Swimming Camp Paves the First Path to Rio
Thirty up-and-coming swimmers will descend on the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra this Sunday, to attend a six-day Talent Identification camp under the watchful eye of High Performance Youth Coach Vince Raleigh.
The group of 14 boys and 16 girls will undertake education and testing sessions focussing on skill acquisition, physiology, biomechanics, nutrition and psychology, to ensure each swimmer is given ample opportunities for growth and success in their swimming career.
The Talent Identification Camp follows a successful Road to Rio camp for our future Paralympic stars at this AIS this week which say 18 athletes, nine men and women, aged 12-18 start their journey towards Rio in 2016.
An important component of the pathway to selection on senior Australian teams and elite performance, Raleigh says the camp is the next step for many of these young athletes.
“We’ve invited a wide range of athletes to the camp, not just those who have performed at the age group level, but some older ones as well,” said Raleigh.
“We have access to some fantastic facilities, coaches, and sport scientists at the AIS, and for these swimmers and coaches to get the chance to train here for a week, and learn what’s required to make the next step, is invaluable at this stage of their swimming career.”
In a deliberate attempt to broaden the search for champion swimmers, this camp, unlike traditional talent identification camps, has no age limit, which will assist in providing a legacy of education, recognition and encouragement for a number of deserving coaches and swimmers across Australia.
Twenty-four-year-old Holly Barratt will be one of the older swimmers in attendance after showing potential at recent competitions including the Australian Short Course Championships earlier this month.
The West Australian picked up a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke in front of a home crowd in Perth and qualified for the finals of both the 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke events.
Among other attendees is six-time medallist from the 2012 Australian Age Championships in April, Tianni Gilmour from Queensland who will be looking to make the most of her time at the camp.
The 16-year-old will move straight from the camp into competition at the State Teams Short Course Championships, to be held at the AIS starting on Saturday 6 October.
The Pelican Waters swimmer will take on a demanding schedule as part of the Queensland team as she competes in the 100m and 200m breaststroke, the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke and the 200m and 400m individual medley events.
Fellow Queenslander and promising backstroke swimmer Robert Gerlach will also take on the camp and State Teams double, racing in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke events as well as the 200m freestyle.
The 17-year-old, who won bronze in the 50m backstroke at the Australian Age Championships in Brisbane this year, also holds the State Teams record in the 14/15yrs boys 50m backstroke from 2010.
– Swimming Australia