HE'S only a relative newcomer to the sport of open water swimming, but the talent Will Kelly has shown is something the Western Region Academy of Sport just can't ignore.
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That is why Kelly will form part of their lone star squad for the upcoming season.
Last summer the Bathurst teenager finished 37 seconds under the national qualifying time for his age group at the NSW Open Water Championships.
It was an impressive effort given he'd only taken up open water swimming 12 months prior.
He went on to place 15th in his nationals debut for the five kilometre event, his time just over two minutes, six seconds outside the top 10.
It is a result WRAS officials feel that Kelly can improve on.
Certainly the academy's triathlon head coach Luke Gillmer, who has witnessed firsthand the teenager's strength in the the water, is excited to see what lies ahead.
"He's a little bit old for WRAS, but we've included him as a lone star because he is such a brilliant swimmer," Gillmer said.
"Last year he was beating a lot of kids in the programs from other areas, like the Wollongong program, Will was showing up at races and beating them.
"So we thought we've got to bring him in. So WRAS are going to support him not just with tri but they're going to work on his open water swimming."
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