Gunnedah club gains valuable insight with lessons from an Olympian

Some of Gunnedah’s most promising swimmers have laid some important groundwork for the coming competitive season, following an intensive swim camp at the world class Gold Coast High Performance centre.

Twenty five swimmers descended on the week-long camp at Runaway Bay which focused on skills and development, strength and conditioning and team bonding.

Ranging in age from 9 to 14 years, they participated in two swim training sets a day, gym sessions, surfing, laser skirmish and beach sprints.

They were also given an amazing opportunity to attend a training session with Australian coach Michael Bohl and see some of the Olympic athletes in action, including gold medallists and world record holders Emma McKeon and Kaylee McKeown, as well as Cody Simpson and Lani Pallister.

Olympic gold medallist Mack Horton took time out to speak with the kids about his own Olympic journey and experiences and gave an insight into what it takes to be an athlete at an elite level.

Brothers Darcy, left and Lewis Mainey, right with Olympian Mack Horton.

Headed up by Gunnedah coach John Hickey with the help of parent volunteers, the camp provides a perfect stepping stone for the coming competitive swim season including the NSW Country and NSW State Age Championships, Speedo Sprints, New England North West Championships and school carnivals.

Now in its third consecutive year, the Gold Coast camp is a fantastic chance for development and team building.

“The camp is a great opportunity for every swimmer to begin this season with some solid swimming behind them,” coach Hickey said.

“It also unites the kids and brings them together as a team and gives the assistant coaches, managers and statisticians room to improve and pick up the whole standard of the club so we worked on establishing times as well.

“They all had a great experience and now the kids have some volume behind them where they realise they can do six days of tough sessions and swim better at the end of it.”

Hickey was supported by accredited assistant coaches Dan Ramien and Nichole Carlyon with parent volunteers including Ben Sills, Corinne Mainey, Katie Many, Carly Hobden and Dan Knapman.