Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 4 September this year I visited the HBF Stadium in Perth to award some medals at the Commonwealth Festival of Synchronised swimming, which was hosted by Hancock Prospecting. There were swimmers, coaches and officials from Canada, Jamaica, United Kingdom, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, New Zealand, the Philippines and of course Australia.

The event featured a number of swimmers and officials who recently took part in the FINA World Championships in Kazan, Russia. This included the Australian national team, known as the Australian Coral, who have won their way through to next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The swimmers took part in a range of events including, solo, duet, team and combination and the ages range from under-12s to seniors.

I met their president, Dr Jessica Yin, who at the same time wrote a supportive letter for the new aquatic complex in South Perth, which I have been campaigning for for the last few years. To Jessica Yin, I thank her for that. I also managed to meet a couple of the Australian team members—Emily and Jemma—and got a photo with them and learnt how hard they train for this particular sport, which is highly underrecognised.

The Australian government provides support but does not provide any financial support to this Olympic sport, so let's try and help them in the future. Thank you.