Swimming
Australian Trials
From Monday 9 to Saturday 14 June, six of our Pymble girls and alumni proudly represented our community at the 2025 Australian Swimming Trials—a key selection meet for the Australian Dolphins Swim Team, ahead of the World Aquatics Championships (Friday 11 July to Sunday 3 August) and the World Para Swimming Championships (Sunday 21 to Saturday 27 September), both to be held in Singapore.
The meet was filled with energy, team spirit, and inspiring performances. Our swimmers had the opportunity to race among Australia’s best, and many achieved personal bests while gaining valuable experience on the national stage.
The Pymble athletes who competed were:
- Georgia Friedel (Year 8)
- Alyssa Gillespie (Year 11)
- Caitlyn Keating (Year 10)
- Ruby Pickthall (Year 11)
- Piper Gregory-Reid (Alumni)
- Jessica Munk (Alumni)
A special mention goes to Alyssa (AJ) Gillespie (Year 11) for an outstanding week of racing in the Para events:
1st – 50m Backstroke
4th – 50m Breaststroke
10th – 100m Breaststroke
11th – 50m Freestyle
15th – 100m Backstroke
AJ broke the 17 Years SB8 Australian records in both the 50m and 100m Breaststroke, along with the Open SB8 100m Breaststroke Australian record. She also secured a qualifying time (QT) for the Australian Para-Flippers Squad in the 100m Breaststroke—adding to her existing QT in the 100m Backstroke. She now has two events to aim for at upcoming international competitions.
We are thrilled to congratulate Rafael Rodrigues on an incredible coaching milestone. Raf has been a valued coach at Pymble Ladies’ College since 2016 and, over the years, has guided and mentored many talented athletes.
One particularly special coaching journey has been with Declan, whom Raf first taught to swim at just six years old. Their enduring coach-athlete relationship is a true reflection of Raf’s dedication, patience, and excellence in coaching.
We are proud to share that Declan has been selected for the Australian Para Dolphins Team to compete at the 2025 World Aquatics Championships—a phenomenal achievement that highlights the impact of Raf’s unwavering commitment and passion.
Congratulations, Raf, on this well-deserved recognition. Your influence and leadership continue to inspire us all.
A huge thank you and congratulations go to our Pymble parents for their continued support throughout the week, and to our incredible coaches, Leanne Speechley and Rafael Rodrigues, for their tireless work in preparing, guiding, and motivating our swimmers across this exciting event.
We are so proud of all the swimmers for their commitment, courage, and passion—well done, team!
SMNE Distance Meet Report
The SMNE Distance Meet was hosted right here at Pymble, providing a valuable opportunity for our swimmers to gain experience racing longer-distance events in a competitive yet supportive environment. Events such as the 400m, 800m, and 1500m freestyle, along with longer IM races, are often not offered at regular club meets, making this an important stepping stone for swimmers progressing towards state and national competitions.
Well done to all our Pymble swimmers who proudly represented KPSC at this meet, especially our younger swimmers who tackled the 400m for the first time:
Amélie Berg (Year 5), Oriana Fenton (Year 8), Georgia Friedel (Year 8), Alicia Gong (Year 4), Penelope Hargreaves (Year 8), Ludovica Iacovelli (Year 8), Caitlyn Keating (Year 10), Vera Le (Year 4), Sophia Li (Year 7), Jade Mao (Year 8), Priscilla Miller (Year 7), Indianna Vale (Year 10), Isabella Wang (Year 6), and Rose Wang (Year 5).
A huge thank you to our coaches for preparing and supporting the swimmers, to the parents for helping with timekeeping, and to Duccio and his team for their help with lifeguarding and pool set-up.