{"id":109875,"date":"2014-09-15T20:14:40","date_gmt":"2014-09-16T03:14:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=109875"},"modified":"2014-09-15T20:14:40","modified_gmt":"2014-09-16T03:14:40","slug":"australian-life-saving-team-injects-australian-swim-team-members-into-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/australian-life-saving-team-injects-australian-swim-team-members-into-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian Life Saving Team Injects Australian Swim Team Members Into Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo Courtesy: Australian Lifesaving<\/p>\n

MONTPELLIER, France, September 15. THE\u00a0Australian Life Saving Team will have the golden touches of the Australian Swim Team tucked away in its game plan when it embarks on a campaign to re-establish its top international billing at this week\u2019s Lifesaving World Championships, Rescue 2014 in France.<\/p>\n

The National Teams Championships gets underway on Wednesday (Thursday morning AEST) with two days of pool competition at the Antigone Olympic Pool in Montpellier, before two days of ocean\/beach competition, starting Saturday at Le Couchant Beach, La Grande Motte.<\/p>\n

Australia will be represented in both the National Team and National Youth (Under 19) categories and the Open Team will be out to erase the memory of its defeat at the hands of New Zealand at Rescue 2012 in Adelaide while the Youth Team will be out to maintain its world dominance.<\/p>\n

For the Youth team, its campaign begins on the beach for two days on Thursday before switching to the pool.<\/p>\n

Australia’s campaign has been 18 months in the making with Head Coach Danny Short not leaving a stone unturned in his efforts to put Australia back on top on the world.<\/p>\n

The teams\u2019 campaign included engaging the services of Australian Swim Team head coach Jacco Verhaeren at one of the team\u2019s key training camps on the Gold Coast while champion Ironwoman Kristyl Smith, on her fifth World Championship team, has been under the watchful eye of National Swim Team coach Richard Scarce.<\/p>\n

Verhaeren, the Dutchman who steered Pieter van den Hoogenband to three Olympic gold medals, has added the finishing touches to the Australian relay team\u2019s changeovers for the all-important pool lifesaving events.<\/p>\n

He is regarded as one of the best technical coaches in world swimming and will be charge of Australia\u2019s Olympic campaign for Rio.<\/p>\n

Short said he was thankful and equally impressed with Verhaeren\u2019s enthusiasm and techniques.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a privilege to have Jacco attend a camp where we were able to brush up on our pool lifesaving relay changes and he addressed the team as well, which was a real bonus for the guys,\u201d said Short.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a major coup and I know everyone was excited to have him there.\u201d<\/p>\n

But for Smith, training in the pool at Palm Beach Currumbin under Scarce \u2013 and alongside Olympian and Pan Pac and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Cameron McEvoy \u2013 has breathed a new lease of life into her swimming.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s main event in the pool will be the 200m Obstacle Swim and she recently swam a personal best time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually swam a quicker time this year than I did two years ago for my 200m, even though I would still like to get down a little bit lower\u2026but I\u2019m on the right track, I\u2019m expecting big things from not only myself but the team as well,\u201d said Smith, who also play a key role in all the Ocean events and the beach relay.<\/p>\n

\u201cRichard has been great; I\u2019ve got a new motivation in my swimming as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were weeks when I was doing up to nine swim sessions a week and purely concentrating on my swimming rather than the ski and board and I have found that my swim fitness is definitely helping out on the craft.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can really learn a thing or two from those world class swimmers, especially Cameron McEvoy who is just so methodical in everything that he does; the little things like your turns and your finishes; always finish on the wall; your starts and always picking up little things, here and there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I have never really done before, I\u2019ve never had to concentrate on those tiny little skills in the pool.<\/p>\n

\u201cA better start, a better turn, a better finish can mean up to a second in my 200m race so it\u2019s definitely been inspiring to swim with that crew and hopefully I will see the rewards this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have set my goal to make the A final in the 200m and follow it through for the rest of the competition; that\u2019s the first event so the aim is to get off to a good start and set a good precedent for the rest of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI always give it 100 percent every time I wear the green and gold cap because you don\u2019t know whether this will be your last team or whether there will be more to come but I\u2019ll be giving this everything I\u2019ve got.”<\/p>\n