F-Team Apprentice Winner Announced
The Funkita F-Team currently boasts some of the fastest swimmers in the world including Commonwealth Games gold medallists Bindy Hocking and Taylor McKeown, but we're constantly looking out for up and coming young swimmers, divers and triathletes that we can support in their journey to become the best they can be. To aid us in our search, we recently launched the F-Team Apprentice Program on social media to discover a promising female to join the Funkita F-Team for six months.
The applications came in thick and fast across our Instagram and Facebook pages and it was a tough decision to pick just one worthy winner but Ella Bond, a 17 year old from South Australia, is the lucky girl and we are very excited to have her onboard.
Trained by Shelly Jarrett at Marion Swimming Club out of the South Australian Aquatic and Leisure Centre, Ella is a scholarship holder with the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI). Following Ella's 3 medal winning performances at the 2013 Age Nationals, she was selected into the National Youth Squad and also the Australian team for the Japanese Junior Olympic Cup in Tokyo last August.
After two bronze, a silver, and gold medal winning times of 1:09.79 in the 100m breaststroke and 2:32.38 in the 200m breaststroke at the 2014 Age Nationals in April, Ella was selected for the Australian team for the 2014 Youth Olympic Games. Held only once every 4 years, this year's Youth Olympic Games will take place in Nanjing, China in August and Ella will race in breaststroke and IM events. When she returns to Australia, her focus will be on the SA Shortcourse Championships in September before gearing up for the National Shortcourse Champs in November. Her goal for 2015 is to make the Australian team for the Junior World Championships.
To help Ella out with achieving her goals, Funkita will send her an athlete pack of swimsuits, caps, shorts, t-shirts and other gear which will no doubt keep things bright and colourful for those early morning starts at the pool.
Ella, welcome to the Funkita family and we look forward to following your progress over the next six months!
We are always on the lookout for new athletes to support so if you would like more information on becoming a member of the F-Team, write to info@wayfunky.com.