Anderson, Carmignani and Mander Take Titles on Day 1 of WA Short Course Championships

After a whirlwind couple of months, Iona Anderson (Highlanders/WAIS) returned to Western Australian competition on Friday night, taking out the women’s 100m IM on Day 1 of the 2026 Hancock Prospecting WA Age & Open Short Course Championships.

Anderson, who represented Australia at both the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and the 2026 Pan Pacific Championships in Irvine, stopped the clock in 1:00.66 to win ahead of Highlanders teammate Alyssa Burgess (1:01.08) and Hale Aquatics’ Teagan Flowerdew (1:05.18).

The swim was just 0.56 seconds outside Anderson’s entry time, with her attention now turning to the remainder of the meet after a busy international campaign.

Burgess returned again later in the session to take gold in the women’s 200m backstroke, clocking a new personal best of 2:10.22.

Sam Carmignani (Hale Aquatics) dominated the men’s 100m IM, dropping 1.40 seconds from his entry time to win in 56.46.

Carmignani narrowly held off Matthew Loffler (56.58) and Thomas Prowton (56.91) for the title.

He backed up the individual win later in the session, anchoring Hale Aquatics’ winning men’s 4x200m freestyle relay alongside Lucas Fackerell, Jaxon Debono and Jake Smith.

Hale touched in 7:21.38, just over two seconds ahead of Highlanders (7:23.50), with UWA West Coast third in 7:56.50.

Alec Mander (Southside Penrhos) was well clear of the field in the men’s 1500m freestyle, taking the title in 15:08.65.

Mander, who set the current WA All-Time Record of 14:53.12 earlier this year, finished more than 51 seconds ahead of Jaxon Debono (16:00.05), with Olly Browne (16:00.21) third.

UWA West Coast’s Jemma Apps claimed the women’s 1500m freestyle title in 17:00.18, finishing ahead of Mila Reyes (17:09.50) and Lara Green (17:14.93).

Daniel Eve (South Shore) also produced a strong swim, taking 1.25 seconds off his entry time to win the men’s 200m backstroke in 2:02.59.

Joseph Bridgman (2:04.78) and Bailey Bradbrook (2:05.11), both representing Hale Aquatics, completed the podium.

Other Results

• Men’s 400m Freestyle Multi-Class: Zachary McCamley (UWA West Coast) took the S19 title in 4:43.65, dropping a huge 11.63 seconds from his entry time. Fraser McCamley was second in 5:07.47, with Alexey Ulupov third in 7:14.28.
• Women’s 400m Freestyle Multi-Class: Jordan Berryman (UWA West Coast) won the S7 event in 6:12.13, improving by 2.06 seconds from her entry time. Grace Ferguson (Busselton) was second in 4:57.03.
• Men’s 100m IM Multi-Class: Morgan Hill (Australind) took the SM19 title in 1:05.31, a 1.94-second improvement from his entry time. Michael Bourgault (Central Aquatic) was second in 1:21.74, while Zachary McCamley (UWA West Coast) finished third in 1:09.85.
• Women’s 100m IM Multi-Class: Rebekah Fraser (UWA West Coast) claimed the SM15 title in 1:20.31, with Jacinta Huppatz (Central Aquatic) second in 1:11.98 and Grace Ferguson (Busselton) third in 1:14.42.
• Women’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay: Highlanders took the win in 8:27.28, with Alyssa Burgess, Anzu Haywood, Zaylee Sanders and Delta Cross combining for the victory. UWA West Coast was second in 8:45.61, followed by Hale Aquatics in 8:49.77.

2026 Hancock Prospecting WA Age & Open SC Championships

• 28-30 August 2026
• Perth HPC
• Event Page