Team Announcement – 2024 Hancock Prospecting Queensland Championships
A team of 16 swimmers are preparing for the the 2024 Hancock Prospecting Queensland Championships. The team will be competing across seven days from Saturday 14 - Friday 20 December at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre.
The Queensland Championships are regarded as one of the most challenging age group swimming competitions in the world, with this competition providing the squad a solid racing opportunity. The swimmers will have to be on top of their game in the heats and manage the soaring Brisbane temperatures to progress through to finals where only two visitors can qualify. With Japan and Singapore both sending some of their top age group swimmers, the team will be up against some fierce competition over the course of the seven day meet.
The team consists of swimmers from both the Olympic and Paralympic pathways, with swimmers selected from our National Age Programme (Olympic) and our developing Paralympic pathway to support their development. They will be guided by coaches who have been selected to support the swimmers for both pathways respectively. For the Olympic pathway, Michelle Gillies (North Shore) will be the head coach and joined by Aidan Withington-Edwards (Swim Rotorua). For the the Paralympic pathway, Cameron Leslie (Whangarei) will be the head coach and joined by Hannah Bates (Selwyn).
Some of the team have previous international experience, with Isabelle Gibson (Club 37) and Monique Wieruszowski (North Shore) both racing at the 2023 World Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships last year. They will be joined by four swimmers making their second consecutive appearance at the Queensland Champs, in Jacob Humphries (North Shore), Charlotte Murphy (Aquagym), Orlando Hardie (Hamilton Aquatics & Waikato RPC) and James Haydon (Club 37).
Swimming NZ's Disability & Para Swimming Participation Manager, Cameron Leslie, will be supporting the swimmers in Brisbane across the week-long competition.
"Queensland Champs is a hard competition - long days, tough racing, and the temperature at that time of year in Brisbane adds another challenge for swimmers. This trip isn't all about performance though - like I said it has a number of factors that make it a challenge so for the Paralympic pathway in particular we will be working on our performance behaviours and leaning into the learning experience it will be. It's a great opportunity for all of our team to get quality racing in."
Good luck to our team and the swimmers, their coaches and support team as they finalise preparations before making the trip across the ditch. Please see the full team listed below.
You can learn more about the competition details by heading to their website.
Selected Teams
National Age Programme (Olympic Pathway)
Name | Club | Coach |
Liam Curling | Coast | John Gatfield |
Leo English | Swim Rotorua | Aidan Withington-Edwards |
Isabelle Gibson | Club 37 | Mitch Nairn |
Orlando Hardie | Hamilton Aquatics & Waikato RPC | Mat Woofe |
Jacob Humphries | North Shore | Graham Hill |
Ariel Muchirahondo | Swim Rotorua | Aidan Withington-Edwards |
Igor Russanov | Coast | John Gatfield |
Soeren Wells | Wharenui | Carl Gordon |
Monique Wieruszowski | North Shore | Graham Hill |
Kevin Zhang | Roskill | Josh Munro |
Name | Club | Role |
Michelle Gillies | North Shore | Head Coach |
Aidan Withington-Edwards | Swim Rotorua | Coach |
Paralympic Pathway
Name | Club | Coach |
Brooke Anderson | Vikings | Todd Mason |
Jack Bugler | Blenheim | Shane Skehan |
James Haydon | Club 37 | Mitch Nairn |
Charlotte Murphy | Aquagym | Emma Smith |
Rylee Sayer | Matamata | Graeme Laing |
Rawiri Tristram-Brown | Otaki Titans | Jon Winter |
Name | Club | Role |
Cameron Leslie | Whangarei | Head Coach |
Hannah Bates | Selwyn | Coach |
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