Girls take games by storm

Three of Broome’s swimming prodigies have returned from Darwin with a sense of pride after representing Western Australia at the recent Arafura Games.

Tallara Cook, Gemma Kent and Talia Wilkinson took part in the swimming meet, from April 27- 30, where they enjoyed success on the global stage.

Talia, 13, walked away with five medals from six finals — including three silvers and two golds.

She also broke the Arafura Games record for 200m backstroke and 200m breaststroke in the women’s 13-14 age group.Tallara, 13, made it to several finals, including 50m breaststroke and 200m breaststroke.

Gemma, 15, qualified for eight finals and walked away with six medals, including three bronzes, one silvers and two golds.

She also broke the Arafura Games record for 200m butterfly in the women’s 15-16 age group.

The trio also enjoyed success as a team, along with fellow WA swimmer Calia Vlastuin, bringing home bronze medals in 400m freestyle relay, 200m medley relay and 400m medley relay.

Broome Barracudas coach Ricinda Cook joined the girls in Darwin and said she was proud of how well they performed. “Particularly in the relay events, these girls were some of the youngest in the field and they were going up against 26-year-olds and they walked away with bronze medals,” she said.

“It was absolutely amazing to watch them do really well.

“I think it was definitely a confidence booster but now we have to look at what’s next for them, which will be the Kimberley Open Swimming Championships and the States.”

Ms Cook said the Broome Barracudas would definitely look at returning to the Arafura Games in 2021, and she hoped to bring even more swimmers.

“We will probably have a chat with the Broome Sports Association to try and get some other sporting clubs here to join in as well,” she said.

“It would be awesome to see more and more Broome teams involved in 2021.

“It also wasn’t just for able bodies.

“The paras were also getting in there and taking part in the same events, which was a real eye-opener.”