Rocky City swimmer Amelie Smith headlines Beef City Carnival award winners
Rocky City swimmer Amelie Smith was in red-hot form at the annual Beef City Carnival, leaving her rivals in her wake as she raced away with two awards. But she wasn’t the only young swimmer to sizzle. See the full list of big winners.
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Rocky City swimmer Amelie Smith proved unstoppable at the Beef City Carnival at the weekend.
The 16-year-old won every race on her demanding program, going on to be named age champion and being crowned the female Top Gun in which she blitzed her rivals in the 50m freestyle elimination event.
Her clubmate Lachlan Kuss also reigned supreme in the male Top Gun, clocking an impressive time of 25.9secs in the fourth and deciding race.
More than 220 swimmers took part in the two-day meet at Rockhampton’s 2nd World War Memorial Aquatic Centre, chasing qualifying times for the state championships in December.
Rocky City coach Shane Kingston was pleased with the performance of his contingent, which produced a high percentage of PBs and clocked qualifying times.
He said it was a great effort from Smith, who showed her mettle in the Top Gun event and swam strongly in her pet events - the 400mIM and the 800m freestyle.
“Amelie had a fairly heavy schedule for this phase of the season and with where she’s at, it was like a ‘suit up’ training session,” he said.
“It was more about the consistency, execution and effort rather than the actual times because we’re in a block of hard work and I think she did a great job.”
Smith has had a big year in the pool, swimming at the Paris Olympic trials in June and representing Australia at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in August.
Kingston said Smith had the potential to go a long way in the sport, blessed with not only natural talent but also drive, dedication and determination.
“As you hear so often, potential is only half of it, it’s got to be matched with hard work and discipline and at the moment, Amelie’s certainly showing that,” he said.
“Obviously, it’s about her stepping forward, chasing finals at that higher level and going on from there.”
Award winners
Top Gun: male, Lachlan Kuss; female, Amelie Smith.
8 years: Age champions, Owen Basnet, Georgia Brosnan; runners-up, William Bates, Milla Wogandt.
9 years: Age champions, Hunter Mulry, Olivia Lindsay; runners-up, Zavier Collins, Jaime Liu.
10 years: Age champions, Sonny Cullen, Ava Corrigan; runners-up, Hamish Curtis, Layla Saville.
11 years: Age champions, Jack McHugh, Rana Basnet; runners-up, Nathan Cullen, Ailee Ryan.
12 years: Age champions, Jai McKenna, Tamika Ness; runners-up, Hudson Casford, Saidee Whitcombe.
13 years: Age champions, Zachary Thomsen, Ashley Jones; runners-up, Frederik Van Tonder, Caroline Daley.
14 years: Age champions, Levi Thomsen, Cooper Kalmikovs; runners-up, Jayden Collins, Madison McKenna.
15 years: Age champions, Joshua Platten, Taylah Fowler; runners-up, Ashton Rodgers, Mackenzie Burridge.
16 years and over: Age champions, Alexander Eaton, Amelie Smith; runners-up, Kayden Gibson, Mackenzie Cullen.
Multi class: Age champions, Kallem Humphrey-Travers, Lauren Murphy; runner-up, Levi Harris.
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