Swimming NSW State Open Championships: Friday 12th – Sunday 14th February

Stephanie Rice in top form

The Swimming NSW State Open Championships is the last major competition before the Commonwealth Games selection Trials at the Telstra Australian Swimming Championships in March.

From Friday 12^th – Sunday 14^th February, Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre will host big names such as Stephanie Rice, Nick D’Arcy, Brenton Rickard, Jessicah Schipper, Leisel Jones, Geoff Huegill, Andrew Lauterstein, Matt Abood, Angie Bainbridge, Belinda Hocking, Hayden Stoeckel, Alice Mills, Felicity Galvez, Ashley Callus, Matt Cowdrey, Kenrick Monk and Ashley Delaney as well as Olympic Medallists Tae Huan Park of Korea and Ryan Cochrane of Canada.

The entire NSWIS squad including Lachlan Staples, Adam Pine, Robert Hurley, Andrew Beato, Garth Kates, Kenneth To and Matt Jaukovic as well as Swedish born Therese Alshammar will also be competing over the 3 days of competition.

This event is the ideal warm up for these athletes before their trials;

Development and Events Manager, Matt Adair, says

“The Open Championships are positioned really well in the swimming Calendar so the athletes are able to test their fitness and race skills to see if they are up to standard before the trials in March”

The Swimming NSW State Open Championships is now becoming one of the premier swimming event in South East Asia.

The State Open Championships usually awards prize money for some of the event’s best performances, however this year, the NSW event prize money has considerably increased as Mr Adair explains;

“We have over $10,000 in prize money to be awarded to the NSW Male and Female Swimmer of the Meet, as well as their coaches and the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd place Club of the Meet. In conjunction with Swimming Australia, this is more than $5000 extra in incentives for athletes and coaches at the NSW event compared to last year”.

The heats sessions start at 9:00am each day with the finals session beginning from 6:00pm. Adult passes start from $6 with Concession passes starting from $4. Parking in Aquatic Centre will be $10 if ticket is validated with Heats programs $10 and finals programs $2. Live Results from each event of the Championships can be found on the Swimming NSW website, www.nswswimming.com.au