FOUNDATIONS LAID FOR OLYMPIC SUCCESS
British Swimming is laying the foundations today of an athlete
development system designed to reap rewards at the Olympic
Games of 2012 and beyond.
The governing body is looking to the future by ensuring Britain's
youngest talents are identified and then carefully nurtured
via a groundbreaking approach to development of young athletes.
Driving the new initiative is the need to ensure a constant
flow of athletes from British Swimming's Age Group programme,
through to the Youth initiative and eventually into the Senior
set up.
"We looked at the situation 12 months ago and weren't
happy with the world rankings of our Youth swimmers,"
explained National Performance Director Bill Sweetenham, "however,
we felt we were doing everything we possibly could to support
that level.
"It was determined the problem wasn't with the Youth
section it was in fact in getting people through the Age Group
programme.
"The Youth scheme was running very well but there wasn't
a flow of athletes to it from the Age Group set up. We discovered
a real lack of male swimmers coming through, especially sprinters."
The reorganisation of the programme has redefined its focus
with priority now given to the swimmer as opposed to the club
programmes that produce swimmers.
Age Group Coach Tim Jones will lead the programme working
with Sports Science Manager Jodi Cossor as well as Chelsea
Warr who is charged with talent identification. Coach Bill
Pilczuk will help develop male sprinters while Youth Development
Officer Jamie Salter will provide support.
Coaching Co-ordinators Mick Hepwood and Fred Kirby will continue
to work with the clubs to develop their programmes.
"The team will evaluate the programme across three categories,"
said Sweetenham. "The skills of an athlete will be monitored
as will the overall development of the swimmer. This will
include coaching strategies, self-management, nutrition and
other elements, and finally they will look and monitor the
performances of the athlete.
"Director of World Class Programmes John Atkinson will
continue to play an important role in that programme to help
solve the bottle neck created by the Age Group and Youth systems.
The end result will be better Youth rankings leading to a
stronger Senior programme.
"Our goal is to have the best Age Group and talent identification
system in the world which will feed into the next two levels
of our World Class Programme."
The scheme is designed to generate a brighter future for
British Swimming. The seeds may now be sown but Sweetenham
is aware the results will take time to bear fruit.
"A good Age Group programme today is going to dictate
success in eight to 12 years' time. It's very important for
the future of British Swimming but won't deliver results tomorrow.
It will take time but the benefits will come through,"
said Sweetenham.
British Swimming's Senior programme has also undergone a
series of change designed to maximise chances of success at
the Olympics in 2008.
Four coaches have been identified and appointed to lead Britain's
preparations over the next three years in readiness for Beijing.
Ian Turner (Loughborough University) is appointed Head Coach,
Sean Kelly (Stockport Metro) is Men's Coach, Ben Titley (Loughborough
University) is Women's Coach and Dave Champion (Ipswich) will
provide support.
Turner will have special responsibility for the men's 4x200m
Freestyle Relay and 200m Freestyle swimmers with Ben Titley
assuming the same role for the women.
"Ian (Turner) has had tremendous success with the 200m
Freestyle men but we now have to focus them to go even faster,"
said Sweetenham. "What we've got is an outstanding coach
leading an exciting group of swimmers and in Ben (Titley)
we have a similar position with the women's team."
Champion will provide support with particular attention paid
to the sprint events and he will work alongside Tim Kerrison,
a recent appointment to British Swimming from Australia.
Kelly will focus his coaching pedigree on the 200m Butterfly,
200m Backstroke and Individual Medley events.
"The swimmers are being given four years to prepare
for the Olympics rather than a four month preparation,"
said Sweetenham. "The coaches themselves will be exposed
to a wide variety of environments on all teams between now
and the Olympics to ensure, come Beijing, we have an outstanding
group of coaches underpinned by a wealth of experience."
British Swimming's Age Group Programme involves female
swimmers aged 11 to 13 and male swimmers aged 11 to 14. The
Youth Programme is designed for female swimmers aged 14 to
17 and males from 15 to 18.
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