Jewish swimmers dive into NSW Open

In rain-soaked Sydney these days, you might as well be in a swimming pool. And between February 4-6, in the best pool in the state – Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre – some of the best swimmers in Australia, including eight Jewish athletes aged between 14 and 35, dived into the action in the 2022 NSW Open Long Course Swimming Championships.

In the men’s multi-class events, 35-year-old North Sydney Paralympian Matt Levy showed his experience and class in a top-quality field of 10 in the 100 breaststroke, coming first to win gold in 1:24.04.

Second and third place went to fellow Australian Paralympians Tim Disken, of PLC Aquatic, and Auburn’s Tim Hodge.

Levy – who won a relay gold medal and an individual bronze medal at last year’s Tokyo Paralympics – also won a silver medal in the 100 free final (1:02:31) in a race won by Jason Braedon, and earned a bronze medal in the 50 free final (28.63).

And he came close to winning another bronze, coming fourth in the 200 free final, won by Ben Hance from USC Spartans.

Winning a medal of every colour made Levy the standout performer, but other Jewish swimmers also did well at the NSW Open.

Alexander Thompson, 17, was part of City of Sydney Swim Club’s men’s team that won bronze in the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay.

Thompson – who on the previous Sunday won silver in the open men’s 100 free race, the AJN Cup, at the NSW Jewish Swimming Championships – also entered four individual events at the NSW Open.

Of those, his best performance was making the men’s 200 individual medley B final, when he touched the wall in 2:13.91 to finish seventh, and 16th overall in a field of 40.

Thompson also came 13th in the 400 individual medley, 23rd in the 200 fly, and 43rd in the 50 backstroke.

St Andrews rep, former Melburnian Ashley Weill, made three women’s backstroke A finals, all of which were won by Australian Dolphins superstar Kaylee McKeown, who won three golds at the Tokyo Olympics.

Weill, 20, came sixth in the 200 backstroke final, eighth in the 50, and 10th in the 100.

Three Jewish swimmers represented Kincoppal Rose Bay at the NSW Open.

Ariella Levy, 22, made the women’s 50 breaststroke B final, coming fifth in 34.12 seconds in an event won by Olympian Chelsea Hodges.

She also competed in the 100 breaststroke, placing 23rd out of 65, with a time of 1:15.73.

In the men’s 50 breaststroke, her 20-year-old clubmates Sam Penkin and Adam Amoils placed 51st and 59th respectively.

Cranbrook rep Savanna Goldrin, 15, swam in three women’s events, with her best result being 51st in the 200 breaststroke.

And Maccabi’s Elodie Jewell, 14, had a memorable swim in the women’s 200 backstroke, beating her seed time by more than two seconds. She finished in 2:33.27 to come 34th out of 54, beating many older swimmers.