A group of 32 young gun swimmers will come together later this month in their pursuit towards Olympic success, forming the inaugural Swimming Australia ‘Kaizen’ Talent Camp.
With the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on the horizon it is only appropriate the Talent Camp be named ‘Kaizen’, Japanese philosophy for ‘continuous improvement’.
Since May this year there have been over 200 swimmers who have participated in State based Talent Assessment Camps that link into Swimming Australia’s Sustainable Performance Pathway. From this larger group of swimmers, 32 were selected to partake in the national camp.
The squad have been selected based on a combination of factors. The final swimmers were identified from participation in the State based camps, their performances at the National Age Championships plus feedback from State Technical Directors on their progress against the National Assessment guidelines.
Swimming Australia’s Performance Pathway Manager Jamie Salter said the camp is an essential element in the way we identify, monitor and support young athletes and their coaches to develop the attributes to successfully represent Australia at major events.
“It is very important that we expose our future cohort of swimmers and coaches to the levels of consistency in training required to compete internationally. The Kaizen Talent Camp is an ideal opportunity to promote our Team culture but also ensure swimmers and coaches leave the camp with meaningful information to add value to their home program,” Salter said.
“The aim of this camp is to focus on skill development, both in and out of the pool, and target areas for improvement as prompted by the State based Talent Camp assessments.”
“With such a large number of talented young swimmers nationally we are excited about the future development of this group both at the camp and moving forward, ” Salter said.
The rookie swimmers will come together to form the Kaizen Talent Camp on Sunday 28 September through to Saturday 4 October at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
The swimmers selected to attend the Swimming Australia Kaizen Talent Camp are below:
| First Name | Last Name | Club | Coach |
| Gemma | Cooney | River City | Josh Smith |
| Acacia | Wildin-Snedden | St. Peters Western | Dean Boxall |
| William | Stockwell | Yeronga Park | Robbie Van Der Zant |
| Jessica | Unicomb | All Saints | Ken Sabotic |
| Jack | Cartwright | St. Peters Western | Dean Boxall |
| Tristian | Ludlow | St. Peters Western | Dean Boxall |
| Zac | Stubblety-Cook | East Brisbane | Mark Lorimer |
| Cameron | Usher | TSS Aquatic | Liam Du Feu |
| Calypso | Sheridan | Brisbane Grammar | David Lush |
| Kayla | Hoey | Chandler | Tsuyoshi Kimura |
| Jazmine | Wildin-Snedden | Chandler | Vince Raleigh |
| Toby | Wilson | Miami | Raelene Ryan |
| Ethan | Dorrian | Dapto | Phil McIllwraith |
| Hayden | Hinds-Sydenham | SOPAC | Adam Kable |
| Emily | Waddington | Ravenswood | Mitch Falvey |
| Leon | MacAlister | Carlisle | Justin Rothwell |
| Rebecca | Cross | Tuggeranong Vikings | David Murphy |
| Breana | Gilroy | Tuggeranong Vikings | David Murphy |
| Joshua | Simat | Trinity | Matt Brown |
| James | Raymond | KirbySwim – Westside Christ Church Aquatic Club | Paul Bruce |
| Alex | Milligan | West Coast | Greg Hodge |
| Hadley | Lindsay | West Coast | Greg Hodge |
| Jessica | Hansen | Nunawading | Rohan Taylor/Amanda |
| Jemma | Schlicht | MLC Aquatic | Nick Veliades |
| Molly | Batchelor | Melbourne Vicentre | Ian Pope |
| Julia | Hawkins | Nunawading | Dean Bryant |
| David | Schlicht | MLC Aquatic | Nick Veliades |
| Sian | Whittaker | Melbourne Vicentre | Craig Jackson |
| Mitchell | Daveonport-Wright | Melbourne Vicentre | Ian Pope |
| Bowen | Gough | Tigersharks | Ben Hiddlestone |
| Arianne | Titmus | Launceston Aquatic | Peter Gartrell |
| Jacob | Vincent | Hobart Aquatic | Paul Crosswell |
The above is a press release submitted by Swimming Australia.