The father of Albury swimming sensation Sienna Toohey has described his daughter as a “champion kid” – in and out of the pool – after her stunning win at the Australian selection trials in Adelaide on 10 June.

The 16-year-old claimed the women’s 100m breaststroke with a personal-best time of 1:06.55, securing her spot at the world titles in Singapore next month (27 July to 3 August).

Paris 2024 Olympian Ella Ramsey entered the event as the favourite but was pipped at the post by the Albury Swim Club member.

“She swam beautifully,” said proud dad Damian Toohey, who is the principal at Albury High School.

“She was in good form going in [to the trials], she’s put in a lot of hard work and it’s taken a big commitment – but it’s paid dividends.

“It’s been a great couple of days for her and she got very emotional after that race because it’s just such a massive goal to swim for Australia. When you reach that, it’s almost overwhelming.”

Mr Toohey said Sienna had spent the past six weeks travelling back and forth to Canberra with her mum, Simone, for more intensive training at the AIS’s ACT Performance Hub with head coach Shannon Rollason.

The pair would leave on a Sunday night and return Thursday, in time for Sienna to hand in school work and assignments and reconnect with her family and friends for the weekend, he said.

But it’s been the support of long-term Albury Swim Club coach Wayne Gould, 71, miles upon miles of laps in the local pool, surrounded by an incredible swim “family”, that has helped hone this young superstar’s skills, according to Mr Toohey.

He recalls the early days when the family would head off to the Albury pool on a Friday night with Sienna and her brothers Archie, now 18, and Jed, now 13, in tow.

All keen swimmers, the kids went down the “well-trodden path” from Gould Swim Academy to the Albury Swim Club where Sienna would eventually land with accomplished breaststroke coach Jo Gibbs at the age of nine … and the stage was set.

“Jo always said, ‘Don’t push them too hard too early’,” Mr Toohey recalled.

“We could turn her into an out-and-out champion right now but …

“So Sienna was doing PSSA [Primary Schools Sports Association] events and training three or four times a week – she wasn’t flogged but just developed technique and she loved her swimming.”

Sienna was already winning medals for swimming at state level but at the same time she was also proving a highly talented water polo player, under the tutelage of none other than Wayne’s daughter Kristy, Mr Toohey said.

She played for Albury team Pool Pirates and two years ago made the Australian Under-15 water polo squad.

But there came a time when the “big decision” had to be made, he added.

Sienna came to the attention of former Australian Olympic head swimming coach Leigh Nugent, who worked with Wayne and Sienna and encouraged her at 13 “to have a crack” towards realising her potential.

It’s been an incredible journey of dedication, discipline and determination ever since.

In an interview with the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) after her incredible achievement, Sienna said she was “very happy” with herself.

“I really wanted to make the national team, and I knew that if I didn’t make it in the 100m, I always had the 50m tomorrow,” she said. “But I’m definitely happy that I’ve done it now.”

Sienna has now sealed her place in the Dolphins squad that will compete at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore.

Her parents revealed they had not quite been prepared for this imminent overseas trip but their daughter was no stranger to international competition, having competed in Japan last year.

“She’s had unbelievable experiences and she has great people around her,” Mr Toohey said.

“There are a lot of people involved in getting Sienna to where she is, and the building blocks Swimming Australia have put in have provided incredible opportunities to get racing experience that build to winning a national-level race.”

Mr Toohey said there was no doubting the calibre of swimmers in the Albury-Wodonga and wider region.

“We are punching above our weight and the swim clubs do a great job,” he said.

“We love our sport on the Border and there are a lot of people putting in a lot of time and effort into training and supporting our kids.

“Sienna is very proud of coming from Albury and it’s a big thing to represent our community.”

For Sienna, it’s been a huge dream to be on the pool deck competing alongside role models she has idolised for many years, according to Mr Toohey.

She had been met with kindness from swimmers who had proven role models both in and out of the pool – “and every part of her said, ‘I want to be part of that’,” he said.

Describing his daughter as a “calm, loving kid who adores her brothers”, Mr Toohey revealed Sienna didn’t mind her downtime at home on the couch.

With a super-close circle of friends at Albury High, she was the type of person who was just as happy cheering on the success of others as she was striving for her own, he said.

But in the pool, this young girl now being hailed as the “future of Australian swimming” is a tenacious competitor.

“Leigh [Nugent] said she swims fearlessly – and I think that says it all,” Mr Toohey said.

GAME 2: AUSTRALIA 19 d ARGENTINA 11

Australia have notched up another win at the Men’s U20 World Championships in Croatia overnight, with a 19-11 victory over Argentina.

The Aussies shot out to an early lead in the first quarter, with two goals to the green and gold while managing to keep their opponents to one.

In the second quarter, the Australians managed five goals with the Argentinians slotting four into the back of the cage.

With the scores standing at 7-5 at half time, the Aussies were eager to up the ante in the second half.

A 6-4 third quarter saw the Aussies extend their lead to 13-9 heading into the last quarter, before a fourth quarter push saw them slot another six goals while keeping their opponents to two, the final score 19-11 in the Aussies favour.

