Australind’s Kyle Lee named the Shelley Taylor-Smith Medallist as Swimming WA’s open water swimmer of the year

Kyle Lee’s golden year in the water was celebrated on Saturday as he took home one of Swimming WA’s most prestigious prizes. The Australind swimmer was named the Shelley Taylor-Smith Medallist as the open water swimmer of the year. Lee — whose family still lives in Australind but spends his weeks in Perth for training and university — was named in the junior Australian team after top-four finishes in the 10km and 5km open water races at the national championships. The 19-year-old said it had been life-changing to be a part of the program despite the fact he could not train with athletes from other States. “It has been cool, due to COVID we haven’t been able to meet up,” he said. “There was a few camps I was meant to be going on. “We have still been doing Zoom calls and (they are) checking in on us which is good.” Lee and his fellow Australian teammates were meant to be heading to the Seychelles in August but the trip was cancelled due to the pandemic. The open water star said he was fortunate to still be able to challenge himself and compete in his home State. “We want to be doing a bit more travelling, but we are still very lucky WA has so many open water races,” he said. “We have so many good swimmers here, so you never feel you’re not able to compete.” Lee has his sights set firmly on the 2022 Australian Championships and said he was hoping for more superb results against the country’s most talented swimmers at the event. “Hopefully I can just do the best I can there,” he said. “(I would love to) make top four again hopefully so I could get selected for another Australian team.”