Dolphins getting pumped for Pan Pacs

 

Swimming Australia: August 2, 2018: The Australian Dolphins Swim Team are “getting pumped” in the lead up to next week’s Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Tokyo (August 9-12) when they line up against the might of the world’s number one swimming national the USA, and the rapidly improving Canada and Japan.

 

Strength and Conditioning has become an integral part of a swimmer’s training routine with most members of the Dolphins team adding three gym sessions a week to an already rigorous routine in the pool.

 

And in the Japanese city of Nagaoka, where the Dolphins are preparing in the lead up to next week’s Pan Pacs they have built their own gymnasium next to the Nagaoka pool – with all the specific weights and equipment to be left here for the next three years in the lead up to Tokyo 2020.

 

It will then be left as a legacy to the Nagaoka community and to the vibrant groups of aspiring Japanese swimmers – many of whom have given the Dolphins rousing daily receptions.

 

The Dolphins Strength and Conditioning Coach Deb Savage said having the equipment left in Nagaoka will be amazing for the local community.

 

“This entire gym will be left here for Nagaoka as a legacy from our Olympic preparation in their city,” Savage said.

 

“It will be for them to take on moving forward, for their own athletes, which is massive because they have never actually had a gym or equipment to this level before.”

 

The Dolphins support staff led by Greg Shaw, Mark Osborne and Gary Vanderburgt

 

arrived into Nagaoka 24 hours before the team arrived to set up the gym so the swimmers were able to continue their preparations uninterrupted.

 

The Sunshine Coast’s Olympic breaststroker Jake Packard knows the importance of the gym program.

 

“(Well done) to our guys that came over the day before (we arrived) and set the gym up and Deb (Savage) our  strength and conditioning coach who has tweaked it a bit to fit a few more guys in the space,” said Packard.

 

“There are some serious weights being lifted and we are counting down the days and everyone’s doing really well.

 

“Breaststroke is such a power stroke; we do gym three times a week and a lot of that consists of power (work); we always do high reps and high weights.

 

“And then we will slowly taper off and that’s the best part as we freshen up.”

 

Gold Coast freestyle sprint star and Commonwealth Games 4x200m freestyle gold medallist Alex Graham said the team is getting pumped.

 

“The gym is really important, it works in well with the swimming program. It helps you get that strength and power in the water, especially for a big guy like me, there’s a lot to move through the water…so everything I do here in the gym is extremely important,” said Graham.

 

“This program has made a massive difference; in the past I think I may have been doing stuff that wasn’t that specific to what I was doing in the water.

 

“Ever since I moved to Bond (University) and started working my gym coach there, she has really helped me and tailored it a little bit more to what I do which has been very important to help me swim fast.

“I have been in Monday and Wednesday and will also come Friday and there is always a good number of athletes in here…it gets everyone pumped up.”