Backstroke ace to race at Pan Pacific champs

SWIMMER Henry Allan is racking up the laps as he prepares to represent Australia at this year’s Pan Pacific Junior Championships in Vancouver.

A multiple gold medallist at Australian Age Championships, Allan was selected as the April winner in the 61st Bendigo Sports Star of the Year awards.

It’s the second year running the backstroke ace is in the race for Sports Star gold.

Allan won five gold medals and broke multiple National Age and All-Comers records at the Australian Age titles on the Gold Coast.

The young gun from Bendigo East Swimming Club won the 17-years 50m backstroke in a national record time of 24.51 seconds.

The record had stood for 15 years.

Allan is coached by John Jordan at Bendigo East Swimming Club and was the Cyril Michelsen Trust Fund in the 2024 Bendigo Sports Star of the Year awards.

One of the country’s emerging stars in his sport, Allan will wear the green and gold at the Pan Pacific Junior Championships in Vancouver.

The titles run from August 17 to 20 and will involve emerging stars from the United States, Canada, South Africa, China, New Zealand, and South Korea.

Allan is now in the Sports Star of the Year race with cyclists Pat Eddy and Alessia McCaig, and golfer Jazy Roberts.

Latest scholarship recipients in Sports Star were basketballer Mia Harvey and swimmer Azia Fong-Sutton.

Harvey has signed to play for University of Nevada in next year’s NCAA Division One Program after she completes Year 12 studies at Catherine Macauley College in Bendigo.

The brilliant guard has captained Victoria Country at national junior championship level and will keep working to build fitness and improve skills in the lead-up to joining the US collegiate system.

It was another memorable campaign for Fong-Sutton at the Australian Age Championships where she was fifth in an incredibly close finish to the 15-girls 50m freestyle.

Fong-Sutton also competed in the 4 x 50m freestyle relay where Victoria was fourth.

The talented teenager is coached by John Jordan in the strong junior program at Bendigo East Swimming Club.