Lushavel Stickland isn’t daunted by a busy schedule. Last month, the West-Sunshine resident competed at the Australian Age National Swimming Championships in Sydney, lining up in six events.
While some athletes would struggle to handle such an action-packed week, Stickland rose to another level on the big stage.
The 16-year-old, who trains at the Essendon Aquatic Swimming Club, swam personal best times in all her events.
She also made the final in the 50-metre freestyle, 100-metre freestyle and 200-metre individual medley.
Stickland’s coach, Desmond Ong, was rapt with the performance of the rising star.
“She came through nationals really well and it was great to see,” Ong said.
“There was a very short turnaround between the state championships and the national championships and she chose to focus more on the nationals. Her results turned out to be great.”
It wasn’t just her coaches at Essendon Aquatic who were impressed with Stickland’s performance.
The 16-year-old has been selected in the state talent identification squad run by Swimming Victoria.
“They select 20 of the best Victorian boys and 20 of the best Victorian girls for the squad,” Ong said.
“The squad is selected by Leigh Nugent, who is the head of the Swimming Victoria program. He is also a previous head coach for Australia.
“These guys have been identified as the next big things to take Victorian swimming to the next level.”
Also representing Essendon Aquatic at the age championships was Adam Benca, who competed in the 100-metre and 200-metre backstroke.
There will be no slowing down for swimmers and coaches from the club – they will now focus on the short-course season.
“Part of the priority at the moment is to
retain our Metro West Championship title,” Ong said. “We won that last year. We really want to retain that as well as getting our preparation for the state [short-course] championships right.”
Liam Twomey