GAME 1: AUSTRALIA 16 d COLOMBIA 11

Australia have opened their U20s World Aquatics Championships campaign with a strong 16-11 win over Colombia in Zagreb, Croatia.

Both teams took a conservative start to the match, working on their combinations to get things moving in the pool. A low scoring affair, Colombia would go on to hold a 2-1 lead at the completion of the first quarter.

That would all change in the second quarter when Australia came out firing with back-to-back goals to Daniel Magasanik and Zac Izzard startle their opponents, heading into the second half with a healthy 7-4 lead over their South American counterparts.

Head Coach Dragan Bakic’s men continued their dominance on the scoreboard in the second half and despite having less shots on goal, the Aussies defence held strong to run out 16-11 victors at fulltime.

Harper Stewart who was awarded Man of the Match, was impressed with his team’s performance.

“We had a really good preparation and it’s exciting. It was good to get those first game jitters out and I think a couple of the players felt the same.”

The team’s focus on building on their performances throughout the tournament was clear post match. As each match is crucial in the lead up to the crossover phase of the tournament.

“I felt like as a team our counter-attack was really good, but we’ve just got to fix a couple things defensively and I think we’ll be good for the rest of the games coming up.”

Australia will shift back into gear this evening when they meet Argentina this at 6:30pm AEST.

AUSTRALIAN 20&U MEN’S DRAW

Sunday 15 June | 6:30pm AEST | Australia v Argentina

Monday 16 June | TBC | TBC

Friday 20 June | TBC | Quarter-Finals

Saturday 21 June | TBC | Semi-Finals

Sunday 22 June | TBC | Finals

AUSTRALIAN 20&U MEN’S TEAM

Sam Bloomfield (Sydney Uni, NSW), Sean Bright (Queensland Thunder, QLD), Ashton Brown (Sydney Uni, NSW), Zac Izzard (Sydney Uni, NSW), Daniel Magasanik (Phoenix, VIC), Jake Martin (Fremantle, SA), Rex Palazzi (Cronulla, NSW), Ethan Payne (Cronulla, NSW), Oliver Purcell (UTS Balmain, NSW), Lewis Saupin (Sydney Uni, NSW), Thomas Serhan (UTS Balmain, NSW), Jamie Sharman (Sydney Uni, NSW), Harper Stewart (UNSW), Harry Tucker (UWA, WA), Cory Webber (Sydney Uni, NSW) Head Coach: Dragan Bakic

Nebraska High School Rodeo Athletes put a bow on their 2024-2025 season at the NEHSRA Finals held in Valentine, Nebraska June 11-14. The top four athletes in each event punched their ticket to the National High School Finals Rodeo that will take place in Rock Springs, Wyoming July 13-19, 2025.

Video spotlights from the Champion’s Circle are brought to you by Ravenscroft Red Angus.

Meet this year’s class of state champions below!

All-Around Cowgirl, Breakaway Roping, and Team Roping State Champion | Reagan McIntyre – Grand Island, NE

All- Around Cowboy | Kaddo Schrunk – Pender, NE

Bareback Riding State Champion | Koltdyn Heath – Minden, NE

Barrel Racing State Champion | Kallan Cox – Purdum, NE

Boys Cutting State Champion | Cash Cooper – Kilgore, NE

Boys Cutting State Champion | Ava Smith – Pender, NE

Goat Tying State Champion | Tatum Reid – Crawford, NE

Heeling State Champion | Owen Littau – Newport, NE

Light Rifle State Champion | Karsyn Chesley – Harrisburg, NE

Nebraska High School Rodeo Queen | Felycia Kerkman – Atkinson, NE

Pole Bending State Champion | Rylee Nall Sillivan – St. Paul

Reined Cow Horse State Champion | Callie Olson – Bloomfield, NE

Saddle Bronc Riding and Bull Riding State Champion | Grady Gorwill – Hyannis, NE

Steer Wrestling State Champion | Cotter Johnston – Stapleton, NE

Tie Down Roping State Champion | Tyler McCauley – Pender, NE

Trap Shooting State Champion | Case Shane

Never had a team made a comeback after trailing 4-7 in an Ultimate Table Tennis knockout match.

And never had U Mumba TT been able to breach the semifinal barrier in the first five editions. Both the firsts were achieved on Saturday, courtesy P.B. Abhinandh and Yashaswini Ghorpade – two of the most emerging paddlers on the Indian table tennis horizon.

With his back against the wall and trailing 0-2 against Vitor Ishiy, Abhinandh finally found an answer to Ishiy’s serve and stretched the match into the deciding tie.

Yashaswini – the Bengaluru girl – then held her nerves and blanked Krittwika Sinha Roy 3-0 on the last point of the match.

After closing out the first two games, Yashaswini raced to a 10-6 lead, Krittwika finally getting trapped into Yashaswini’s long-pimpled backhand.

