Australian first to boost open water success ahead of LA and Brisbane

Swimming Australia welcomed today’s announcement that Western Australia has secured the country’s first endurance swimming hub.

Dolphins head open water coach Fernando Possenti said the $2.55 million investment from the WA Government was a vital – and timely – injection to maintain Australia’s capacity to develop world-class athletes such as WA’s open water Olympian and World Championships medallist Kyle Lee (pictured).

Building on today’s announcement that WA will also host the Australian Open Water Championships and Ocean Swim Festival in Bunbury in January 2027, the hub will provide a dedicated high-performance environment to support current and emerging endurance talent.

This in turn will boost Australia’s medal prospects in Summer Olympic events and aligns with Western Australia’s Institute of Sport and Swimming Australia’s long-term performance strategy for LA and the Brisbane 2032 Games.

“The timing of this has come at a vital time for our sport. Open water is one of the sports identified as potentially not being part of 2032. Open water swimming is part of Australia’s national identity and it is a sport we have been very successful in,” Possenti said.

“Right now there is a younger generation dreaming of wearing the green and gold in open water for 2032 and today’s announcement helps us to keep this dream alive.”

World champion and Olympic silver medallist Moesha Johnson added: “It’s the most traditional and rawest form of swimming, it’s very accessible all over the world.”

“For Brisbane, we are almost fighting over where open water should go because we have so many beautiful venues to show off to the world and that’s something that is really important.”

The hub will be based at the Western Australian Institute of Sport and the partnership between WAIS, Swimming Australia and Swimming WA, will see:

• Australia’s first and only endurance swimming hub to be established in Perth;
• Strengthens Australia’s capacity to develop world class athletes
• Enabled by a $2.55 million WA Government investment with the support of the Western Australian Institute of Sport, Swimming Australia and Swimming WA
• The hub will also continue providing high-performance opportunities for para swimmers competing across other swimming disciplines.