Exciting fourteen-year-olds Daniel Smith and Ellese Zalewski will spearhead a 32-strong Australian Flippers Swim Team announced today for next year’s Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney from January 17-21, 2007.
Exciting fourteen-year-olds Daniel Smith and Ellese Zalewski will spearhead a 32-strong Australian Flippers Swim Team announced today for next year’s Australian Youth Olympic Festival in Sydney from January 17-21, 2007.
Smith, caught the eye with his haul of eight individual gold medals at this year’s Australian Age Championships – winning everything from the 50 to 400m freestyle, the 200m individual medley as well as 100m butterfly and 100 and 200m backstroke events.
The laid-back Gold Coast schoolboy trains under three-time Olympic coach Denis Cotterell at Miami and in the lane next to two-time 1500m Olympic gold medallist Grant Hackett.
Smith and fellow Miami and Australian teammate Taylor Hardy are just two of Cotterell’s latest teenage prodigies from his “Pool Of Champions” which this year celebrates its 30 year anniversary as one of Australia’s leading High Performance Centres.
Zalewski, from Ian Pope’s Melbourne Vicentre Club, won six gold medals and established three new Australian Age records before her starring role in the Oceania Championships in Cairns, where she won another six gold medals, set numerous meet records and was named Female Swimmer of the Meet.
Along with five other teammates, Zalewski will arrive back in Sydney from the Junior Pan Pacs in Maui only a day before the Olympic Festival.
Also contesting the Pac Pac-Olympic Festival double will be Samantha Hamill (Surrey Park, VIC), Belinda Hocking (Albury, NSW), Emily Seebohm (Brothers, QLD), Keatyn Simpson (Aquaz, NSW) and Charlotte Clarke (Norwood, SA).
They form the nucleus of a group of girls Swimming Australia believes could well see its “golden girls” tradition continue in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.
For swimming, the Australian Youth Olympic Festival, has proved a great stepping stone in the past with Travis Nederpelt, Jessicah Schipper and Melissa Mitchell - just three of a number of swimmers from the Festival who went on to become Olympians in Athens.
Schipper went on to conquer the world, winning her maiden world championship over 100m butterfly in Montreal last year before setting a new world record for 200m butterfly at this year’s Pan Pacs in Victoria Canada.
Swimming Australia National Youth Coach, and Australia’s head coach from the 2004 Athens Olympic campaign, Leigh Nugent is excited by the event that he believes is a great opportunity to expose Australia’s swimmers to international competition without the travel of going overseas.
“It’s one of those rare experiences that mirrors the Olympics and shows teenagers what a real Games is all about, with most participants also being accommodated in a Village type environment at Sydney University,” Nugent said.
“It will be a tough competition, especially against the United States and Japan and with all competing swimmers to be 16 years or under it will make for a highly competitive event.
“Our team of 32 was selected from the 2006 National Flippers squad ranging in age from 13 to 16 and many of our current open National team members have come out of this program.”
FLIPPERS AUSTRLIAN SWIM TEAM -
Australian Youth Olympic Festival, January 17-21, 2007:
Boys: Christopher Ashwood (Padstow, NSW) Nathan Broadbent (Greenpoint, NSW) Kieran Casey (Terrigal, NSW) Matthew Crisafi (Balgownie, NSW) David Ferguson-Sharp (Beaumaris, VIC) Taylor Hardy (Mermaid Waters, QLD) Nick Johnston (Bundaberg, QLD) Trent Kennedy (Melton South, VIC) Jack Laidler (Donvale, VIC) Ryan Napoleon (Ashmore, QLD) Jack Nunn (Redcliffe, QLD) Jason Schnyder (Highton, VIC) Brad Simmons (North Ward, QLD) Daniel Smith (Robina, QLD) Ben Syme-Ross (Black Rock, VIC) Calum Timms (Bangor, NSW)
Girls: Maddison Allen (Paddington, QLD) Elizabeth Archer (Beaumaris, VIC) Rebecca Blevins (Carramar, WA) Cate Campbell (Kenmore Hills, QLD) Charlotte Clarke (Heathpool, SA) Caitlin Fletcher (Edens Landing, QLD) Ellen Fullerton (Beerwah, QLD) Samantha Hamill (Kings Beach, VIC) Belinda Hocking (Belconnen, NSW) Jessica Legge (Elermore Vale, NSW) Kelly Marquenie (Parkwood, QLD) Jacinta Powell (Kirwan, QLD) Katrina Schieber (Brothers, QLD), Keatyn Simpson (Murrumba Downs, NSW) Ellese Zalewski (Williamstown, VIC)
Swimming Australia