The Australia Day long weekend is quintessentially one of relaxation and down-time with friends and families, one would not usually associate it with racing marathon distances in the open water. Whilst most of our club were enjoying their last holiday before the school year begins, Five members of our club travelled to Brighton Beach in Adelaide, to compete at the 2019 National Open Water Swimming Championships. This competition comprises of Australia’s best distance swimmers and is considered the pinnacle of open water swimming racing in Australia. There are qualification standards one must meet in order to compete at such an event to contest distances of 5, 7.5 and 10 kilometres to see who will be crowned as fastest in the nation. As you can imagine, training for such an event involves gruelling hours of training in the pool and ocean to merely achieve the distance, let alone be competitive with the best of Australia. Our little squad of five swimmers represented our club valiantly, displaying the maturity and professionalism of a national athlete. Kyle Lee, Jye Jensen, Kaiden Richings, Rori Parsons, and Amity Parsons together were very capable of showing the calibre of athlete that deserves to race at such a prestigious event and achieved results to be proud of. As first time coach of a team racing at nationals, I could not have been more proud of the way our athletes approached and executed their races. Each of them has gained valuable experience to build upon for the coming season. We also had the support of Kristy Richings, Chantel and Cian Parsons, Colin and Lara Lee, and Tahlia Jensen to cheer our athletes right to the end. Your support is very much appreciated. A special congratulations must be made out to Kyle Lee on an exceptional performance in winning two national gold medals and missing Australian Team Selection by one placing overall. Our athlete’s performances are a testament to the hard work they put into their training and is a reminder to us all that the easy path provides the least amount of reward. Remember to set your goals high and be uncompromising in your pursuit to achieving them. Our team’s results: Kyle Lee 17yr 7.5km – GOLD 17yr 5km – GOLD Jye Jensen 17yr 5km – 27th Amity Parsons 15yr 5km – 28th Rori Parsons 16yr 5km – 10th Kaiden Richings 15yr 5km – 7th