New Faces On Show As Tokyo Olympians Kareena Lee and Kai Edwards Sit Out Australian Open Water Nationals
The absence of Olympians, Tokyo bronze medallist Kareena Lee and Kai Edwards will open the door for a new breed of swimmers who also have Paris 2024 on their minds at this weekend’s Australian Open Water Championships at Adelaide’s Brighton Beach.
TOKYO MOMENT TO SAVOUR: Kareena Lee celebrates her 10km bronze in Tokyo. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Respective fields of 28 men and 20 women will line up in the 10km Olympic distance championship tomorrow (Saturday) with 20-strong Open fields in Sunday’s 5km titles.
Swimming Australia’s General Manager of Performance Support Greg Shaw has run his eyes over the open water road to Paris, which starts for some this weekend.
Shaw brings an experienced mindset into the planning of a successful Olympic cycle and understanding the toll a four-year campaign in open water takes.
It will be the start of an exciting countdown to a 2024 marathon swimming event to be conducted alongside iconic world landmarks the Eiffel Tower and the Arch de Triomphe on the River Seine.
“It’s the start of a new cycle into Paris and everyone is at difference stages of that ramp to 2024 and excited to get back into some racing,” said Shaw,
“I remember the words of the great Denis Cotterell (who coached Grant Hackett) saying ‘you only have a number of world class performances in you in any one year and any one cycle.
“And one thing we have been very mindful of over the last little while as a whole from Swimming Australia is athlete wellbeing and coming off an Olympics like Tokyo took a lot out of people.
“Athletes need to be really mindful of how they prepare and what they require to produce that performance to win when it matters the most.
“I’m really excited by the individual focus from all the different athletes depending on where they are in their pathway and where they are in their careers and sometimes diversity really keeps pressure on the yearly performance.”
SIGHTS ON PARIS: Kai Edwards planning for 2024. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
Where are Kareena Lee and Kai Edwards at in their Paris preparations?
“Kareena has been trying to build up slowly and work her way back and prepare herself for the next two-and-half years to Paris.
“While Kai has been trying the find his process back into open water and Paris.
‘Kai is taking his time to make sure he has everything in place for his push to Paris and he won’t swim at Nationals but is confident he has a real plan going forward to be where he needs to be in Paris….that is where his focus is….
“We expect Kai and Kareena to be back racing in the middle of the year domestically and internationally…
“They are both well on top for their Paris performance (plans) and probably taking it a little bit slower than those guys who missed the Olympics.”
What can we expect to unfold at these 2020 Nationals?
“There will be some exciting new comers over 10km, especially in the women’s race with someone like Moesha Johnson (Griffith University) who has put her hand up at Queensland States saying ‘I want a piece of this’ so it will be at Open Water Nationals where she will go up against well founded open water performers like (Rio Olympian) Chelsea Gubecka, Bianca Crisp, Chloe Gubecka and Finella Gibbs-Beal; in a group where it’s exciting to see others come through.
HEAD ABOVE WATER: Moesha Johnson ready to step up to 10km. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
We have seen Moesha develop into a real 1500m prospect and she has also had success over 5km so what will the 10km mean to her?
“She is in good hands with Michael Bohl and Janelle Pallister and of course Bohl coached multiple open water champions like, Brendan Capell, Josh Santacaterina and Trudee Stafford (Hutchinson).
“He was their coach when they were putting down world championships in 25km; Bohly is an experienced coach and has had major influence across a broad spectrum of events and distances.
“Moesha is in good hands there at the HUB program at Southport and it’s good to see her excited about opportunities to challenge herself against seasoned competitors.”
What will it mean having Olympian Janelle (Elford) Pallister in her corner?
“Having assistant coaches like Janelle Pallister, Bohly has a lot of capacity to really develop those guys across broad events and distances.
“Janelle has been doing a lot of work with Moesha to get her prepared for that and she will travel down with Moesha to be her feeder.
“It’s really good to see those partnerships developing…and hopefully building on that.
“But the Yeronga girls are going to be tough to beat, I’m really looking forward to that race…
“In fact the men’s and women’s 5 and 10km events will really see some great racing…and close racing too….”
How do you see the 10km race unfolding?
“One thing is certain, you don’t underestimate Chelsea Gubecka; she will always be there in the end.
“Chelsea ready for a fight and this is really going to be the race to watch at Nationals seeing how the exuberance of new opportunities unfold against that real hard headed experience that Chelsea brings and what it takes to win a 10km….
And there also some interesting developments with the men, especially Hayden Cotter?
BOYS IN WAITING: (L-R) Hayden Cotter, Nick Sloman and Bailey Armstrong with Canadian champion Jon McKay. Photo Courtesy: Delly Carr (Swimming Australia).
“People like Nick Sloman and Bailey Armstrong who swam overseas in Israel and Abu Dhabi chasing international experience…and they have both been training well and looking forward to seeing what they can put down in Adelaide.
“It will also be great o see where Hayden Cotter is at after he was successful in qualifying for the Nutri-Grain Ironman Surf Series.
“At this stage of the cycle Hayden is exploring other types of performance options and speaking with his coach Harley Connolly (Belgravia) he is excited with what that provides him and also where he’s at with his open water – he feels he’s ready for the opportunity this weekend and all that put together bodes well for a really exciting Nationals.
“His other interests (surf and ironman racing) has been one of Hayden’s strengths and also for Nick and Bailey who will also do Surf Life Saving Nationals (on the Gold Coast in April) with that ability to have other opportunities outside of Olympic open water really keeps them fresh and versatile in their skill sets.
“One thing we know about open water racing is you need to be versatile, you need to have a bunch of attributes and tools in different open water environments and those are really making sure they have a really broad skill set, when it comes to open water racing.”
IRONMAN: Hayden Cotter is combining his Open Water with a shot at the Nutri-Grain Ironman Series. Photo Courtesy: Harvpix
Photo Courtesy: Harvpix
Photo Courtesy: Harvpix
START LISTS FOR THE 2022 AUSTRALIAN OPEN WATER CHAMPIONSHIPS –