World Beating Dolphin Mollie O’Callaghan Named Australia’s Olympic Program Swimmer Of The Year
Dual world champion Mollie O’Callaghan has tonight joined swimming’s elite as only the third female to win back-to-back Australian Swimmer of the Year Awards in Brisbane.
O’Callaghan was named Olympic program Swimmer of the Year while Rowan Crothers and Chelsea Gubecka – both from Yeronga Park, QLD were named the Paralympic Program and Open Water Swimmers of the Year respectively.
While O’Callaghan’s St Peters Western Head Coach Dean Boxall was named Olympic Program Coach of the Year and two-time Olympian Madi Wilson (Marion, SA) won the prestigious Swimmers Swimmer of the Year.
TRIPLE TREAT: Mollie O’Callaghan, Rowan Crothers and Chelsea Gubecka. Photo Courtesy Swimming Australia.
But what a year it was for the 19-year-old O’Callaghan from St Peters Western (QLD) defending her 100m freestyle world crown and proceeding to break her first world record in winning the 200m freestyle at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka.
Adding three relay gold medals in the 4x100m, 4x200m and 4x100m Mixed freestyle relays to walk away with five gold medals.
O’Callaghan joins Susie O’Neill, who won back-to-back Swimmer of the Year Awards in 1995 and 1996 and Bronte Campbell, who shared with sister Cate Campbell, in 2012 and Emily Seebohm in 2015 as the third female to take out successive majors.
It was also a big night for two-time Olympic golden girl O’Neill who along with the legendary Murray Rose and Lorraine Crapp, was inducted into the Swimming Australia Hall of Fame.
The trio joining last year’s inaugural inductees – Freddie Lane, Fanny Durack, Dawn Fraser, Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe.
In a red-hot field of nominations for the Olympic Program Swimmmer, O’Callaghan beat recently crowned World Aquatics Swimmer of The Year Kaylee McKeown (Griffith University), her St Peters Western team mate and 2019 winner Ariarne Titmus and men’s 400m freestyle world champion Sam Short (Rackleys, QLD) – without doubt the toughest of any award to be judged this year after Australia’s women dominated 2023.
O’Callaghan upset Olympic champion Titmus to take the 200m title in Fukuoka and in doing so lowered the long-standing previous world mark, set by Italy’s Federica Pellegrini in 2009.
O’Callaghan also helped Australia to three relay gold medals, two of these in world record time.
For Paralympic champion Crothers, the five-time world champion defended his 50m and 100m world championship titles in Manchester to maintain his claim as fastest freestyle sprinter with a disability in the world – winning back-to-back Paralympic Program Swimmer Awards.
While Gubecka’s silver medal effort in the 10km at the World Championships in Fukuoka and her bronze medal in the 4x1500m mixed relay earned her the Open Water gong.
The never-say-die Rio Olympian was also recently announced as the first athlete selected for the Paris 2024 Australian Olympic Team.
The 2023 Swimming Australia Awards also marked a significant celebration of the sport’s history, with the second unveiling of Swimming Australia’s Hall of Fame, established to recognise and celebrate those who have left an indelible mark on the sport at the international level.
Gubecka and Crothers coach, Kate Sparkes (Yeronga Park, QLD) won both Paralympic Coach of the Year and Open Water Coach of the Year.
Richard Sleight was awarded the National Age Coach of the Year after the success of the St Peters Western club at the 2023 Australian Age Championships, with Michaela Pattinson (Carlile, NSW) named Youth Coach of the Year for her work with the Junior Dolphins.
Alexa Leary (All Saints, QLD) was named AIS Discovery of the Year following her breakthrough rookie campaign at the Manchester Para World Swimming Championships.
Olivia Wunsch (Carlile, NSW) was named the Flippers Athlete of the Year after a season that saw her star on the world stage with the Junior Dolphins at the recent Junior World Championships, while young swimmer Eli Jack Bruggemann was named the Pho3nix Junior Excellence Swimmer of the Year.
Other winners on the night included David Cooper as the Roger Smith Technical Official of the Year, with the Guilford Kalamunda Swimmimng Club (WA) winning Club of the Year, while Tony Ball (Kwinana Swimming Club, WA) named Local Legend of the Year.
2023 Swimming Australia Awards winners
Olympic Program Swimmer of the Year
Mollie O’Callaghan (St Peters Western, QLD)
Paralympic Program Swimmer of the Year
Rowan Crothers (Yeronga Park, QLD)
Open Water Program Swimmer of the Year
Chelsea Gubecka (Yeronga Park, QLD)
AIS Discovery of the Year
Alexa Leary (All Saints, QLD)
Olympic Program Coach of the Year
Dean Boxall (St Peters Western, QLD)
Paralympic Program Coach of the Year
Kate Sparkes (Yeronga Park, QLD)
Open Water Program Coach of the Year
Kate Sparkes (Yeronga Park, QLD)
Roger Smith Technical Official of the Year
David Cooper (NSW)
Club of the Year
Guildford Kalamunda (WA)
Local Legend of the Year
Tony Ball (Kwinana Swimming Club, WA)
Hall of Fame inductees
Lorraine Crapp(NSW)
Murray Rose (NSW)
Susie O’Neill (QLD)
Swimmers’ Swimmer
Madi Wilson (Marion, SA)
Flippers Swimmer of the Year
Olivia Wunsch (Carlile, NSW)
National Age Coach of the Year
Richard Sleight (St Peters Western, QLD)
Youth Coach of the Year
Michaela Pattinson (Carlile, NSW)
Pho3nix Foundation JX Swimmer of the Year
Eli Jack Bruggemann