WAIS Short Course Stars Ready for Singapore Swim

Fresh from their National Short Course medal success in Tasmania earlier this month, WAIS athletes Blair Evans and Ayrton Dickey have been selected to compete for Australia at the 2009 FINA Arena World Cup series in Singapore during November.

Evans earned a pair of silver medals in the 400m and 800m freestyle whilst also collecting a bronze in the 400m individual medley in Hobart, whilst fellow WAIS scholarship holder Ayrton Dickey produced some good swims in the Apple Isle, achieving a silver medal in the 200m backstroke before taking bronze in the 100m backstroke.

WAIS Swimming Performing Manager Greg Hodge suggested the opportunity to compete in international competition would prove an excellent learning curve for both swimmers.

“Blair and Ayrton will both gain significantly through this experience,” Hodge said. “These short course events will help both to deal with demands of travelling and competing and will give them the opportunity to work with the national team coaches,” he said.

With a big squad of talented athletes and only a selected few coaches making the trip to Singapore, Hodge said the WAIS pair would be forced to develop new strategies and acquire new skills.

“Swimming Australia is sending 42 athletes with eight coaches, so most athletes won’t have their normal coach working with them,” Hodge said.

“There will be hard training and difficult competition up against the world’s best swimmers, meaning they will gain a better sense of independence from competing in the short course events.”

Competing in the short course format brings with it different challenges, which Hodge believes creates further opportunities for Evans and Dickey to improve their technique.

“They will do a lot of work on their starts, turns and under water skills and they will assess this competing against top athletes from other countries,” Hodge said.

Whilst the short course series is considered a minor event on the swimming calendar, the opportunity to compete internationally is one not to be missed with selection trials for the Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Games teams beginning in mid-March next year.

Evans is expected to feature in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle events in Singapore whilst Dickey will compete in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke events.

The busy 2009 schedule of WAIS open water swimmer Rhys Mainstone is showing no signs of slowing after the young gun was selected for events in the FINA 10km Marathon World Cup in the UAE in October.

Mainstone will make only his second senior appearance for Australia, having competed well at the Rome World Championships in July. WAIS is also funding rising open water talent Melisa Benson to travel where she will feature in her first senior team.

Greg Hodge believes Mainstone will be looking to gain further experience in the highly technical open water category after he learned first hand the tactical elements that are involved in the 10km event.

“Rhys will be learning to swim in a pack environment in the UAE,” Hodge said. “It is a very tactical sport and positioning is a critical component he needs to develop. He has performed well and will get another opportunity to practise his race tactics.

Swimming Australia Open Water Head Coach Greg Towle says while it’s a small team, all three will be very competitive over the Olympic open water distance of 10km.

“We’re only taking a very small team to these two races, but all three are well placed to improve on their performances from the World Championships in Rome,” said Towle.

“At 19, Rhys is still learning about how to compete internationally and will be much better off after his 21st place in Rome.”