Record-breaker Stotz heads squad for Oceania Champs

A DEVELOPMENT squad brimming with Brisbane 2032 potential will head to Fiji in May to contest the 2026 Oceania Swimming Championships as part of Swimming Australia’s NextGen special project program.

The Oceania Swimming Championships will run from May 8-13, with the opening and closing days featuring open water events while the pool events will take place from May 9-12 at the Damodar City Aquatic Centre in Suva, Fiji.

With 15 nations under the Oceania regional umbrella, including close-competitor New Zealand, the Championships provide an opportunity for swimmers to race an international field and experience performance preparation while travelling.

Emerging sprint freestyle and breaststroke talent Koa Stotz (pictured) was named amongst the 10 selected athletes following his record-breaking performance at this month’s Australian Age Championships on the Gold Coast.

Stotz set a national age record of 28.32 in the 15-year boys’ 50m breaststroke that lowered the previous mark of 28.47 by Christopher Montana.

Coached by Chris Urquhart at Somerset, Stotz was the most prolific gold medallist in his 15-year boys age group after completing the 50m-100m freestyle and 50m-100m breaststroke double.

Open water Junior Dolphins Eleanor Flowers (North Coast) and Lachlan Evans (St Peters Western) also joined the ranks based upon their performances at the Bunbury Australian Open Water Championships in January.

Flowers trains under Ian Mills – the same coach of Australia’s top male open water swimmer Kyle Lee – at North Coast (WA) and was announced on the 2026 Junior Open Water World Championships team bound for Argentina alongside Evans.

Flowers and Evans are set to contest the 10km, 5km and middle-distance freestyle events in Fiji.

Tracey Menzies-Stegbauer is the team lead and head coach for the Oceania tour. She will lead a trio of development coaches: Shane Kingston (Rocky City), Tracey Waters (Corrimal) and Reece Taylor (St Peters Western).

Selected Team Coaches:

• Tracey Menzies-Stegbauer – Team Lead & Head Coach
• Shane Kingston – Rocky City, QLD
• Reece Taylor – St Peters Western, QLD
• Tracey Waters – Corrimal, NSW