The Australian Dolphins put on a showcase over the weekend at the Australian leg of the 2023 Para World Swimming Series, with several Commonwealth Games team members claiming medals across three days of competition.
Four-time Commonwealth Games medallist Tim Hodge claimed a sensational seven medals over the course of competition, including three gold, two silver and two bronze, while several others also enjoyed success in the pool.
Taking gold in the Men’s 400m Freestyle on the first night of competition, Hodge was joined on the podium by Brenden Hall OAM and Col Pearse, winning silver, and bronze respectively in a clean sweep for Australia.
Hodge’s continued success saw him also claim gold in the Men’s 100m Backstroke and 200m Medley Multi-Class Final, breaking his own World Record in the process with a final time of 2:13.38.
In other events, Hodge added to his haul of medals with a silver in the 100m Butterfly and three bronze medals in each of the 50m Freestyle, 50m Backstroke and 100m Breaststroke events, while Hall claimed silver in the 100m Backstroke and Jack Ireland a silver in the 100m Freestyle.
For Hodge, the series represents a chance to focus on his range of events, providing invaluable competition experience ahead of upcoming major international events.
“Overall, I was really happy with my performances, as was my coach. I think the highlight of my event would be my result in the 100m Breaststroke, as for me it was a massive PB (personal best), and it has been a major focus of improvement for myself and my coach in the last 12 months,” Hodge said.
“It was a big meet for me, racing nine events, with eight finals in three days, and to come away with quite a few new PB’s, and some very close to PB times at this point in the season makes me excited for Trials, and hopefully World Championships this year. I’m now focusing on getting some more hard training and technical work in prior to Trials, and then working towards making this year’s World Championships team.”
In other results, Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games gold medallist Jasmine Greenwood secured bronze in the 100m Backstroke, while Emily Beecroft added to her bronze medal for Birmingham with another bronze in the 100m Butterfly.
Birmingham 2022 bronze medallist Keira Stephens also enjoyed podium success in multiple events, collecting three medals throughout the competition including a silver in the Women’s 100m Freestyle and two bronze in each of the 100m Breaststroke and 50m Freestyle,
The focus now firmly turns to April’s Australian Championships on the Gold Coast, which will serve as the selection event for the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester in July.
