WAIS Swimmer Works with Wetplate Technology
Nine of Australia’s leading male swimmers will be in camp in Canberra at the AIS this week taking part in the Men’s Sprint Camp with one eye on the FINA World Championships in Shanghai in July, and the other firmly focussed on London 2012.
Included in the elite group is WAIS swimming scholarship holder Kris Taylor and WAIS coach Nick Watkins.
In what is the sixth instalment of the sprint specific camps in this current Olympic cycle, Geoff Huegill, James Magnussen and Eamon Sullivan head the group which has already been put through their paces at the AIS under the watchful eye of Head Coach for the camp Grant Stoelwinder.
Comparing and analysing data from previous camps in relation to starts, turns and underwater speed, swimmers have been using the wetplate testing facility at the AIS to look for that extra fraction of a second which can be so important over a 100m sprint.
Dual Commonwealth Games gold medallist and on track for a third Olympic Games, 32-year-old Huegill says coming to these facilities at the AIS always adds an extra incentive to train well.
“Since coming back into the sport, I’ve been able to swim here a number of times and being able to compare analysis from the last couple of years has been really beneficial for me,” said Huegill.
“The AIS has always been at the forefront of performance analysis, and a lot has changed since I first came to Canberra as part of the Australian team in 1997.”
Training in the new AIS pool, swimmers have access to instant stroke analysis and video replay, a unique split camera which reduces the splash by splicing video together, as well as the only wetplate testing system of its kind in the world which measures forces, speed and entry angles off the block.
Minister for Sport Mark Arbib, who attended today’s wetplate testing at the AIS, said t he Australian Government is doing everything possible to support Australia’s top swimmers, including extra funding for the Olympic team and increased support through the Australian Institute of Sport.
“The Australian Government is doing everything possible to support Australia’s top swimmers, including a recent $1 million boost to the training and preparations of Australia’s top swimmers under the Government’s Green and Gold project,” Senator Arbib said.
“The Green and Gold project is designed to help our athletes make the most of their training opportunities, doing the extra small things that will help turn fourth, fifth and sixth places into podium finishes and bronze medals into silver and gold medals.
“Camps like this one are a good example of doing everything we can to get the best results for our swimmers.”
While Huegill is the oldest of the men on this week’s camp, 16-year-old Cameron McEvoy from the Gold Coast is clearly youngest, joining the squad after a successful Australian Age Championships which saw him win four gold medals and break Ian Thorpe’s 16yrs record for the 100m freestyle by 0.01 of a second.
McEvoy’s inclusion in the camp is first and foremost to provide him with some experience of training alongside older, more experienced sprinters, but is also a look ahead to the future and if not London then perhaps Rio 2016.
The following swimmers and coaches will be in camp in Canberra over the next three days: Matt Abood, Kingscliff NSW, Andrew Abood, Kingscliff NSW, Geoff Huegill, Sydney NSW, James Magnussen, Port Macquarie NSW, Cameron McEvoy, Gold Coast QLD, Mitchell Patterson, Warringah NSW, Eamon Sullivan, Sydney NSW, Kristopher Taylor, Perth WA, Joseph Carty, Sydney NSW Coaches: Grant Stoelwinder, SOPAC – NSWIS, Brant Best, SOPAC – NSWIS, Nick Watkins, Wesley College – Perth
– Swimming Australia