World Ranked “Country Kids” Sienna Toohey and Henry Allan Headline 30-Strong Australian Junior Dolphins For World Junior Championships
Two world ranked 16-year-old “country kids” Sienna Toohey and Henry Allan will spearhead a 30-strong Australian Junior Dolphins Team to this year’s World Junior Aquatic Championships in Otopeni, Romania from August 19 to 24.
Toohey continued her rise up the 50 and 100m breaststroke World Rankings at the recent Australian Age Championships, with her 30.73 (11th in the 50m) and 1:07.04 (16th in the 100) and into the Australian All-time Top Ten.
Toohey, from Albury on the NSW/Victorian States borders, has re-written the Australian age records set by four-time Olympian and 2008 Olympic gold medallist Leisel Jones.
While Allan, the teenage backstroke sensation from East Bendigo in North Central Victoria, has enjoyed a record-breaking season where he has swum passed Olympians Matt Welsh and Andrew Lauterstein on his record-breaking spree – also charging into the Australian All-time top Ten with his 53.73 at the Australian Age.
Their coaches Wayne Gould (Toohey) and John Jordan (Allan) have also been rewarded, named amongst the six team coaches heading to Romania.
The pair have been engaged heavily with Swimming Australia’s pathway system, working with senior Olympic gold medal coaches Shannon Rollason and Craig Jackson.
Team head coach and National Youth Coach Simon Cusack said he was encouraged by the performances which included 15 new National Age records.
“There was a spread of medals across the clubs and increased depth in the events we have targeted at our Next Gen camps,” Cusack said.
“We had six females who went under our qualifying time for breaststroke and that shows increasing depth and return on investment … we also have some new male athletes emerge in the freestyle events.
“With the tightening up of qualifying times, I’d like to see a greater percentage of athletes qualifying for finals, and also a greater percentage of conversions, and by this I mean an improvement in their times from National Age Championships through to Junior World Championship finals.”
Two NSW 15-year-olds Christopher Montana, from Trinity Gramma, and Heidi Schumack, SOPAC are the youngest on the team while the eldest are 18-year-olds Tex Cross (Highlanders, WA), Oliver Linde (Nudgee College, QLD) and Jessica Cole Wests Illawarra (NSW) – Cole who finished third in the Australian Open 200m butterfly.
There are 13 athletes from Queensland, 10 from NSW, four from WA and three from Victoria – while three of the 13 Queenslanders Ainsley Trotter (Traralgon), Hayley Mackinder (Geelong) and Jack Morrow (Western Melbourne Propulsion) who made the move to Queensland – are all Victorian junior products.
Australian Junior Dolphins, World Championships, Otopeni, Romania from August 19 to 24.
MALE
Henry Allan,15 (Bendigo East, VIC; Coach: John Jordan
Joshua Conias,17 (Somerville House, QLD; Coach: Tim Lane)
Ben Cotroneo,17 (Kincoppal-Rose Bay, NSW; Coach: Hamid Mobarraz)
Tex Cross,18 (Highlanders, WA; Coach: Ryan Steenkamp)
Lucas Fackerell,17 (Arena, WA; Coach: Harry Clarke)
Oliver Linde,18 (Nudgee College, QLD; Coach: Stewart Melton)
Charlie Lutton,17 (Brisbane Grammar, QLD; Coach: Bobby Jovanovich)
Cash Milner,17 (St Andrews, QLD; Coach: Ashley Delaney)
Ollie Moclai,17 (Cranbrook, NSW; Coach: Tom Sunter)
Christopher Montana,15 (Trinity Grammar, NSW; Coach: Ben Tuxford)
Jack Morrow,17 (St Andrews, QLD; Coach: Ashley Delaney)
Alexander Sillitoe17 (South Lake Dolphins, WA; Coach: Stefano Di Bernardo)
Thomas Sutherland,17 (Caulfield Grammar, VIC; Coach: Kenrick Monk)
Campbell Wilson-Moran,17 (Caulfield Grammar, VIC; Coach: Kenrick Monk)
FEMALE
Zoe Ammundsen,17 (Nudgee College, QLD; Coach: Shaun Crow)
Mikayla Bird,17 (Bond, QLD; Coach: Kyle Samuelson)
Heli Childs,15 (PLC Sydney, NSW; Coach: Brent Winkworth)
Jessica Cole,18 (Wests Illawarra, NSW; Coach: Patrick Stellino)
Olivia Hine,17 (Somerville House, QLD; Coach: Sarah Caithness)
Rafaela Kopellou,17 (SOPAC, NSW; Coach: Adam Kable)
Kira Long,16 (SOPAC, NSW; Coach: James Greathead)
Hayley Mackinder,17 (Griffith Uni, QLD; Coach: Tom Fraser – Holmes)
Alice Monaghan,17 (Griffith Uni, QLD; Coach: Tom Fraser – Holmes)
Julia Remington,17 (All Saints, QLD; Coach: Ken Sabotic)
Asha Ring,16 (SOPAC, NSW; Coach: James Greathead)
Isabel Sheldrick,17(Fenix, WA; Coach: Deb Jones)
Heidi Shumack,15 (SOPAC, NSW; Coach: James Greathead)
Amelie Smith,16 (Rocky City, QLD; Coach: Shane Kingston)
Sienna Toohey,16 (Albury, NSW; Coach: Wayne Gould)
Ainsley Trotter,17 (Bond, QLD; Coach: Chris Mooney)
Coaches
Simon Cusack (National Youth Coach)
Ashley Delaney (St Andrews, QLD)
Deb Jones (Fenix, WA)
James Greathead (SOPAC, NSW)
John Jordan (Bendigo East, VIC)
Tom Fraser-Holmes (Griffith Uni, QLD)
Wayne Gould (Albury, NSW)
