Next Gen Aussie Girls Add Golden Glow To Commonwealth Youth Games Medal Tally
An exciting next generation of female swimmers have shone in Australia’s 12-strong swim team at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinbago, the team winning a total of 20 medals in the pool – seven of them gold.
MILLER TIME: Inez Miller with one of her threee gold medals from Trinbago. Photo Courtesy: Commonwealth Games Australia
WA’s Inez Miller and Queensland’s Mikayla Bird shared the spoils – winning 14 medals between them – seven each – including three gold each from their 14 events.
And they join the likes of Olympic and World champions Jodie Henry, Linda Mackenzie, Ariarne Titmus and Shayna Jack who have all left their gold medal stamp as Commonwealth Youth champions – Titmus, Jack, Jenna Forrester, Jack Cartwright, and Bradley Woodward all members of the 2015 team who were team mates on this year’s successful World’s team in Fukuoka.
Miller, from Perth’s St Hilda’s School Aquatics Club, won the 200m (2:00.36) and 400m (4:14.97) freestyle double and Bird (Bond Swimming, QLD) the 100m (1:00.15) and 200m (2:12.66) butterfly double.
The third gold came in the Mixed 4x200m freestyle relay when they combined with fellow Queenslander Jye Bennion and Victorian Harvey Larke for a decisive victory.
Bennion (St Peters Western, QLD) started out in a 1:52.53 before handing over to Larke (Melbourne Vicentre, VIC) who split 1:51.87 and the rest was left up to Bird (2:01.21) and Inez (2:00.13) to deliver the goods and they did it in style.
The Australian foursome won the gold in a time of 7:45.74, swimming way from England (7:53.44) and Wales (7.53.44).
Bennion gave an insight into the team strength, revealing they had come together not knowing anyone.
“We were strangers, but we’ve grown together and are fast becoming a bit of a family. I feel like compared to the other countries we’ve gelled in a big way,” said Bennion.
FLYING DOUBLE: Miklayla Bird flew to two butterfly golds. Photo Courtesy: Commonwealth Games Australia
“It’s good to get a team medal. It brings the enthusiasm among the group.”
Further individual medals came for Inez, who won silver in the 100m freestyle (55.59) and bronze in the 50m freestyle (25.59) while Bird won bronze to Miller in the 200m freestyle (2:01.78) and bronze in the 50m butterfly in 27.07.
Miller and Bird certainly earnt their MVP status along with Bennion and Harvey with the foursome combining again to take bronze in the Mixed 4x100m freestyle relay and with Clancy Luscombe (Marion, SA) and Samuel Higgs (Warringah, NSW) to also take bronze in the Mixed 4x100m medley relay on the final night.
A swimmer from the age of seven, Miller believes the Commonwealth Youth Games will support shifting her mindset from one of great enthusiasm to that of high performance.
“The experience…..tells me that I want this. I want to use this experience to aid in shifting my ambitions with swimming,” Miller added.
While Bird was quick to laud the influence of Paralympic legend and Australian Team General Manager, Ellie Cole OAM, with the 17-time Paralympic medallist providing an environment that inspires the best. “Ellie is so incredible. To have her here with us at the pool has been incredible. We’re very lucky,” said Bird.
Amongst other individual medallists were Larke and Lillie McPherson (Manly, NSW) who were late additions to the original 10-member team – Larke also coming from an outside lane to snatch bronze in the 200m freestyle in 1:51.64.
The self-declared unexpected medallist capitalised not only on his late inclusion on the team roster but also on his last minute call up to the field for the final, storming home from lane eight to win an impressive bronze behind local hero Nikoli Blackman, who won gold in 1:49.94.
“I’m stoked. I was an emergency after the heats…so it’s unreal,” said Larke.
ZOE AND FRIENDS: Aussie backstroker Zoe Ammundsen won gold in a new Games Youth Record time in the 50m backstroke. Photo Courtesy: Commonwealth Games Australia.
While McPherson, who missed bronze in the 50m butterfly by 0.02 behind Bird, won a deserved silver in the 100m butterfly (1:00.80) – again behind teammate Bird, the pair standing proudly on the podium for Advance Australia Fair.
Australia’s other two gold medals came from Brisbane’s Iona College pair of Zoe Ammundsen who set a Youth Games Record of 28.71 to win the 50m backstroke and teammate Hannah Allen who won the 800m freestyle gold in 8:48.66.
Allen also won silver behind Inez the 400m freestyle in 4:18.72 to re-affirm Australia’s female freestyle depth.
Ammundsen, a finalist in the World Championship Trials in Melbourne, also won silvers in the 100m (1:01.98) and 200m (2:16.42) backstroke finals to signal her exciting future in Australia’s female stocks.
Other medals came from Poppy Stephen (Nudgee, QLD), bronze in the 200m butterfly in 2:13.34 and Tommy Lane (Haileybury, VIC), bronze in the 1500m freestyle in 15:31.38.
GOLDEN GLOW: Australia’s all-conquering Mixed 4x200m freestyle relay (L-R) Harvey Larke, Inez Miller, Joe Bennion and Mikayla Bird. Photo Courtesy: Commonwealth Games Australia
