Following his performance at the 2019 Australian Swimming Championships, Pearse has broken through to another level and qualified for the Australian team for the World Para Swimming Championships to be held in London in September.
‘‘It’s a dream to be able to represent Australia,’’ the 15-year-old said. ‘‘I’d gone to the event with a goal of qualifying for the Australian team, but without any real expectation I was going to.
‘‘Now I get the honour of representing my country which is incredibly exciting.’’
Pearse raced under the B qualifying time in his S10 category in the 100m butterfly, finishing just tenths of a second behind the fastest competitor in his category, William Martin.
Martin finished the event in 59.17 seconds, while Pearse touched the wall almost an unmeasurable time afterwards in 59.32 seconds.
Pearse, who was in the pool with a number of members of the Australian paralympic team, is three years younger than the man who edged him out in the race.
Competing in seven events at the championships, Pearse achieved seven personal bests, also qualifying for the 200m individual medley final.
But his dominance was far from over.
At the Australian Age Swimming Championships, Pearse raced in four multi-class events for four gold medals.
He successfully defended his 400m freestyle crown from the previous year, before claiming the 100m breaststroke, 100m backstroke in personal best time and his pet event, the 100m butterfly.
Pearse’s next event will be the 2019 World Swimming Trials in Brisbane in June, with a hot weather training camp to be held in Cairns in July before the World Para Swimming Championships in September.
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