Junior Pan Pacific Championships heading to Canberra

Swimming Australia is pleased to announce the 2024 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships will be staged at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra from 21 to 24 August 2024.

Now held every two years, the last event took place in Honolulu in 2022. Since its inception in 2005 the event has only been hosted by Hawaii, Guam and Fiji with next year’s Championships being held in Australia for the first time.

Along with Charter nations Australia, USA, Canada and Japan, the Junior Pan Pacific Championships are open to other non-European nations with Singapore and New Zealand amongst other regular participants.

Swimming Australia High Performance Director Tamara Sheppard said the 2024 Junior Pan Pacs would be a great opportunity for some of our leading young swimmers to participate in a high quality event at home.

“The athletes coming through the junior ranks now are incredibly fortunate that Australia is hosting Commonwealth and Olympic Games within the next ten years. Holding the Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Canberra next year provides yet another opportunity for our Junior Dolphins to compete against high quality athletes at home,” Sheppard said.

“The American team coming out will of course be strong, and we know Canada and Japan will also send talented squads so the standard of the event will be really high.

“Australia has always considered Junior Pan Pacs to be an important event in the development of our young swimmers and there’s no doubt many of the athletes who get the opportunity to swim in Canberra next year will progress onto senior teams in the future.”

Kieren Perkins, CEO of the Australian Sports Commission, said the return of the Junior Pan Pacs to Australian soil is a key development opportunity as part of the Green and Gold decade.

“The AIS Campus in Canberra is a one stop shop for thousands of Australian athletes and support staff every year and we’re delighted to be holding this event.

“Racing opportunities like this are critical for our young developing athletes and the ability to host this meet in Australia will provide great benefit.

We look forward to hosting some of the region’s most promising athletes at the AIS Campus in 2024.

More than 300 athletes and support staff will be housed on-site at the AIS for the duration of the event, with training, competition, meals and accommodation all located within walking distance.

Recent editions of the Championships have seen the likes of Ariarne Titmus, Kaylee McKeown, Minna Atherton, Lani Pallister, Brendon Smith, Shaun Champion, Thomas Neill, Jack Cartwright and Elijah Winnington represent the Junior Dolphins.

In 2022, Flynn Southam and Joshua Staples were the standout swimmers at the event, between them claiming every men’s freestyle gold medal in addition to the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.