UWA West Coast rising star Ruan Van der Riet has flown into the Swimming WA record books – sinking a legend along the way – on a history-making fourth night of the 2020 Hancock Prospecting Western Australian Swimming Championships at Perth’s hbf Stadium
The Mick Palfrey-coached youngster looked impressive in the boy’s 17 years 200m butterfly, leading from start to finish, touching in 2:01.48.
The performance was on the cards after a solid 100m butterfly on the night before and a very competitive race against Kieren Pollard (North Coast) in the morning session, in which Pollard won with a 2:02.48.
But Van der Riet’s performance saw him break the WA Residential Record, which had stood for 27 years – since March 1993, when set by Sydney 2000 Olympic relay gold medallist, William Kirby.
It has certainly stood the test of time – with Kirby’s 14-year-old daughter Sahmara Kirby competing successfully at these Championships, as well.
The 2019 Australian Age Champion, has big ambition and this performance will send a splash across the country with selection for the 2021 FINA World Junior Championships looming.
Van der Riet’s UWA-West Coast teammate, Adam Sudlow also shone, winning the men’s 1500m freestyle in a personal best time (by 9.5 secs) clocking 15:29.06 (2:01.23, 4:05.95, 8:14.43) ahead of Kyle Lee (North Coast) 15:54.69 and Kaiden Richings (Bunbury, c: Elisha Hunt) 16:04.78
Richings and 15-year-old Alessio Macri (Scarborough Beach, c: Cam Hawthorn) 16:19.51, both dropped time off their personal bests.
Both Richings and Macri have shot up the National rankings, putting them amongst the ones to watch leading into the Australian Open Water Championships and the Australian Age Championships.
Meanwhile Brianna Throssell (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS) was impressive in the Women’s 19 & Over 200m Butterfly.
The Rio Olympic finalist Throssell, , won by eight seconds in a time of 2:11.77, again showing off her versatility as she continues to prepare for the 2021 Olympic Trials in Adelaide in June.
Tegan Reder (UWA-West Coast, c: Robert Palfery) continued her record-setting ways as she claimed silver in the women’s 200m freestyle multi-class, stealing the show, finishing in a time of 3:02.59 to break the S11 Australian Age Record.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, 22 December, will see the final day of the Championships with Swimming WA celebrating all things Swimming in a holiday theme. Tune in via SwimTV at 9:00 am and 5.30pm AWST to catch all the action and stay tuned on our socials!