Margaret River swimming sensation Ethan Buckland steps up in nationals performance and eyes Manly move

Former Margaret River-based swimming sensation Ethan Buckland had a major boost to his chances of representing Australia. Fresh from last week’s 2025 National Open Swimming Championships in Brisbane, the young gun swimmer will move to Sydney to pursue his dream of competing in the Commonwealth Games. The 21-year-old former Margaret River Senior High School student has been based in Perth, swimming with coach Jon Harrison at the elite Westside Christ Church Aquatic club, but a string of good scores in Queensland last week saw the young athlete approached by multiple top-tier clubs. “After the breakthrough year I had in 2024 on the national stage, my goal going into this nationals and this year was to increase my trajectory, becoming more competitive in not only the 100m breaststroke, but as well as the 50 and the 200,” Buckland told the Times. A year of gruelling training since he was left underwhelmed by his scores at the 2024 nationals paid off — something Buckland said he was pleased about. He improved all three rankings, and crucially was now ranked 28th in the country in the 100m and 200m divisions. The outcome put Buckland well on track for Commonwealth Games qualification next year and he remained committed to representing Australia on the Olympic stage as well. “This nationals also marked the first time I was able to make finals, making B finals in all three distances, which really provided a positive ending to all of the hard work myself and national coach Jon Harrison had put into the season,” Buckland said. For the sake of his competitive career, Buckland would now move to Sydney and train with the Manly Swimming Club during winter, recognising NSW’s number one club whose expertise offered him the best chance for further development. “This move will not only allow me to continue training with a highly competitive squad, but also provide me with more opportunities in terms of competition diversity and also coach and technology feedback, which I am very much looking forward to,” he said. Buckland’s father Chris, a local high school teacher, said the family was thrilled for their star swimmer who was now “on the big stage” in the profession. “We are so grateful to his coach Jon Harrison and the work he has done with Ethan over the past few years,” Mr Buckland said. “They have had a great working connection together. “Moving to such a great club in NSW will open more opportunities for Ethan to get faster and stronger and more experience in the swimming racing world.” The family also thanked the Margaret River Lions for supporting Ethan.