All hands on deck as Dolphins fine tune relays

  

Swimming Australia, July 26, 2016: Australia’s Olympic swim team cranked up a gear in Auburn today for the first of their relay “change over” sessions.

The pool deck was a hive of activity as swimmers, coaches and support staff started to fine tune their starts and finishes and the crucial “flying start” change overs.

Australia has a proud history in relays with six medals up for grabs in Rio – three in the women and three men in the 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay events.

Experienced relay coach Michael Bohl, who has his own squad of seven preparing for the Games, knows how crucial it is to get the change overs right.

Bohl, the man who guided Stephanie Rice to three gold medals in Beijing in 2008, including the victorious women’s 4x200m freestyle relay of Rice, Linda McKenzie, Kylie Palmer and Bronte Barratt will be in charge of the women’s medley relay team with several of his charges vying for positions.

Barratt, under Bohl’s direction, is preparing for her Olympic swansong, and will be a key member of the 4x200m squad preparing for Rio.

Bohl said today:

“When you come together in this camp we’re all here in the one place so it’s an opportune time to work on the changeover and try to get that team spirit and comradery going within the group.

They’ve got to be there for each other, they’ve got each other’s backs. They’ve got to try and pull together; we’ve only got 12 days until the meet starts, so for the next 12 days every time we get up and do relay changeovers they’ve got to make sure they’re pulling together as a group, but also in the dining hall when they’re sitting around. I think having that group dynamic for those relays is really important.

I think we saw some good performances in Kazan and I think that hopefully gave us an insight into what is going to happen in Rio. Things don’t always go to plan, of course, but I think the results there were very encouraging and I think it’s given the group a real shot in the arm. There’s a great feel within the group, both with the staff, the coaches and the swimmers of course,” Bohl said.