Australian Open Water Championships and OceanSwim Festival commences in Busselton

The 2025 Australian Open Water Championships and OceanSwim Festival commenced today in Busselton, located south west Western Australia with the event having attracted thousands of swimmers and spectators from across Australia and the world.

The four-day elite swimming event is taking place on the Busselton foreshore until Sunday, 26th January. It is the third consecutive championships to be held in the beautiful coastal town.

The championships and OceanSwim form part of the larger Festival of Busselton event series, which boasts a vibrant program of cultural, sporting and community events to promote the region.

The event is growing in popularity, with last year's event attracting around 2,700 competitors and spectators to Western Australia's South West.

The festival is supported by the WA Government through Tourism WA's Regional Events Program.

The Busselton Jetty and surrounding coastline will be the spectacular backdrop for the festival program, which includes the Australian Open Water Championships for Junior and Open categories, comprising 10km, 7.5km, and 5km races, plus relay events, and a community swim with distances from 500m to 10km.

The festival also provides an important qualifying opportunity for the 2025 World Aquatics Open Water World Championships, with the top two athletes in the 10km and the top athlete in the 5km to be selected for the team.

Among the competitors are Olympians Moesha Johnson, Paris Olympic Silver medallist in the Women's 10km; Chelsea Gubecka, Paris 2024 Olympian, finishing 14th in the Women's 10km; Kyle Lee, Paris 2024 Olympian, finishing 13th in the Men's 10km; and Nick Sloman, Paris 2024 Olympian, finishing 11th in the Men's 10km.

In addition to the Australian Open Water Championships categories, the event also includes the Pho3nix Junior Excellence Program, which offers young swimmers elite coaching opportunities.

WA Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti noted "The WA Government is proud to be supporting the 2025 Australian Open Water Championships and OceanSwim Festival, which is gaining momentum as an exciting fixture on the Western Australian sporting events calendar.

"Mass participation events like this attract participants and spectators from near and far, boosting our visitor economy and supporting jobs by driving travellers to hospitality and tourism businesses.

"Delivering an always-on, year-round diverse calendar of events is a vital part of our overarching events strategy, and events are essential to ensuring our incredible regional towns continue to thrive."

For more information visit: www.swimming.org.au.

Image. Credit: Australian Open Water Championships and OceanSwim Festival 2025