Birrong’s Alex Hejaij won nine medals, four of them gold, in freestyle and butterfly in his S19 category in France, while Panania’s Abbey Connor will compete in butterfly with the Dolphins at the 2023 World Aquatic Championships from July 23-30.
Now training at the high performance UniSC Spartans Aquatic Centre on the Sunshine Coast in the lead-up to Japan, Abbey will be taking part for the second time with the Dolphins after last year having coming fourth in the Commonwealth Games and reaching the semi-finals in the World Championships.
Alex said that to win selection with the Dolphins, swimmers had to come first or second in the nationals and under the qualifying time and that he was extremely proud of both Abbey and Alex.
“They both developed through the squad program at our Roselands site under my guidance and have the potential defeat the world’s best,” he said.
Alex Hejaij said he was surprised to do so well in France in his first international competition.
“Getting one medal would have been great but scoring one in each of my races was amazing, with four of the wins also with my relay team,” he said.
He now has his sights set on the Commonwealth Games in Australia in 2026 and the Paralympic Games in 2028 in Los Angeles.
“What’s even more surprising is that I’ve only been swimming competitively for a year and now I’m 20 which is usually the age they brush you off but I’m proving you can enjoy great success at any age,” he said.
