2022 Hancock Prospecting Australian Artistic Swimming National Championships

It was wonderful to see all our 205 swimmers from 14 clubs together, for the first time since nationals in 2019, fittingly at the venue which will host Artistic Swimming at the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games in 10 years’ time.

Congratulations to Artistic Swimming Queensland that hosted a highly successful hybrid (virtual and live) competition that had 319 swimmers from 26 clubs in total, including competitors from Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Philippines and Singapore.

There was also a significant increase in the number of male competitors from previous nationals, which bodes well for the future of the sport as we move towards gender equality and strongly advocate for at a minimum, a mixed event at the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.

Ben Howard

Acting President

Artistic Swimming Australia

I was honoured to be asked by ASA and the QLD organising committee to be referee. I would like to congratulate the QLD committee on putting together a very successful competition and integrating a virtual competition into the live competition – a first for Australia.  We also used a new scoring procedure that QLD have been trialling, where the judges scores were entered onto a score sheet via their mobile phones. This cut down the number of volunteers as no manual scorers were needed poolside.

ASA were fortunate to be able to secure FINA Evaluator Marlon Falcon who was able to provide guidance for our judges – many of whom were adjudicating at their first Nationals. Marlon also presented a very informative workshop for both judges and coaches on the day prior to the Championships. Marlon was impressed with the use of mobile phones for scoring as a low cost, readily accessible option to supplying all judges with tablets for scoring. He also liked the way clubs from one state combined to be able to present routines they otherwise would not have had the numbers for.

I would like to congratulate all the coaches, athletes and officials for the resilience they have shown over the last 2 years – it was gratifying to see that we still had a large number of competitors across all age groups. We were slightly down on the number of experienced judges available due to Covid but all those on deck showed up and stepped up and hopefully will learn from the experience.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Perth next year for Nationals 2023.

Amanda Maher

Competition Referee

2022 Hancock Prospecting Australian Artistic Swimming National Championships

The 2023 Hancock Prospecting Australian Artistic Swimming National Championships will be held in Perth, WA from the 7^th – 11^th April.

A selection of photographs can be seen via the link below. Thanks to our Photographers Keith Chew, Corina Presser & Mojo Photography!

https://www.artisticswimming.org.au/gallery/9175/