The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Miley team into fast lane
Swimming: High performance programme could propel youngsters to top
Elite swimming coach Patrick Miley believes the creation of a new high performance swimming team in Aberdeen can help produce more medal-winning swimmers from the northeast.
Miley, father and coach of Commonwealth Games gold medallist Hannah, will train elite swimmers for the newly formed University of Aberdeen performance swimming programme.
The new partnership between Aberdeen Sports Village, Aberdeen City Council, Scottish Swimming, the University of Aberdeen and seven of the city’s swimming clubs has been established to build upon the rich crop of swimming talent to have emerged from the north-east in recent years, including Hannah Miley, David Carry and Robbie Renwick.
Swimmers across the city will try out to join Team Aberdeen, training with Patrick Miley and his team at the Aberdeen Sports Village Aquatics Centre, in order to form the elite competition squad.
Miley said: “We are trying to generate something that means that swimmers don’t have to move away from Aberdeen to compete at the highest level.
“In the past that has been the case but there is no excuse now we have the Aberdeen Sports Village Aquatics Centre. However, we don’t yet have the exposure and experience of what performance swimming is and that really is my first challenge.
“The culture is key to what we want to achieve.
“If you go to New Zealand and you talk rugby, it is in their blood and a passion shared by the whole nation.
“It is my dream that in the Aberdeen region we could have a similar empathy with swimming.
“We already have individuals from this area who are performing on the world stage but we need more individuals to be pushing through.
“Our aim is to build a world-class performance swimming programme and I am confident we have the backing, the will and the talent to succeed.”
Three-time Olympian Hannah Miley attended yesterday’s launch at the Aberdeen Aquatics Centre to lend her support.
She said: “If we can create the right environment for younger swimmers then we will hopefully start producing top-class athletes.
“We have the facility but the facility is not what will make them the best swimmers, it is what we can bring out of them.
“Hopefully, the programme will allow them to realise the potential they have. The intention is to create excellence and as a performance athlete I want to help this process.
“We had three swimmers from this region in David Carry, Robbie Renwick and myself make an Olympics and I think there is definitely potential for more.”
Duncan Sinclair, chief executive of Aberdeen Sports Village, is also optimistic the programme will help more local swimmers reach the upper echelons of the sport.
He said: “The city now has an Olympic standard Aquatics Centre at Aberdeen Sports Village, and with this new performance programme, Aberdeen offers a real alternative and opportunity to our local athletes.”
“There is no excuse now we have Aquatics Centre”