US Olympian Ledecky gives swim tips to Tokyo students

Australia enlists soldiers in drive for Olympic gold

TOKYO, Aug 14, (Agencies): The Japanese students let out squeals Tuesday as Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky moved across the swimming pool, ducking under the lane lines.

The 21-year-old American, fresh off a five-medal performance at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo, answered questions about her career and training routine before jumping into the pool with more than 100 star-struck Japanese elementary and junior high school students to give them tips.

“Her strokes were really big and really different from ours, so I could really tell the difference,” said 6th-grader Risako Tomita, who lived in Maryland, Ledecky’s home state, for four years.

“I tend to put my hand too far down in the water,” she said after watching how Ledecky swims. “So I have to lift it up a little.”

Ledecky, who has won five Olympic gold medals, seemed impressed as she watched the students swim past, mouthing to her parents and brother in the stands, “They’re so fast!”

She told reporters afterward that she plans to train hard for the next two years so that she can return to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics. She cracked a smile when she saw the students, still in their dripping swimsuits, craning their necks behind the journalists.

“Hopefully I’ll see a lot of their faces again in two years,” she said.

The event was part of the US Embassy’s “Go for Gold” campaign, which brings American athletes and diplomats to participating Tokyo schools.

Ledecky, who met legendary Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps when she was nine, said working with kids is very important to her.

“It’s fun for me to give back to the sport I love so much,” she said.

US swimmer Katie Ledecky teaches Japanese elementary and junior high

school students at an event in Tokyo, Aug 14. (AP)

Meanwhile, soldiers have been enlisted to help Australian athletes perform better under pressure in the lead up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as part of a drive to win more medals.

It follows their smallest haul in 24 years at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where Australia finished 10th in the table with eight golds and 29 medals overall.

In a bid to get back to winning ways, members of the military will mentor elite athletes from November as part of a partnership announced Tuesday between the army and the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS).

The primary focus will be on improving their cognitive and physical capabilities.

AIS director Peter Conde said Australia at the Rio Olympics had more athletes finish just outside the medals, in positions 4-8, than any other nation.

“The AIS sees this as an opportunity to develop our sports, athletes and coaches to help them convert more podium potential into medal success,” he said.

Four key areas will be tackled – mental health and wellbeing, performance under pressure, injury and illness prevention, and converting talent into high performance.

“When people think of army and sport, the image is often of bootcamps to build resilience,” said Conde.

“This partnership will be far more advanced, exploring education opportunities, mentoring, familiarisation techniques and strategies to deal with pressure.

“It’s a chance to develop our top athletes’ capacity to reach their peak performance and sustain that under Olympic conditions.”

Around 120 athletes and coaches will take part.

Army chief Lieutenant General Rick Burr said the project would also help the nation’s soldiers.

“Army continuously looks at how we get the best out of our people.

This partnership with the AIS focuses on what we can achieve to continually improve human performance,” he said.

“Through cooperation and knowledge sharing with the AIS, a respected world-leader in elite sport, we will give our people the best possible chance to out think and out perform any adversary.”