Fong-Sutton named in high-performance swim squad

BENDIGO East Swimming Club young gun Azia Fong-Sutton will take another exciting step in her development after being named in the Victorian State Marlins Squad.

The 15-year-old was one of 38 youngsters picked in Swimming Victoria’s high-performance squad, which was announced this month.

Her selection came hot on the heels of her bright performances at last month’s Swimming Australia Age Championships at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.

The Marlins squad is designed to bridge the gap between club-level competition and national-level performance.

It supports elite junior swimmers and their coaches through specialised training environments, camps, and skill-building activities.

Bendigo East Swimming Club head-coach and national team coach John Jordan said Fong-Sutton’s selection was a reward for her dedication, persistence and hard work.

“She has developed really well over the last couple of years and is starting to progress into some really good times, particularly with her freestyle,” he said.

“The 50 and 100m freestyle are her two main events at the moment.”

A solid national age championships for Fong-Sutton included a fifth in the final of the girls 15 years 50m freestyle, as well as qualifying for two B-finals.

In the girls 15 years 100m freestyle, she placed 12th with a sharp 0.78 second personal best (PB).

She backed up by notching another PB by finishing 11th in the 50m backstroke.

Fong-Sutton was unlucky not to medal in the 50m freestyle final, as she did last year when she finished third, with less than one second separating the top eight swimmers.

 

“She made the finals the previous year, so it was good to see her back it up and make finals again this year,” Jordan said.

Jordan said as a squad member, Fong-Sutton would have access to elite training sessions, both in and out of the pool, and plenty of high-level coaching.

“Azia has some really good opportunities ahead of her,” he said.

“As she moves towards senior high school, there are obviously more challenges around school commitments, et cetera.

“But if she is prepared to out in the work, then there are some opportunities for some of our female freestylers.

“There is no reason why she shouldn’t try and get onto some Australian youth performance camps, or even push some the national selections.

“We (Bendigo East) have consistently pout swimmers on national junior teams over the last 10 or so years.

“It’s got a good culture and people enjoy being around the club and that creates an environment conducive to swimmers being able to do well and get the best of themselves.”

Fong-Sutton’s Marlins squad selection followed that of star clubmate Henry Allan’s in the Australian Junior Dolphins team to compete at the 2026 Junior Pan Pacific Championships in Vancouver, Canada.

Allan’s selection was all-but guaranteed following his outstanding performances at the Australian Age Championships last month.

The 17-year-old dominated by breaking three national age records and three all-comers records and claiming an incredible five gold medals.

Whether Allan gets to the Pan Pacific Championships (17-20 August) remains to be seen, with the teenager in strong contention to be picked in the Australian team for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games (23 July to 2 August).

The Australian Swimming Trials will be held at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre from 8-13 June.

“The expectation is that Henry will have a really strong chance of getting on the Comm Games team,” Jordan said.

“And if he does, he might not do the Junior Pans.

“There is no reason why he can’t do well in any of those top competitions.”

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