Rebekah Weller’s reign of dominance over Swimming WA’s Open Water Series looks set to continue after the long-distance champion nabbed her second straight win to start the 2018/19 season in Busselton over the weekend.
Following on from her impressive round one victory in Leighton earlier this month, the Peel Aquatic Club star dashed to the line in one hour, 47.7 seconds to make it two from two in the opening rounds of the campaign.
The first female and the sixth overall swimmer past the finish line on both occasions, Weller continues to challenge and beat most of the men’s times, but she’s eyeing bigger and better things as her swimming career progresses at a rapid pace.
While the young star will continue to contest the Open Water Series, part of her focus is fixed squarely on the upcoming nationals at the end of January.
The 2018 Australian Open Water Swimming Championships, set to be held at South Australia’s Brighton Beach, will present Weller with the chance to garner a spot in the national team, which would see her competing in international events like the World Cup series.
It would be a dream come true for the Dawesville-based swimmer, who said she was hard at work as she tries to make it her reality.
“To be chosen for the Australian team – it would be like all my Christmases come at once,” she said.
“It’s something that’s been a goal of mine for a while now so to have the chance to make it happen is a big thing for me.
“Really I just want to go there and do my best.”
Weller got a taste for international competition when she took on a talented crop of swimmers at the Masters Pan-Pacific in recent weeks, where she was good enough to claim silver.
“That was my first time competing internationally and I knew it’d be really tough going into it,” she said.
“I was really happy with my performance there – to finish second and get silver was pretty special.”
But for now Weller remains focused on her local Open Water Series, which moves on to Coogee for round three this coming weekend.
She currently sits comfortably in first place in the open women after her back-to-back wins, with her 80 points more than double that of the second-placed Grace Walton.
Fellow Mandurah-based swimmer Jennifer Rollin-Busby is also on the leaderboard, sitting in second in the female legends category.
For more information on the Open Water Series visit openwaterswimming.com.au
Justin Rake
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
Sports journalist for the Mandurah Mail, Australian Community Media, Fairfax Media.
