DAY 1:
On Friday we set off to our very first State Team camp in the Capital of Australia. Waking up nice and early for a 6am arrival at Melbourne Airport was tricky however after landing at 9am we were welcomed by blue skies and lovely weather.
We started off by checking ourselves into the AIS athlete village where we will be sleeping over the next couple of days. The swimmers showed amazing commitment and determination with only 15 minutes after arriving to be at the pool ready for our first session. As we are preparing for the competition over the next 2 days, it was a light session however tiring as we had been traveling for a while. After this the athletes earned a well deserved buffet style lunch prepared by the same chefs that fuel our olympians.
After lunch we finally had some time to relax and settle into our accommodation, following all this we had a tour booked along side WMP where we spent more than an hour learning about the AIS and what it provides. Once again with another short turn around, the swimmers had 15 minutes to get changed and ready to hop into the pool, another light session joined by coach Adem was a fun one, fine tuning our racing skills such as dives, turns and breakouts.
After a massive first day we sat down and ate dinner provided by the same chefs as lunch, followed by a team bonding session where we played some card games and did some stretching. Our athletes were absolutely wrecked after a jam packed first day however are all so excited for the competition.
Day 2:
After a long and tiring first day, we were up nice and early around 6:30 to get ready for breakfast. The swimmers were a bit tired however excited for what the day had for us. Fuelling up is essential before a race day and we could not be more proud of how our little athletes take care of their body’s. After breakfast we headed back to the athletes village where everyone suited up and got ready for the warm ups.
It was amazing to see so many other swimmers from Melbourne with Metro East and West Melbourne Propulsion sitting and racing along side us. What a day of swimming it was, a brand new environment can be very tricky to manage and we saw that in the times at the start. However adapting to the cold weather and water over the course of the day we improved more and more. We got a PB in 50% of our races which is a great achievement regardless of the circumstances. On top of this every single athlete that came along to this camp received a person best time in at least one of their races which is amazing.
A special congratulations to Campbell who received a bronze medal, and Hugo who only had 2 events however came out with 2 medals, and bronze and silver. It was a day of many ups and downs short rests between races, a great learning curve, all the coaches could not be more impressed by the effort put in as well as their attitude.
After all this we were extremely tired, however we have to focus on tomorrow as we have another full day of racing. after refuelling their bodies with lots of pasta and rice we headed back to our rooms where we played some card games, pool and table tennis. Ending it off with reflections on what the swimmers were proud of as well as something they learnt and can change for day 2 of the competition.
We cannot wait for tomorrow, and can’t wait to break many more records.
Day 3:
Wow time has flown by, and we have reached our final day. Waking up at the same time and as the day before and eating at the same time, the athletes were in a routine. Coming home and quickly packing our bags, we were off on a short walk across campus to the pool.
Starting the day off was Andrew Campbell and Hope competing in the gruesome 400IM which is so fun to watch however not so fun to swim. Allison three of them set the tone early with solid swims. Well done to Hope and Campbell who both placed 3rd in 400IM.
Throughout the day we received so many personal bests some dropping over 6 seconds, wow! Over the course of the day we averaged a new personal best in 53% of races which is an increase from the day before.
Well done to Hugo who swam his first ever 100m butterfly. Hugo hasn’t shown any interest in this event for as long as we have known in and never competed at it, however he wanted to give it a go on this camp. Hugo swam excellently, received a great time and a second place medal.
Well done to everyone over the course of this camp, the change of environment and conditions can be extremely difficult however the coaches couldn’t be more happy with their performances. Especially the under 12 swimmers who probably have not experienced swimming away from home before, they handled all the challenges well.
Thank you all for coming, we hope you had a great time, and can’t wait to do it all over again soon.
