Rebekah Weller has cemented her claim as one of Western Australia’s finest distance swimmers by taking out her first ever gold medal at the Open Water State Championships at Champion Lakes on Saturday.
The Peel Aquatic Club swimmer was in fine form for the open female 10km division, motoring to the finish line a stunning six minutes ahead of Perth City silver medalist Josie Page.
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Weller was ecstatic after claiming her first state title, saying she had no expectations heading into the race.
“I was just stoked to be able to come away with a win, and getting the gold medal is really special to me,” she said.
“Going into the race I knew I was up against a lot of people I hadn’t swam with before, so I didn’t really know what to expect.
“That was the top competition in the state so to get the win felt really good.”
The victory is made more impressive given the interruptions to Weller’s training schedule in recent weeks.
The state champ is currently in the final three weeks of her physiotherapy course at university, and said she had struggled to juggle study with swimming.
“It’s been pretty full on lately, and I haven’t been able to get in the water as much as I would have liked,” she said.
“I’ve sort of just had to use up any time I’ve had early in the morning to train – but just to win a state championship is something I’m pretty proud of.”
The gold medal is another addition to what is becoming a stunning resume for Weller, following on from victories in the 2017 Rottnest Channel Swim and 2016 Port to Pub 25-kilometre ultra-marathon.
She is also making waves with a set of outstanding performances across the opening three rounds of the WA Open Water Swim Series.
But Weller isn’t letting the success go to her head, saying she needs to continue her hard work if she wants to maintain her sparkling run of wins.
“I haven’t lost a race in the last few events, which is obviously the goal, but it means there are people chasing me now,” she said.
“It’s a bit of a weird feeling because I was the one doing the chasing not long ago, but all I can do is keep training and keep working hard.”
Weller is now turning her focus to upcoming events like the Busselton Jetty Swim and Port to Pub, which will be run in early 2018.
The WA Open Water Swim Series will roll into Mandurah for round 11 in March, 2018.
Justin Rake
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
