Lucas Kloosterhof has adapted to open water competition, well, like a duck to water. He participated in the National Open Water Swimming Championships in Adelaide last month where he placed 10th in the 16-17 years 7.5 kilometre event.
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Lucas is the Manning River Times-Iguana Sportstar of the Week, earning a $50 open order at Iguana.
He was nominated by Taree Torpedoes Swim Club.
The youngster beat out tens of thousands of competitors just to qualify for the race and didn’t disappoint once he was in the water.
He completed the course in 1:55:19.30.
“We did six, 1.25 kilometre laps set around big orange buoys to swim out and around,” Lucas said.
“There was a massive sprint off the start because we were all bunched up, then we slowly spread out.”
Lucas was ecstatic with his result, citing the abilities of his adversaries.
“It’s really good, a big achievement but I knew it would be tough to keep up with them.
“I was pretty much one of the shortest in the race and some of those kids seemed like eight feet tall, they were massive,” Lucas laughed.
Despite having limited open water training opportunities heading into the race, Lucas felt he was in his element.
“I don’t do too much open water training because there is nothing around the area to do that,” Lucas said.
“I liked it more because I could get into a rhythm better because in the pool you need to do turns and that just gets me out of my rhythm.”
It was the first time Lucas has swum that distance in competition and is also the biggest event he has competed in to date. Not to mention the best result he’s ever produced.
Lucas will be back in the pool in two weeks after qualifying for the NSW Country Championships in Sydney.
He hopes to medal in the 15-16 year 100 metre backstroke category.
It's a big year ahead for the Taree High School student. Lucas is hopeful of a spot in the State School competition in April and another tilt at nationals during the 2019-20 swim season.
To balance his school work and swimming commitments, Lucas shares his time between Taree and Forster pools. That does mean waking up before sunrise.
“It's 4am starts, at the pool before 5am, finish training at 7am and then get ready for school," Lucas said.
“I train about four times a week and the gym once or twice. I do more morning sessions than afternoon."
He hopes to focus on long distance freestyle going forward.
Lucas made national headlines in January 2018 for saving a man caught in a rip at Tuncurry Beach.
He is a member of Black Head Surf Life Saving Club.
