Western Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder and former Two Rocks resident, Rhys Mainstone, has claimed his maiden 10km open water national championship, after the 19 year-old held off a challenge from defending champion and World Championship silver medallist Trent Grimsey.
Mainstone, who trains at the City of Perth Swimming Club with WAIS coach Matt Magee, has automatically booked his place on the Australian teams for this year's Pan Pacific Championships and July's World Championships in Roberval, Canada.
Mainstone produced a brilliant swim at Lake Nagambie, Victoria and produced a strong kick in the final 1500 metres to pull clear of David Browne in second and fellow youngster George O'Brien (third) to touch home in 1:53.54hours.
Post race, Mainstone set his sights on a bigger prize but admitted he was delighted to achieve such feats at his tender age.
"While it was great to win, it's a stepping stone to my ultimate goal which is the London 2012 Olympics and I am ticking off all the boxes faster then I had expected,” Mainstone said.
"I dug down really deep and did a lot of work towards the end of the race and obviously it paid off.”
The win highlights a tremendous 12 month period after he secured top ten finishes in two star-studded World Cup events in Sharjah (sixth) and Dubai
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