Joshua Staples (born 2004) is an Australian competitive swimmer. He is the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific champion in the 400-metre freestyle, 800-metre freestyle, 1500-metre freestyle, and 4×200-metre freestyle relay. In 2022, he was part of a first sweep of all men's individual freestyle events at a single
Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985.Flynn Southam
Flynn Southam (born 5 June 2005) is an Australian swimmer. At the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, he won gold medals in the 50 metre freestyle, 100 metre freestyle, and 200 metre freestyle. In the 4×100 metre freestyle relay, he won a g ...
winning the other three.
Background
Staples was born in
Casuarina, Northern Territory
Casuarina is one of the northern suburbs of Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory of Australia.
It is home to the largest shopping centre in the Northern Territory, called Casuarina Square. Casuarina is a small suburb taking in the la ...
Northern Territory News
The ''Northern Territory News'' (also known and branded as the ''NT News'') is a morning tabloid newspaper based in Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published every week from Monday to Saturday. It prim ...
''. Retrieved 6 September 2022. He currently trains with the St Peters Western swim club, where he is coached by
Dean Boxall
Dean Boxall (born 1977) is an Australian swimming coach.
He is regarded as an elite coach in his field, training swimmers who compete at state, national, and international levels, including World Championships and Olympic Games. Boxall has recei ...
.
Career
2021–2022
After being named to the 2021 Australian World Junior Team, Staples took part in a training camp, held in Darwin before the 2021 Australian Swimming Championships, as one of two contingents, the other including senior Australian swimmers
Kyle Chalmers
Kyle Chalmers, (born 25 June 1998) is an Australian competitive swimmer. He is a world record holder in the short course 100 metre freestyle, 4×100 metre medley relay, and long course 4×100 metre mixed freestyle relay. He is the Oceanian a ...
Swimming Australia
Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...
''. Retrieved 6 September 2022. Based on his results, he was named to the Australia roster for the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships."Teams: 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships" ''
Swimming Australia
Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...
''. 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships
Day one of competition at the
Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military.
A military veteran that has ...
2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
The 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships were held from 24 to 27 August 2022 at Veterans Memorial Aquatic Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States.
SwimSwam
''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...
SwimSwam
''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...
''. Retrieved 6 September 2022. For the 4×100-metre freestyle relay later in the same session, he split a 50.79 for the anchor leg of the relay, helping finish second in a time of 3:21.42 swimming exhibition.
The fourth and final day of competition, Staples won the gold medal in the 800-metre freestyle with a personal best time of 7:56.29, which was just 1.13 seconds off the Championships record of 7:55.16 set by
Robert Finke
Robert Finke (born November 6, 1999) is an American swimmer. He won two gold medals for the United States in the 2020 Summer Olympics: the men's 800-meter and 1500-meter freestyle swims.
Finke is known to his friends by the nickname, Bobby. ...
of the United States in 2016 and earned nine additional points for Australia."Southam and Staples Secure Junior Pan Pacs Trebles" ''
Swimming Australia
Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...
''. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 6 September 2022. Between his three gold medals in his individual freestyle events and the three gold medals won by fellow Australian
Flynn Southam
Flynn Southam (born 5 June 2005) is an Australian swimmer. At the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, he won gold medals in the 50 metre freestyle, 100 metre freestyle, and 200 metre freestyle. In the 4×100 metre freestyle relay, he won a g ...
in the 50-metre freestyle, 100-metre freestyle, and 200-metre freestyle, the 2022 Championships marked the first time swimmers representing Australia won all possible gold medals in the men's individual freestyle events at a single
Junior Pan Pacific Swimming Championships
The Pan Pacific Swimming Championships is a long course swimming event first held in 1985. When points were summed for each athlete across their individual events, he was the highest scoring male competitor with 28 points, which was five points lower than the highest scoring female competitor
Erin Gemmell
Erin Gemmell (born December 2, 2004) is an American competitive swimmer. She is an American record holder in the short course 4×200 meter freestyle relay. In the 200 metre freestyle, she won the gold medal at the 2022 Junior Pan Pacific Champi ...
SwimSwam
''SwimSwam'' news is a swimming news organization covering competitive swimming along with diving, water polo and synchronized swimming. SwimSwam launched as a website in March 2012 and quickly became the most-read swimming website in the world. ...
''. Retrieved 6 September 2022.
2023
On the first day of the
2023 Australian Swimming Championships
The 2023 Australian Swimming Championships are scheduled to be held from 17 to 20 April 2023 at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre in Gold Coast, Queensland.
This event will double as the national selection trials for the 2023 World Para Swimming C ...
, in April in
Gold Coast, Queensland
The Gold Coast is a coastal city in the state of Queensland, Australia, approximately south-southeast of the centre of the state capital Brisbane. With a population over 600,000, the Gold Coast is the sixth-largest city in Australia, the nati ...
, Staples ranked fourth in the preliminaries of the 400-metre freestyle with a 3:52.90 and qualified for the evening final, where he placed sixth in a time of 3:52.43 that was 0.05 seconds ahead of seventh-place finisher Mack Horton. For the second day, he placed second in the age final of the 200-metre freestyle with a 1:50.48 before placing sixth in the 1500-metre freestyle with a 15:44.96. On the third evening, he placed fifth in the 200-metre individual medley with a personal best time of 2:02.44 and sixth in the 800-metre freestyle with a 8:09.43. The fourth day, he improved upon his eighth-place finish in the 400-metre individual medley from the same competition in 2022, this time placing seventh with a 4:25.75."Meet Results: 2023 Australian Swimming Championships" ''
Swimming Australia
Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...
''. 17 April 2023. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
In June, at the
2023 Australian Swimming Trials
The 2023 Australian Swimming Trials are scheduled to be held from 13 to 18 June 2023 at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre in Melbourne, Victoria to determine Australia's swimming team for the 2023 World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka ...
in Melbourne, Staples placed seventeenth in the 400-metre freestyle on day one with a 3:57.40, fifty-second in the 200-metre freestyle on day two with a 1:57.07, and eighth in the 800-metre freestyle on day three with a 8:06.11."Meet Results: 2023 Australian Swimming Trials" ''
Swimming Australia
Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...