Over the weekend, Jacob Bell and his coach, Mark Erickson travelled to Townsville to compete in the Magnetic Island to Townsville 8km swim. Jacob swam the 8kms last year in perfect conditions and was keen to attempt the swim again. However, this year the conditions were tough going – cooler water, 1m swell and it was windy. Jacob and Mark never gave in and kept swimming through the choppy conditions. They were both very relieved to finish the race. Jacob swam the 8kms in 2hours and 7 min and Mark swam 2 hours 30 min. Jacob was 5th person out of the water, 3rd male and 3rd in his 14 – 17 year age group. Mark came 2nd in the wetsuit category. Congratulations, Jacob and Mark! The two swimmers would like to thank their support paddlers, Andrew Bell and Raylene Rasmussen.
This week, Swimming Australia have announced the Australian Junior Excellence Awards. Australian Junior Excellence (JX) program recognises performances of swimmers aged 9 – 13 to encourage and inspire the next generation of competitive swimmers.
Within the JX program, junior swimmers strive to achieve gold, silver, bronze or blue standard times when they compete throughout the season.
The Cannons would like to commend the following swimmers:
BLUE TIER: Isabella and Isaac Pisaniello, Nathan and Daniel Saunders, Jai Dennison, Rohan, Scarlett and Rory Gascoyne, Thomas Ganter, Matilda Nicholes, Charlie Doherty, Abi Maher, Tiana Bell, Taj Murray and Ruby Harland.
BRONZE TIER: Lochlan Jamieson, Ehsan Helou, Lukas Trevaskis, Don Algie,
SILVER TIER: Tora Delac, Remy Hedges, Oliver Bond and Nelson Malady
GOLD TIER: Anisa Helou and Austin Edwards-Bland