The Bohl revolution continues to gain momentum with Griffith swimmers producing a series of sterling performances at the Australian short course swimming championships in Adelaide.
Wins for Griffith Public Health student Emma McKeon in the 100m and 200m butterfly finals paved the way to nine gold medals in total for the Griffith team trained by super coach Michael Bohl OAM.
The highly-competitive short-course meet also yielded gold for Griffith’s Daniel Smith (400m freestyle), Georgia Bohl (50m breaststroke), Daiya Seto (100m individual medley, 200m individual medley, 200m breaststroke, 200m butterfly) and Jordan Wilimovsky (800m freestyle).
A further three silver and two bronze medals had been secured by the Griffith team by the close of play in Adelaide.
Emma McKeon topped off an excellent few days in South Australia with two awards at Swimming Australia’s annual awards night at the Adelaide Convention Centre.
She collected the Swimmers’ Swimmer Award for 2017 as voted by her peers and was also honoured with a Patron Award presented by Gina Rinehart of Hancock Prospecting.
She was not the only Griffith student to step up to the podium on the night. Business student and rising star, Shayna Jack, took out the AIS Discovery of the Year prize.
“I thought it’s nice to be noticed when I arrived and found out I was nominated,” Shayna (left, 18) said. “Then to win was a nice shock. I’m hoping this is the first stepping stone on the way to further success.”
A delighted Shayna believes a strong team ethic, not least at the Budapest World Championships where she won two silver and two bronze as part of Australian relay teams, played a part in her AIS Discovery prize.
“I think my resilience and personal drive was important. Swimming is an individual sport but it is also a sport where you perform as part of a team.”
Another to make waves on the night was Griffith University Public Relations and Communication student, Rowan Crothers, who was named Para Swimmer of the Year.
“We are very proud of all our swimmers,” Duncan Free OAM, Director of Griffith Sports College, said.
“For three Griffith students to take out three awards at this prestigious awards night is a testimony to the talent and depth of Griffiths student athletes.
“The program that Michael is running at the Griffith Aquatic Centre is extremely strong.With the upcoming Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, it is certainly exciting times ahead.”