SWIMMING: With 100 days to go until the second summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG), eight young swimmers have been selected to continue Australia’s success in the pool.

Spearheaded by rising stars Ami Matsuo and Kyle Chalmers, the youth swim team are part of 90 other Australian athletes to compete in Nanjing, China between the 16th and 28th of August.

Sydneysider Matsuo has her sights set on gold after an impressive performance at the Australian Age Championships and the Australian Swimming Championships last month.

Despite finishing the Age Championships with two silvers and a bronze as well as making the 100 and 200m freestyle finals at the Swimming Championships in Brisbane, the HSC student is determined she can do better at the YOG later this year.

“This year at age nationals I couldn't get the results I wanted to,” the 17-year-old said.

“I'll be hoping to get a medal in the 100 and 200m freestyle, [and] I also like to get PB’s in all my events.”

Matsuo is no stranger to international competitions after being selected last year to compete with Australia’s senior swimmers in the relay at the World Championships in Barcelona where she won a silver medal.

While Barcelona remains her greatest achievement to date, the Australian with Japanese heritage is looking to use the YOG as a stepping-stone towards her senior Olympic dream.

“My ultimate goal would be to make the 2016 Rio Olympics or the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as all my relatives live in Tokyo [and] they've never seen me swim in person,” she said.

“The Youth Olympic team will be a step forward towards getting experience for my future journey both mentally and physically.”

Joining Matsuo in Nanjing, South Australian teenager Kyle Chalmers is also shooting for the stars.

The 15-year-old sprinter stunned the swimming community, winning a surprising silver medal in the 50m butterfly at the Swimming Championships in Brisbane and then taking a total of four Australian age titles and two national age group records in Sydney.

The young star blitzed the field in the boy’s 15 years 100m freestyle to win in 49.68, eclipsing the previous record held by Ian Thorpe and hitting the wall almost two seconds clear of his closest rival.

The Australians will be up against 400 other swimmers from around the world, the second largest competition field behind athletics.

Unlike some other youth events, the youth swimmers will compete in the same format as senior Games but with the added bonus of a mixed gender relay, which was successfully tried at the Singapore YOG in 2010.

The swimming action will take place on days 2-6 at the Olympic Sports Centre Natatorium in Nanjing.

Laura Judd
olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam

Swimming Section of the 2014 Australian Youth Olympic Team

Male Athletes (age), Club
Grayson Bell (16), TSS Aquatic, QLD
Nicholas Brown (17), Western Sprint, WA
Kyle Chalmers (15), Marion, SA
Nicholas Groenewald (16), Nunawading, VIC

Female Athletes (age), Club
Ella Bond (16), Marion, SA
Amy Forrester (15), St Peters Western, QLD
Ami Matsuo (17), Carlile, NSW
Brianna Throssell (17), Perth City, WA