open water 3km race was conducted as a standalone National title, with 10 athletes competing across the S7 to S19 classifications.
And it was Kate Wallington (S19, City of Perth, WA) who touched first in the women’s race with Ky Millican(S19,Goodlife, QLD) claiming gold in the men’s.
Maddison Hinds (Hornsby, NSW), who finished fourth, used today’s swim as part of her buildup to contest the World Cup in Sardina later this year.
Para Head Coach Mel Tantrum said today’s historic event was part of Swimming Australia’s strategy to grow Para Open Water Swimming nationally, and to support World Para Swimming’s push to host open water events at the World Championships.
2026 Australian Open Water Championships, Day 2:
GIRLS
5km
14 years
1.Mia Hoo (Carlile, NSW) 1:02:22.10
- Melina Dimitriadou-Pierce (Fenix, WA) 1:04:47.60
- Evie Nagy (Nepean, NSW) 1:05:37.00
15 years
1.Delinda Thompson (Nepean, NSW), 1:02:53.10
- Hannah Jamieson (Carlile, NSW), 1:02:55.30
3.Mackenzie Wyeth (Rocky City, QLD), 1:03:23.00
3km Multi Class
1.Kate Wallington S19 (City of Perth, WA) 35:21.40
- Amie Holwill S19, (Bunbury, WA) 37:01.80
- Amelia Steiner S19, (St Andrews, QLD) 43:14.90
BOYS
5km
14 years
1.Adam Fruscalzo (Nambour, QLD) 59:29.30
- Willem Botha (SLC Aquadot, NSW) 1:02:57.80
- Noah Morphett (Nepean, NSW) 1:03:47.90
15 years
1.Mason Kopff, (Sunshine Coast Grammar, QLD), 59:08.10
- Ashton Bone (Gosford Stingrays, NSW), 59:15.10
- Kobi Mead (SLC Aquadot, NSW), 59:15.30
3km Multi Class
1.Ky Millican S19, (Goodlife, QLD) 37:38.40
- Daniel Lill S14, (Camden, NSW) 38:57.70
- Ben Morrison S14, (Miami, QLD) 39:09.00
Mixed
4×1.5km Relay
1. North Coast, WA (Bianca Monaco, Eleanor Flowers, Adam Sudlow, Kyle Lee), 1:00:06.40
- Miami, QLD (Dougal Richmond, Mia Feltham, Moesha Johnson, Bailey Armstrong), 1:01:14.00.
- Japan (Sachika Kajimoto, Kiyomi Tani, Miro Uchimura, Taishin Nakagawa), 1:01:14.10; 3*.
3*. St Peters Western, QLD (Macy Beuzeville, Ella Reynolds, Riley Meares, William Thorpe), 1:04:03.30
*Third placed Australian relay team