October Sportstar 2019 nominees

There is no shying away from the fact Col Pearse is one of Australia’s brightest young swimming stars.In just the space of several months, he has won medals at both national and international level.It all began at the Para Swimming Championships in London, where he swam in four events – the 200m individual medley SM10, the 100m S10 backstroke, the 4x100m medley relay 34pts and his pet event the 100m butterfly S10.And at his first international event, Pearse thrived against the competition proving he is one to watch, winning a bronze medal in the butterfly.He would also add a sixth placed finish in the backstroke to his collection.Just several weeks later at the Australian Short Course Swimming Championships, the 16-year-old was again standing on the podium.Again, it was in the 100m butterfly where Pearse thrived to win another bronze medal while he also set four new personal bests.Pearse was also involved in an Australian first as able bodied and para athletes competed alongside one another for the first time.Swimmers were separated into four teams with two able bodied and para athletes on each side involved in a mixed 4x50m freestyle relay.