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Coach Kable: ‘I’ve done my job if they’re expressing their own potential.’

Daniel Lane

NSWIS Media

When the Australian Swimming Trials start at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre on Monday, over 40 New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) scholarship holders will give their all to gain selection on the Australian Commonwealth Games, Pan Pacific Championships or Para Pan Pacific Championships.

*Olympic gold medallist Olivia Wunsch is one of many NSWIS scholarship holders ready to make a splash at the Trials*

Among their number is Paris Olympics gold medallist Olivia Wunsch, Paris Paralympic gold medallist Timothy Hodge and silver medallist Chloe Osborn, two-time Olympian Se-Bom Lee, Commonwealth Games medallist Bradley Woodward, Paralympics medallist Alexander Tuckfield, teenage world championship silver medallist Sienna Toohey, and a host of talented swimmers.

Adam Kable, the Head Coach of the NSWIS Swimming Program, explained in this wide-ranging Q&A that while there is plenty on the line, there was good reason for NSWIS’s fleet of swim stars to find strength and shine in their own backyard.

NSWIS: What expectations do you have for the cohort of NSWIS swimmers who’ll compete in the Australian Swimming Trials starting at Sydney Olympic Park’s Aquatic Centre on Monday?

Adam Kable (AK): I expect to see the NSWIS swimmers represent themselves very well. We have a lot of swimmers across a variety of events, and they have a very good chance of qualifying for the Australian teams that will compete at either the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow or the Pan Pacs in California.

*Paris Olympian Bradley Woodward will be out to add to his collection of six Commonwealth Games medals*

NSWIS: What have you been most pleased about in the build-up to the Trials from, not just your SOPAC squad, but all of the swimmers who are members of the NSWIS Swimming Program.

AK: It’s been really good to see the NSWIS swimmers applying themselves throughout the mid-season racing. They’re all taking advantage of their strengths while challenging their individual weaknesses. We also have had a very engaged staff – a few new performance members among them – and they’ve had a fantastic impact on overall performance.

NSWIS: From your own experiences, how will our swimmer not place added pressure or extra expectations on themselves when there are Australian caps on the line?

AK: Every athlete is different, and every athlete races in different emotional states. It’s important that they have good self-awareness and work well with their psychologist or coach in getting themselves in the right state of mind to perform.

NSWIS: They are also competing in front of a home Sydney crowd for the first time in a long time. Will having Mum, Dad, Nan, Pop, Aunty Mable and Uncle Bruce cheering them on in the stands add any pressure?

AK: It’s been a long time since Sydney has hosted this kind of event, and most of the swimmers have never raced at home in a major competition, so it’s an opportunity for some of them to have their parents, grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins watch them compete in their best shape and competing to achieve their dreams. Having the trials in Sydney allows the NSWIS swimmers . . . NSW swimmers . . .share the experience. Does it put pressure on them? Potentially. But my advice would be that they’re there to lift you and carry you home at the end of the race. Treat it as a strength.

*Crowd favourite Timothy Hodge, a Paralympic gold medallist, will be primed to give his all at the Trials*

NSWIS: Australia has an amazing history at the Commonwealth Games – the nation has won 1001 gold medal for all sports, of which swimming has contributed the most with 330. How important are the Games to this generation of swimmers?

AK: The Commonwealth Games remain close to the heart of these swimmers. The Games are an important part of the fabric that is the Australian Dolphins, and don’t forget, they’re steeped in history, especially when you think the giants of Australian Swimming – Ian Thorpe, Murray Rose, Dawn Fraser, Susie O’Neill, Emma McKeon, John Devitt, Jon Henricks and Lorraine Crapp all competed in the Games. The Commonwealth Games matter.

*Tayla Martin will compete in the gruelling Women’s 800m & 1500m Freestyle events in Sydney*

NSWIS: As a coach, what do you want . . . expect . . . from your swimmers? Obviously, you want them to qualify, but there must be other things you look for.

AK: I just want to see them put their best foot forward. As a coach, I fell as though I’ve done my job if they’re expressing their own potential.

NSWIS: Thanks Adam – we’ll be cheering them on.