Flash! Alan Thompson Appointed New Aussie Head Coach

By Stephen J. Thomas

SYDNEY, Australia. November 17. SWIMMING Australia's president Neil Martin formally announced today the appointment of Alan Thompson as head coach to lead Australia's charge towards the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The popular 45-year-old Sydney-based Olympic coach was widely tipped to take on the role following the decision by the previous incumbent Leigh Nugent to stand down after the World Short Course championships and return to his previous post as national youth coach.

Thompson will be responsible for guiding the team towards next year's Montreal World Championships, the 2006 Commonwealth Games, the 2007 World Championships both to be held on home soil in Melbourne and the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Thompson coached Olympic finalists Jim Piper (200 breaststroke) and Felicity Galvez (200 fly) in Athens but will have to relinquish his individual coaching role with these swimmers. Piper has already made the big move across the continent to train in Perth with coach Grant Stoelwinder at the West Coast club, alongside Athens teammates Adam Lucas and Eamon Sullivan. Galvez is very likely to move shortly from Sydney to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.

Thompson said after the announcement, “I’m honoured and very excited to accept the position of National Head coach and I am greatly looking forward to what will be a very challenging next four years in the build up to Beijing.”

“Swimming and in particular the Australian Swimming Team has been very close to my heart since I was first appointed as assistant manager of the Pan Pac Team back in 1993 and on my first team as a National coach in 2001."

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