TEAM: Australian youth athletes are travelling to the second summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in Nanjing with a wealth of knowledge and experience behind them in the form of Olympic coaches and mentors.
Australian Olympians, Penelope Gillies, Stuart Brehaut, Kerrye Katz, Daniel Esposito, Carolyn Quigley and David Guest will join the Australian Youth Olympic Team (AYOT) as part of the coaching staff.
Guest, who will coach the men’s five-a-side hockey team, has both Olympic athlete and coaching history having won a bronze medal with the Australian Men’s Hockey Team in Beijing 2008 and as part of the hockey coaching staff in London 2012.
“To be involved in an Olympic program whether it’s a YOG or senior Olympics, it’s just really special,” the NSWIS coach said.
“[It is] even more special is some ways with YOG because the young guys and girls that are going, they’re just really excited and it’s just a really fun atmosphere.”
Guest says while it is exciting to be part of the Games it is also a very challenging task.
“The difficult thing compared to a normal Olympic Games is we’d be in camp leading up for a long time and you can work on set plays, you can work on your team culture and all that sort of stuff, but with this you can’t,” the 32-year-old said.
“It’s all about trying to get the message out whatever way we can through email, phone hook-up’s and that kind of thing”.
Guest’s hockey team which was announced last month will only come together less than a week prior to departing Sydney for Nanjing in August.
One group of athletes who had the chance to meet well in advance with their official coach is the AYOT swim team who have spent the week mingling in Brisbane with other junior swimmers from around the nation at Swimming Australia’s National Youth Camp.
The eight youth swimmers representing Australia in China will be coached by Olympic coach Tracey Menzies.
Menzies is most known for coaching five-time Olympic champion and Australia legend Ian Thorpe.
The experienced coach says the Games will be invaluable for not only the athletes but also herself and the future of swimming in Australia.
“I believe this is a great opportunity to show these young champions what lies ahead and it maybe the thing that inspires some of our athletes to be on the 2016 Olympic team,” she said.
“What I would like to take away from these games is a better understanding of what we as a sport and nation need to do to help these athletes step up for 2016.”
Despite having been to many games themselves both Guest and Menzies said they too will be taking as much away from the experience as the athletes.
“What I am looking forward to is the whole sporting experience of an Olympics I want to give my team a great experience that they will remember for life,” Menzies said.
“It’s just such a special time as an athlete and a coach...I don’t think it really matters whether it is a Youth Olympic Games or a Senior Olympic Games, it’s still the same build up, you go through the same processes,” Guest said.
These particular Games will be extra special for a specific coach athlete duo, who will also be attending as father and son.
Daniel Esposito, who competed in modern pentathlon at Los Angeles 1984, will be coaching his son Max in the same sport in Nanjing.
“We work well together as a team, balancing is part of our regime, we understand one another because we work so close,” Esposito said.
The 50 -year-old trains up to five hours nearly every day with his son and says the most important thing for Nanjing is making sure both Max and his fellow modern pentathletes, Marina Carrier, get the most out of the Games.
“Because Pentathlon requires many training venues, and hours of training, I want to be able to focus that the athletes can access venues regularly so as to give Max and Marina every opportunity to perform their best in their competition,” Esposito said.
“It's a great stepping stone, introducing them to their peers, mentors and sharing their experiences with other athletes. It's great for the athletes to be all in the same environment, they all realise how hard they have worked but also get to enjoy forming new friendships from around the world.”
While all three coaches agree that the athletes should soak it all up and make the most of the experience, Guest says there is still a lot that the coaches can take away from the YOG despite their extensive Olympic history.
“I think anytime you can be a coach of a national team and be involved in an Olympic Games, it’s going to benefit your coaching career a lot,” the New South Welshman said.
“I just want to keep valuating to what I do... I will be all the better for it to get this experience”.
Thirteen athletes will also be heading to the Games with the support of individual coaches who too have Olympic history but are not necessarily travelling to the Games.
Some of these include Angus Thompson (canoe/kayak) who is coached by Myriam Fox, Olympian and mother to Olympian and YOG Ambassador Jessica Fox, several of the hockey players coached by Matt Wells and Brent Livermore, and Marina Carrier who has four Olympic mentors.
The coaches will travel to China with the rest of the AYOT, departing Sydney on the 13th of August.
The YOG will run in Nanjing from the 16-28th of August.
Laura Judd
olympics.com.au
@AUSOlympicTeam
