Alexandra Headland teenager Jamie Perkins is set to test herself against the country’s best swimmers at the Olympic trials after winning a national under-16 title.
The Cotton Tree club-member, who is also a highly-talented surf lifesaver, claimed victory in the 400m freestyle for her age division at the Australian championships on the Gold Coast.
She clocked 4min13.72sec, to finish 0.63sec ahead of Tiana Kritzinger.
Perkins was ranked number one for the event, heading into it.
It was her composure under pressure which impressed new Cotton Tree coach and ex-Olympian Chris Wright.
“She’s a really good racer, a good athlete who comes with that will-to-race. That’s what I like about her,” he said.
“It didn’t seem like the occasion got to her too much and she just got in and raced.
“Normally there’s a bit of expectation when a young 16-year-old comes to the national championship ranked No.1.
“But it didn’t affect her too much.”
Perkins was ranked highly going into the championships last year, but the meet was cancelled due to the impact of COVID-19.
“She didn’t have that opportunity to race, so this is her first pool medal and being gold, that’s pretty good,” Wright said.
She’ll prepare for a significant test, at the Olympic trials at Adelaide in June.
“That’s the goal, just to get her a bit of exposure to the big guns,” Wright said.
“It’s a big step up, going from age group to opens, so I want to try and expose her to that environment sooner rather than later.
“There is no bigger meet in Australia than the Olympic trials, so it’s a good opportunity for her to experience that and work towards improving over years to come.”
Perkins is looking forward to it.
“It will be a learning experience, competing against the opens and seeing the atmosphere of trials,” she said.
“Then when it comes to the 2024 trials, I’m all over it and there’s no pressure.”
Perkins is also a force in the ocean and is determined to fare well in this year’s Australian Surf Life Saving Championships on the Sunshine Coast.
She won the Australian under-14 ironwoman and board titles in 2019, before last year’s national championships were cancelled.
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This time around, she will compete largely in the under-17 division, and the surf race and surf team events in the open ranks.
“I know the beaches at Maroochydore and Alex really well, so it will be awesome to race there, and we’ll see what happens,” she said.
After impressing with Maroochydore club as a nipper, she now competes with Gold Coast glamour club Northcliffe, where she has many friends.
She does her board training with Sunshine Coast’s Clint Robinson, the 1992 Olympics kayaking gold medallist.
“I love my surf and my swimming and I’m just waiting until I have to choose,” she said.
She also finished third in the 200m freestyle on Saturday and was scheduled to compete in 800m freestyle on Monday.
