Bombshell $245m bid to steal F1 champ
Colourful coach Dean Boxall has a French twist in store for his swimmers as Paris comes to the Pilly for one day only.
As in Indooroopilly, the Brisbane suburb which hosts the iconic St Peters Western Swim Club which could field around 10 swimmers at July’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Boxall, the exuberant, award-winning coach and left-field thinker, will on Saturday week host a three hour session where he will give his St Peters squad a taste of the verve, nerves and general vibe that awaits them in Paris in July.
If they feel nervous and a tad disorientated the coach will feel he has done his job.
A crowd of around 400 fans will be encouraged to offer throaty support to international stars including Ariarne Titmus, Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack and Elijah Winnington who will be introduced over a loud speaker as if they are swimming for gold, silver or bronze.
In fact they will be training not racing for this groundbreaking day, their farewell home training session before their Olympic journey, will be about sharpening their senses not their splits.
The Olympic theme will start in a humble carpark a few kilometres up the road.
“They are all going to park at a carpark and get picked up by a bus and dropped off at the pool,’’ Boxall said.
“They will go through a back entrance to the pool like they would in Paris. There is going to be a team room. A marshalling room. A crowd, VIPs, media.
“They will be asked to talk to the media at the end of their sessions as well. We are trying to incorporate every element of a simulated event.’’
Boxall, renowned for his inventive thinking and zany outbursts which made him global social media star at the Tokyo Olympics, admits inviting outside observers into his traditionally very private world was a rare move.
“We are quite a closed shop but I love that people can come along and see swimmers they will watch at the Olympics in a few months.
“What I am trying to do is simulate an environment to get the nerves going,” he said.
“I know you will never quite get the Olympic Games but I want something special and unique.”
Mercedes will reportedly table reigning F1 champion Max Verstappen a staggering €150m ($A245m) per season offer in a bid to poach the Red Bull star from 2025.
Media company OE24 claims the €150m per-year offer includes bonuses, but would still shatter Formula One pay records.
It is more than double Verstappen’s current salary at Red Bull, believed to be about $55m USD ($A84m).
Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton currently earns an estimated $45m USD ($A69m) per season, but that is set to rise drastically when he moves to Ferrari in 2025.
His pay is reportedly set to be as high as $87-100m USD ($A133-152m) per season at Ferrari, though investment into Hamilton’s Mission 44 organisation and other bonuses take the total value of the deal far higher.
The report claims that Verstappen will meet with Mercedes this weekend, and that Mercedes are also hoping to bring across senior Red Bull adviser Helmut Marko – the 80-year-old who has overseen the team’s junior driver program since 2005.