Grace so close to national medals

Pictured: Grace swimmers Sam Baker, coach Josh Duyzer, Lily Smith and Alia Shaw at the national open water titles.

Grace swimmers twice cracked the top 10 in the Australia Open Water Championships at Busselton, on the West Australia south coast.

Alia Shaw battled choppy seas and headwinds to take fifth place in the Girls’ 16 Years 7.5km race, clocking 1 hour 54 minutes 45.29 seconds.

Lily Smith followed three days later with fourth place in the Girls' 19 Years 5km event, finishing in 1 hour 4 minutes 30.17 seconds.

Sam Baker was 12^th in the Boys’ 16 Years 5km, which started at 7.35am, in a time of 1 hour 5 minutes 10.77 seconds.

Alia Shaw completed her program by also finishing 12^th in the Girls’ 16 Years 5km in 1 hour 8 minutes 46.46 seconds.

The team of three from Grace Swimming Club in Rothwell raced a total of 22.5kms, with training sessions before, between and after their events.

Grace finished 32^nd on the total points ladder against 69 clubs from across Australia. “An amazing achievement” the club said on social media.