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The World Short Course Championships were an outstanding success for the Telstra Dolphins Australian Swim Team and we also made some significant strides forward in strengthening the relationship between Swimming Australia and USA Swimming while in Indianapolis.
Under the leadership of Leigh Nugent, the Australian Team performed remarkably well, surpassing expectations.
With many of the established stars taking a well earned break following the successful Athens Olympic Games, it was left to a few “old heads” and the next generation of stars to lead the Australian challenge.
Swimmers like Brooke Hanson and Libby Lenton did a great job in winning gold medals, as well as the women’s 4x100m medley relay team of Hanson, Lenton, Jessicah Schipper and Sophie Edington.
Hanson in particular should be congratulated for her performance in winning six gold medals.
Experienced athletes like Matt Welsh also did well in guiding the younger swimmers, many of whom were competing internationally for the first time.
Relatively new names like Jade Edmistone, Edington, Tayliah Zimmer, Melissa Gorman, Sarah Katsoulis and Brenton Rickard popped up on the medal dais while Olympians Lara Carroll, Shayne Reese, Nic Sprenger and Adam Lucas also did very well.
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In fact it was a massive task to back up after the Olympic Games and for all those who did back up, both physically and mentally, congratulations to you all.
Out of the pool, Swimming Australia Chief Executive Officer Glenn Tasker and I had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the USA Swimming President and CEO and we have moved further down the track towards scheduling regular battles with the USA team.
There were lengthy discussions about another Duel in the Pool in the USA next year with the view to bringing the successful concept back to Australia in the near future as well.
It was also good to be able to witness the staging of such a tremendous international swim meet with the 2006 Commonwealth Games and 2007 World Swimming Championships preparing to take place on our own doorstep in Melbourne.
On the homefront, we have had tremendous feedback from the swimming community to the strategic plan, name change to Swimming Australia and new logo, which was unveiled at the Annual Meeting.
We have also had correspondence from other sports commenting on the substance and structure of our strategic plan, a further sign that swimming is leading the way – both in and out of the water.
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