But Krittwika then had a four-point spree. But the golden point saw Krittwika finally hit her backhand long to let the U Mumba camp burst into a wild bout of celebration.

Earlier, captain Harmeet Desai couldn’t have gotten the Challengers off to a better start than a clean slate against Lilian Bardet. Despite Bardet having been his bogey player in UTT in the past, Harmeet went all out with his forehand winners to not let Bardet get into his game.

But Bernadette Szocs – the highest ranked paddler in UTT at No. 12 in women’s – brought U Mumba back in the game by inflicting the first defeat on Zeng Jian.

When Szocs and Akash Pal – the doubles specialist who came up with stunning forehand side-spins close to his body – reduced the deficit to 4-5, U Mumbai was back in the match. Ishiy – the replacement player who came in for Tiago Apolonia towards the end of the league stage – then put Goa on the cusp of a win. But then started the great escape!

The result: U Mumba TT bt Dempo Goa Challengers 8-7 (Lilian Bardet lost to Harmeet Desai 8-11, 4-11, 10-11; Bernadette Szocs bt Zeng Jian 11-5, 11-9, 7-11; Szocs & Akash Pal bt Zeng & Desai 11-8, 11-8, 9-11; P.B. Abhinandh lost to Vitor Ishiy 6-11, 4-11, 11-9; Yashaswini Ghorpade bt Krittwika Sinha Roy 11-9, 11-9, 11-10).

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Indiana has extended an offer to one of the biggest risers of the spring, guard Kohl Rosario.

The 6-foot-5 Rosario played in front of the IU staff at the NBPA Top-100 Camp this week.

Rosario is in the 2026 class but is currently contemplating a reclassification to 2025.  Indiana has two open spots on the roster at the moment, pending waiver decisions for Luke Goode and Anthony Leal.  Rosario is currently 18.

From Miami, Fla., Rosario attended Overtime Elite this past season and now appears to be enrolled at Moravian Prep in North Carolina.  He averaged 15.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2.1 assists for the OTE Dreamerz this past season.

After a strong showing this spring, Rosario was bumped up from No. 91 to No. 27 at On3.  He’s a high-end 4-star prospect.

For spring and summer basketball, Rosario plays for Team CP3 on the Nike EYBL Circuit.  He’s been one of the best three-point shooters there, making 44.4% from long range on 45 attempts.  He’s averaging 14.2 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

IU will have ground to make up as Rosario has already started taking visits.  He just visited Oregon and Florida State, and has visits set with Duke, Kansas, and Miami.

For a complete look at IU’s 2026 through 2028 offers and prospects, GO HERE.

For complete coverage of IU basketball recruiting, GO HERE.   

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The Daily Hoosier –“Where Indiana fans assemble when they’re not at Assembly”

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As Inside the NBA moves to ESPN, Adam Silver says it’s moving to a place that takes basketball more seriously than TNT.

With the NBA on TNT coming to an end, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson are taking their talents to ESPN and ABC next season. TNT will continue to produce the show from Atlanta and ESPN insists it has no interest in meddling. Fans, however, remain skeptical, with even Adam Silver seeming curious about how the relationship will play out.

Silver joined The Dan Patrick Show Wednesday morning, where he was asked about Barkley’s approach to covering the NBA.

“They made a decision to take an entertainment route with that studio show,” Silver said of Inside the NBA. “I think ESPN was always about more hardcore basketball. Maybe NBC was somewhere in the middle in the old days. But it’s an entertainment show and he’s entertaining, and fans seem to love it…Charles found a lane and he does it well.

“It will be interesting to see how that converts. As you know, they’re now bringing that studio show to ESPN and ABC next year. We’ll see how that works out. I love the fact that those guys are still gonna be involved in our telecast. But I’m not sure whether it will be produced differently for them or there will be a different expectation from ESPN and ABC fans or watchers than maybe what people are seeing late at night on TNT.”

ESPN has left Pat McAfee alone to continue being Pat McAfee since it began licensing his show nearly two years ago. So, there’s reason to believe it will do the same with Barkley and crew on Inside the NBA. The bigger question is, how much airtime will it be given? Inside the NBA ran from 7 p.m. to as late as 2 a.m. ET every Thursday night during the regular season on TNT. ESPN doesn’t have that type of space available.

It’s also interesting to hear Silver refer to ESPN as being “about more hardcore basketball.” ESPN covers the NBA more on a daily basis than TNT, which airs Law & Order, Charmed and NCIS reruns during the day. But on nights it had NBA games, TNT was all in.

Credit ESPN for having more credible NBA reporters and journalists on its coverage team, but that hasn’t stopped the network from having some head-scratching conversations about the league. Consider debates around NBA MVP voters holding racial bias or Anthony Edwards needing a wife and kids as examples.

There have also been previous reports that the NBA may have played a role in ESPN’s decision to part ways with Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson two years ago. Silver has denied holding any influence over broadcast partners’ personnel decisions. But if Silver is now floating the idea that fans may hold Barkley and Shaq to a different standard on ESPN, it’s fair to wonder whether he’s planning to hold them to a different standard.