Cairns swimming club dreaming big
THE RECRUITMENT OF A HIGH-CALIBRE COACH IS A KEY STEP TO SUCCESS, WRITES ROWAN SPARKES
TO DEVELOP an Olympic swimmer in Far North Queensland by 2024 is a bold ambition.
But Cairns Stingrays Swimming Club, with the help of their new head coach, Sander Ganzevles, are poised to go for gold.
Bringing a wealth of experience and a proven career in international swimming and coaching with him, Ganzevles arrived at the Woree swimming club earlier this year.
The 36-year-old was previously mentored by the current head coach of Swimming Australia, Jacco Verhaeren, and has represented his native Netherlands in international and world championship swimming events.
He was the head coach of the Federal Training Centre in Heidelberg, Germany, before diving headfirst into the opportunity to ply his trade in Cairns.
“I have spent my last two years coaching internationallevel swimmers of the German team, but it has always been my goal to coach in Australia,” he said. “The club and their goals were enough for me to pick up my life and my family and pursue my career in Cairns.
“Our long-term goal is to keep kids in the sport and I hope to be able to work closely with universities here to pass on my knowledge in the field and to ensure kids have opportunities to study and stay in Cairns and also get the highest level of coaching possible.
“It is still a fact that many talented kids would move to Brisbane to seek education and perceived better coaching opportunities, but we are determined to provide everything athletes need right here in Cairns.
“I have already met some coaches in Cairns and it is great to see the passion and skills that already exist here.”
After narrowly missing Olympic selection in 2004, Ganzevles turned to the science of swimming.
He served as an embedded scientist in the Netherlands national team and is a published academic, specialising in biomechanics and sports physiology.
Stingrays president Jason Salecich said the decision to bring Ganzevles to the club centred on a bold goal to produce an Olympic swimmer in the region by 2024.
“I had many good applications but there was just something about Sander that really appealed to me,” he said.
“We have similar goals and ethics around the sport and, although he has taught at the most elite level, I could tell his satisfaction came from giving every child the opportunity to be the best they can be for themselves, and that meant more to me than anything.
“Our club has been successful based on a focus of keeping it fun and making sure achievement is about so much more than swimming.
“We want them to grow up to be good kids and adults, not just good swimmers.
“This guy is way too smart for me and he lives and breathes swimming, and I am so excited for what that will bring the club and the wider swimming community in Cairns.”
He said the Stingrays club was committed to providing the same standard of facilities that swimmers in the larger city centres would enjoy.
“We want our swimmers to stay in Cairns and not be lost to Brisbane and private schools,” he said.
“Shooting for the stars and an Olympic athlete may be a massive goal, but this will only be achieved by having more kids enjoying the sport and promoting it at grassroots level, which we are all about.”