Rylee races to national silver

Pictured: Rylee Smith all smiles after being presented with her silver medal at the open water titles.

Rylee Smith overcame tough conditions to bring home a silver medal from the Australian Open Water Swimming Championships.

The Redcliffe Leagues Swimming Club (RLSC) star touched second in the Girls’ 16-17 Years 7.5km in the waters off Busselton, WA.

Smith, who lives in North Lakes, clocked 1 hours 46 minutes 6.93 seconds – 15 seconds behind the winner and 30 clear of third - despite windy conditions and choppy water.

It was only the second time she had tackled a 7.5km race.

Smith’s first was in November last year with the Queensland Open Water team when finishing third in this State’s 1-2-3 clean sweep at the West Australian State Titles off Coogee in Perth.

The 15-year-old followed up her silver in Brusselton with fourth in the Girls’ 16-17 Years 5km in a time of 1 hours 5 minutes 5.87 seconds, well clear of her closest rival.

As the only Redcliffe Leagues swimmer at the event, Smith’s efforts helped the club finish 25^th out of 69 overall.

Last year the talented teenager was third in the 5kms on her Australian Open Water Championship debut, at the same WA venue.

Smith, whose race number was 304, is coached at RLSC by Wanda Drew, a former Australian open water team coach.

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