Galea joins Aussie greats

New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship athlete Matt Galea carved his name alongside some legends of Australian swimming’s when he produced a personal best to win the men’s 1500m freestyle event at the 2024 Australian Short Course Championships in Adelaide.

Galea won the event in a time of 14:40:55 – the eighth fastest time by an Australian behind the likes of Grant Hackett, Jordan Harrison, Kieren Perkins, Robbie Hurley, Mack Horton and Dan Kowalski.

He defeated Queenslanders Lachlan Walker and Noah Kamprad for the gold medal.

It crowned a tremendous meet for the SOPAC swimmer who won silver behind Western Australia’s Alex Mander over the 400 and 800m freestyle event.

Galea led the 400m race for 399m before Mander surged in the last metre of the eighth lap to win the event at the SA Aquatic and Leisure Centrein a time of 3:42:24 – just 0.04 ahead of Galea.

NSWIS

Photo David Mariuz