Exclusive live stream of every heat race and final from the SA Country Swimming Championships
State records have tumbled as the competition heats up at the SA Country Swimming Championships. Watch all the action from the evening of day 3 here.
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Just over four years ago, Tom Bignell sat in a school classroom in Mount Gambier where his Olympic swimming dream was born.
He was only 12 but old enough to recognise the significance of watching fellow country kid Kyle Chalmers win the 100m freestyle gold medal at the Rio Olympics.
“He came from a country background swimming at Port Lincoln and you see his name on a lot of shields and record sheets at country championships,” Tom said.
“And it makes you realise that coming from a country town doesn’t limit you, you can achieve anything you want.”
Tom will on Friday dive into the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centre pool, where Chalmers now trains, to compete in the SA Country Swimming Championships.
Every race from the three-day event will be exclusively live streamed via The Advertiser website from 9am daily.
It follows our live coverage of the state short course titles in September-October.
“The live stream will be great,” Tom, now 16, said.
“Especially for some kids if one parents goes to Adelaide with them and the other stays home, they can still watch and support and look at the results.”
Tom, who represents the Blue Lake Y Swim Club, will target the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke at the titles, which feature 433 junior and open athletes from regional areas.
Swimmers representing 11 interstate clubs from New South Wales, Victoria and Northern Territory will also compete.
Mount Gambier Swimming Club member Lucy Edwards said she was also inspired to chase her goals while watching the 2016 Rio Games.
“I look up to Cate and Bronte Campbell,” the 13-year-old said.
“They were some of the first swimmers I heard of when I watched the 2016 Olympics and they’ve inspired me.”
Lucy’s typical training week involves two morning and two afternoon sessions and an occasional weekend swim at the 50m pool in Portland, which they are using while the local recreation centre is being renovated.
Her main events at the meet are the 50m and 100m butterfly.
“I feel I’ve done as much as I can, I’m pretty fit but we’ll just have to see on the day,” she said.
“It (SA Aquatic Centre) is my favourite pool to compete in, it’s a great venue and I always seem to get PB’s there so I’m hoping to make some finals and maybe a few medals.”
The Advertiser will live stream all heats and finals from both the 9am and 5pm sessions daily at advertiser.com.au.
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