Sydney Uni Sport & Fitness (SUSF) and the NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS) officially launched their new swimming program partnership today at the Sydney Uni Sports & Aquatic Centre.
The partnership, which will see NSWIS athletes Matthew Abood, Andrew Abood and Te Haumi Maxwell join world class NSWIS swimming coach Grant Stoelwinder as Sydney University club swimmers, has been designed to achieve world class results while supporting the growth and academic achievement of athletes, and will support potential international, developing international and senior international athletes.
Stoelwinder will lead the program’s capacity building initiatives and continuing development, in conjunction with SUSF High Performance Manager Matthew Phelps and additional SUSF coaching staff, while also achieving international standard performance results with NSWIS and SUSF athletes. SUSF will be recruiting a Senior Elite Coach as a part of the new look coaching team that will support high performance and growth outcomes.
SUSF Executive Director Rob Smithies was full of praise for Stoelwinder and the NSWIS partnership with SUSF. “This program will be unparalleled across the country and it will take swimming at SUSF and NSWIS to a world class level. I believe that this will happen through the world class coaching that Grant will bring. His credentials are second to none and we are really proud and excited to have Grant as part of our swimming program.”
Smithies also spoke of SUSF’s unwavering commitment to providing support services to athletes that aid elite level sport and education equally.
“We are really looking to see many of the swimmers in these programs not only swimming at the highest levels that they can, but also graduating from the University of Sydney. We are firm believers in combining sport and study at the highest levels – the two blend very nicely.”
The program will focus on increasing the number of NSWIS / SUSF athletes achieving national selection and international medal winning performances from 2013 – 2016, while also achieving annual progression and performance targets for elite and elite development athletes.
NSWIS Director of Strategy & High Performance Clare Prideauxis confident that this will happen given the resources that both NSWIS and SUSF possess.
“In terms of a daily training environment, this (SUSF) is second to none, with a combination of education and services that already exist and linking it with NSWIS services and resources at SOPAC (Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre).
We have an opportunity there (SOPAC) to look at a world class biomechanics system and camera analysis system, and we are hoping that many of the athletes will benefit from that opportunity. We are also looking at interventions with hypoxic training (simulated altitude).”
SUSF President Bruce Ross believed that all parties would benefit from the new partnership, in particular the athletes.
“This is a very exciting partnership and we are very proud of the association with NSWIS.
SUSF is a very good environment for athletes. We have 380 athletes across approximately 35 different sports on the Elite Athlete Program (EAP). It is very difficult for swimmers to combine their extraordinary training load and the demands of study, but one thing we are good at is helping people to achieve their academic potential and at the same time their sporting potential.”
