Over the course of two weekends in November, a total of 44 NSW athletes, including 24 from the SNSW Flippers Squad, participated in stroke group camps at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Canberra.
Supported by Swimming Australia's National Flippers funding and led by respected coaches, the two-day camps focused on individual stroke groups and skills execution via intensive training sessions that included demanding pool sessions, strength and conditioning, and challenging sets.
Athletes were split into stroke groups for their training with each group led by highly skilled performance coaches, as detailed below.
BREASTSTROKE: Shannon Rollason & Nic Dobson
SPRINT FREE: Sander Ganzevles & Paul Bruce
FLY/BACK: Ben Tuxford & Amanda Isaac
MEDLEY: Justin Rothwell & Matthew Brown
Adding a unique dimension to the experience, and providing a great opportunity for interstate collaboration, the Mighty Blues teamed up with some of the best coaches and athletes from Victoria in some of their sessions.
The camps also provided a platform for athletes to take responsibility for their recovery and focus by allowing them to manage preparations for their next training sessions.
The athletes stayed in the Athlete Residence at the AIS and utilised the state-of-the-art facilities, including the AIS Recovery Centre and High-Performance Athlete Room.
During the camps, Jason Lewis from Orange Swim Club was awarded a Scholarship Coach position – an opportunity that gives coaches with or without athletes in areas of the Performance Pathway exposure to high-performance coaching.
In accepting the scholarship, Jason praised the dedication and focus of the Flippers' athletes participating in the camps.
“The high level of focus, performance, and self-awareness of the swimmers at the camp was impressive to see and shows what is required to compete at the highest level,” he said.
This observation is a credit to all the Mighty Blues athletes in attendance at the camps.
Coaching Director Jon Shaw also observed high levels of camaraderie and athlete development across the camps.
“The sessions were designed to build into each other…intensity increasing with each session. The camp was full of quality work at a high standard with so much learning gained by all athletes. It provided an opportunity for our athletes to bond as a team, with so many smiles and lots of laughs across both weekends,” said Jon.
Swimming NSW acknowledges the dedication of the athletes, coaches, and volunteers, including NSW’s Technical Coaching Director Leigh Nugent and SNSW Coaching Director Jon Shaw for the camps’ success.
SNSW’s State Squads are a fundamental part of our Performance Pathway Program, which aims to nurture and support high-potential athletes. The program is aligned with the Swimming Australia athlete pathway to give swimmers, their parents, and coaches a clear pathway to success in the sport.
The Flippers Squad focusses on grooming elite-level swimmers for selection on the national team and performance excellence in the Olympic arena. Athletes in this squad have demonstrated success at the National Age or Open level and are either representing Australia on the Junior international stage or are on the cusp of selection onto the Australian Junior or Senior team.
Athletes interested in gaining a spot on next year’s State Squads can visit our SNSW State Squads page for detailed information on the selection criteria.
Those who are not quite ready for a State Squad may qualify for the athlete performance pathway at the area level and can find out more about their next steps on the Swimming NSW Performance Pathway Program page.
