Camps tackle battles ahead

AUSTRALIA’S top swimmers will begin assembling around the country this week for a series of technical stroke-based national event camps as they start their campaigns to qualify for July’s FINA World Championships in South Korea.

Between tomorrow and March 23, seven camps will focus on all strokes and relays, with Michael Bohl (Griffith University) to host a butterfly camp on the Gold Coast this weekend.

Since their inception in the 1990s, the camps have had long history in high performance swimming in Australia, with the last series of camps taking place in 2013.

National team head coach Jacco Verhaeren said the camps would provide opportunities for collaboration, innovation and to sharpen technical focus.

“This is a great chance for some of our top athletes, as well as those coming through the pathway program, to come together and train with athletes and coaches from outside of their own home squads,” Verhaeren said.

“These camps will foster healthy competition and allow athletes to have increased access to event-specific coaching from inside our senior level programs.

“Athletes who are in the early stages of their careers will be exposed to senior inter-

national training preparation which will be extremely beneficial, and they’ll be able to create connections with other athletes.”

The camps will be supported by some of the country’s top sports science and sport medicine professionals who will provide support on innovation for both athletes and coaches.

Some of Australia’s most prominent swimming coaches will lead the camps, including Dean Boxall (St Peter’s Western), Peter Bishop (Marion), David Lush (Brisbane Grammar), Craig Jackson (Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre high performance coach), Chris Mooney (University of Sunshine Coast) and Simon Cusack (NSW high performance coach).