Australia Banking on Brazilian Coach Fernando Possenti To Bring The Midas Touch To Its Olympic Marathon Program
Swimming Australia is hoping the appointment of Brazilian Fernando Possenti as it’s new Open Water Head Coach will provide the golden glow to its open water program for LA28 and towards Brisbane 2032.
A world-wide recruitment search secured the high-profile appointment of Brazil’s highly regarded Olympic coach, who guided the country’s open water legend Ana Marcela Cunh to seven World Championships and Olympic 10km gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
Marathon gold at the Olympics has been the one color missing from the Australian Teams medal tally over the past five Olympics in Beijing, London, Rio, Tokyo and Paris.
And Swimming Australia is banking on the well credentialled Brazilian as the man to provide the Midas Touch.
Possenti, whose athletes have won 14 medals at various World Championships, will step into the vacant High Performance Open Water Role in 2025 – a role which has been vacant since Greg Shaw was elevated to Executive General Manager of High Performance just prior to Paris Olympics.
Possenti, who has more than 20 years of coaching experience, is currently serving as a pool and open water coach for the Brazilian Olympic Committee and will start in the new role in 2025 in time for the Australian Open Water Nationals in Busselton late January.
“I am excited to help with the strategies and insights in converting the enormous potential that Australia has for open water and to collaborate with a united and lively group. Of course, I am very grateful for the support I have always received in Brazil,” Possenti said today.
“But at this moment in life it is time to test new waters and this challenge gives me the opportunity of being able to channel all my energy and work focus with an incredible and highly qualified team. Swimming Australia has a clear strategy to evolve the open water program with its focus on excellence.”
Executive General Manager of High Performance Shaw added: “The open water program is extremely excited to welcome Fernando into the role.”
“His coaching experience speaks for itself and his dynamic and innovative ideas on how to design durable swimmers with broad skills to win when it matters will bring new ideas into Australian open water swimming and drive us to success in LA and beyond to Brisbane.”
Australia’s open water program has gone from strength to strength with the outstanding performances of Kareena Lee (Bronze, 10km Tokyo) and Moesha Johnson (Silver 10km Tokyo) as well as Australia’s outstanding efforts at the 2023 World’s where Cghelsea Gubecka won silver in the 10km and the 2024 World’s where Johnson, Gubecka, won the coveted Teams 4x1500m Relay.
Johnson, Lee and Sloman had also swum their way into the Top 10 at the 2024 Doha World’s giving Australia a full complement of four athletes for the first time since the 10km was added to the Olympic program in 2008.