Swimmers strike gold, silver, bronze

Southern Cross had four podium and three top 10 finishes from eight swimmers making their open water championship debuts at the weekend.

Alia De Leeuw, Amelie Hoefel, Barry Pope, Emily Yates, Lucas Want, Luke McDonald, Sami Chandler and Spencer Harrold swapped starting blocks for a fresh water lake at Coolum Oz Ski Resort.

Saturday started with 5km races in rain and cold, making wet suits optional, but warmed up taking the water temperature above 20 degrees Celsius meaning wet suits were no longer needed.

Gold for Luke

Luke McDonald soon warmed to his task stopping the clock at 18 minutes 03.71 seconds to win gold in the 13 years male 1.25km race.

Barry Pope took silver in the 14 years male 2.5km event with 34 minutes 36.47 seconds, less than one second ahead of the bronze medal winner.

Lucas Want won bronze in the 16 years male 2.5km in 33 minutes 38.38 seconds, just over a second ahead of the fourth-placed swimmer.

Spencer's bronze

Spencer Harrold also won a bronze medal in the 13 years male 1.25km, clocking 19 minutes 18.73 seconds.

Southern Cross’ top 20 finishers were Amelie Hoefel, sixth in the 14 years female 1.25km and Sami Chandler, also sixth in the 13 years female 1.25km.

Emily Yates was seventh in the 14 years female 1.25km and Alia De Leeuw 18^th in the 12 years female 1.25km.