Artistic Swimming Australia’s first Senior female and male (mixed) duet to compete at the National Competition in Sydney Olympic Park

3 Apr 2019 by Yulia Vakar

Artistic Swimming Australia and Synchro NSW are pleased to announce that Sydney will host the Hancock Prospecting Australia Open and Age Group Championships at Sydney Olympic Aquatic Center this April 14-16th. A record number of more than 230 competitors will be in attendance from Australia, New Zealand, New Caledonia, Singapore, Hong Kong and China.

“This competition will highlight the best artistic swimming Australia has to offer. Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre is a magical venue. There is so much history in this pool, and we are excited to make more history with Australia’s first senior mixed duet,” says President of NSW Synchro Jill Gallagher.

The mixed duet, consisting of Ethan Calleja and Danielle Kettlewell, will be performing their free routine on Tuesday April 16th at 8:20 am. Their goal is to impress the Australian selectors and show they are worthy of representing Australia at the upcoming 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea this July. It is hopeful that the mixed duet will be added to the Olympic competition in 2024. Mixed Duet Coach Briana Preiss is positive. “The rest of the world has truly embraced the mixed duet event. The event has gained remarkable momentum since 2015. The potential is for it be included in the Olympic games is growing,” says Preiss.

The venue is also special to many local NSW athletes who have relocated to other states to train. Current senior national team members Amie Thompson, Kiera Gazzard and Erica Li started their Australian artistic swimming careers in Sydney. Amie Thompson, who is the national ASAI athlete representative, comments “I have not competed in Sydney since 2015, which means that my family has not seen me swim live for 4 years. I definitely feel excited to be coming back to the home town and showcasing my routines and all the hard work that has been done leading up to the competition.“

These athletes will be joined by their Coral Squad team mates; Rose Stackpole, Rachel Presser, Emily Rogers, Kirsten Kinash, Hannah Cross, Alessandra Ho, Kazia Zenke, Jane Fruzynski, Hannah Burkhill and Adriani Vasilakis. These athletes will be performing their new technical team choreography during the Opening Ceremony on Sunday April 14th.

“Our sport has achieved a great deal of growth and maturation in the past 4 years. The community is growing and our international results are steadily increasing. This team is poised to set new international standards for our sport” says Artistic Swimming Australia President Kim Davis.

The Hancock Prospecting Artistic Swimming Australia Open and Age Group Championships features Free and Technical events for competitors starting at the 12 and under age category up to Open and Masters, with events judged according to the level of skill, difficulty and artistic impression. Artistic swimming continues to grow in popularity amongst girls attracted to the unique fusion of swimming, gymnastics, ballet and theatre.

Artistic Swimming Australia and Synchro NSW would like to thank our major sponsors Hancock Prospecting, Meadore and Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre for enabling us to
hold this wonderful competition.

Spectator entry to the event is $5 per adult and free for children. More details can be found on the competition website https://aussyncnationals.com. Follow the event on facebook and twitter #ASAI2019.

Media are permitted by prior arrangements. Please contact media@synchro.org.au

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