Swimming New Zealand has secured the services of world renowned coach Bill Sweetenham in a temporary role as high performance coach.
Mr Sweetenham, former Australia head coach and performance director for Great Britain, will start on February 8 following the resignation of coaches Mark Regan and Scott Talbot, who is now at the New South Wales Institute.
He has a rich pedigree in the sport, as the first State Director of Coaching for Queensland, before going on to serve as Head Swimming Coach at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, Head Swimming Coach at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, National Youth Coach for Australian Swimming (1995-2000), and National Performance Director of British Swimming from November 2000 to October 2007.
In his time as National Youth Coach, his programmes brought through the likes of Australian greats Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett.
He achieved outstanding international results in Great Britain including numerous world championship, European and Commonwealth Games titles although Olympic success did not come until Beijing 2008.
He has established a successful consultancy and continues to lecture, publish and conduct clinics on a variety of subjects worldwide, and has produced a series of educational and instructional videos on skills and technique. He is a published author of “Championship Swim Training”.
“We are absolutely delighted that Bill has taken up the role with us,” said Swimming New Zealand acting CEO, Mark O’Connor.
“It is an important time for our swimmers preparing for the upcoming State New Zealand Open Championships which double as the trials for the world championships.
“It is important to have a coach who understands the swimmers, the country and what is ahead of them. Bill is one of the most credentialed swimming coaches in the history of the sport and we are pleased he is stepping in to help us out.”
Mr Sweetenham has had an involvement with Swimming New Zealand, producing a review of the high performance structure in 2008.
He is contracted initially until the national championships in mid-March.
Meanwhile Swimming New Zealand has advertised worldwide for a new High Performance Coach. We have already received a significant number of inquiries from several well-qualified and credentialed coaches.
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