It was a busy day out for Australia’s premier Open Water swim team who were joined by a playful pod of local dolphins who escorted them around the picturesque Busselton Jetty as the race to the Paris Olympics hotted up this week in WA.
Local photographer Adam Crane from Salt Diaries was on hand to capture all the action for Swimming Australia who supplied these images for Swimming World.
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Australian Dolphins Nick Sloman (Noosa,QLD) and Chelsea Gubecka (Yeronga Park, QLD) reaffirmed their places as the country’s premier marathon swimmers with dominant performances to claim the Men’s and Women’s 10km Australian titles.
It was back-to-back titles for defending champion Sloman, and a fifth Australian 10km crown overall, while Gubecka went one better, claiming her sixth 10km Championship and first since 2018.
Tommy Raymond ensured a Noodsa 1-2 to claim the silver medal, while Tokyo Olympian Kai Edwards (Carlile, NSW) and Bailey Armstrong (USC Spartans, QLD) could not be separated on the touch in a dead heat for bronze after an action packed 10km.
Gubecka and Moesha Johnson (Griffith University, QLD) exchanged the lead on several occasions across the course of the women’s race.
Johnson held the front of the pack for much of the final lap before Gubecka, in a move that mirrored her classy finish to claim victory at the FINA Marathon World Series event in Israel in November, shifted to the inside and employed her powerful kick to draw clear in the last 100m and claim the win.
While Carlile’s Maddy Gough placed third in an impressive performance.
Kai Edwards (Carlile, NSW). Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Noosa’s Nick Sloman. Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Alerx Dunkley (New Zealand). Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Women’s 10km winner Chelsea Gubecka (Yeronga, Park)Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
ZOLLNER, SAMUEL (South Shore) Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Chelsea Gubecka (Yeronga Park) Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Men’s winner Nick Sloman (Noosa, QLD) Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Men’s podium: (L-R) Tom Raymond (Noosa, QLD, silver), Nic Sloman (Noosa, QLD, gold), Kai Edwards (Carlile, NSW) and Bailey Armstrong (USC Spartans, QLD) dead heat for bronze, with Busselton Deputy Mayor Cr Paul Carter Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Tom Raymond (Noosa, QLD) second in the men’s 10km. Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Chelsea Gubecka (Yeronga Park, QLD): Photo Courtesy:Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Moesha Johnson (Griffith University, QLD) silver in the women’s 10km. Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Women’s 10km podium (L-R): Maddy Gough (Carlile, NSW,.bronze), Chelsea Gubecka (Yeronga Partk, QLD, gold), Moesha Johnson (Griffith University, QLD, silver). Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries
Women’s 10km bronze winner Maddy Gough. Photo Courtesy: Adam Crane/Salt Diaries