South West’s Kyle Lee wins three gold medals at Australian Open Water Swimming Championships in Busselton

South West product Kyle Lee proved unstoppable at the Australian Open Water Swimming Championships in Busselton last week, winning three gold medals.

The 2024 Olympian, who was raised in Australind, won the men’s 10km open event in a thrilling finish on Thursday and backed up his early success with victories in the mixed 1.25km relay and men’s open 5km races.

In a thrilling finish to the 10km event, Lee was going stroke-for-stroke with defending champion Thomas Raymond in the closing stages of the race but surged ahead on the final stroke to win by just five hundredths of a second in a time of 1 hour 50 minutes and 34 seconds, with his Olympic teammate Nick Sloman rounding out the podium in third.

The 5km race saw Lee again produce a huge finish to overhaul Raymond (53.34.90) and Sloman (53.38.40) only metres before the end of the race, winning in a time of 53.33.60.

The wins not only completed a perfect championships for Lee but also guaranteed his place for the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore and in the Dolphins team for next month’s World Cup in Egypt.

Olympic silver medallist Moesha Johnson was dominant in the women’s events, claiming both the 10km and 5km gold medals.

Swimming WA’s Open Water Swimming Series event was also held in conjunction with the national championships.

Kieren Pollard, a teammate of Lee’s at North Coast Swimming Club, claimed victory in the open 10km race with a time of 1:59.31, while Sofie Frichot was the fastest female with a time of 2:22.52.