05/25/17 In Briefs: West Australia Edition

Swimming Australia Backs Tamsin Cook’s Play…..
As we reported back in February, teenage talent Tamsin Cook of Australia decided to take herself out of contention for a possible spot on her nation’s 2017 World Championships roster, with the 18-year-old Carine swimmer withdrawing from April’s Australian Swimming Championships. At the time, the 2016 Swimming Western Australia Age Group Swimmer of the Year stated, “I didn’t feel like I could perform to the standard required and rather than push through and hope for the best, I’ve decided to take a mini-break and come back refreshed and refocused.”

Now a few months removed from the decision, Swimming Australia Chief Executive Mark Anderson reiterates the organization’s support for Cook’s decision. Visiting Perth for the Swimming WA annual awards, where 18-year-old Cook also earned the Lyn McClements Medal as the SWA Swimmer of the Year,  Anderson stated, “We are looking at longevity across a four-year campaign and it will all build to Tokyo. Athletes like Tamsin taking some time out, this is absolutely the year to do it. That’s good for her to develop herself and also just freshen up as well. It was a big year for her last year. There’s plenty of time for her and us to build into Tokyo. We’re very supportive of her and what’s she’s doing. She’s a great talent and she’s shown she can deliver.”

Swimming Western Australia Hall of Fame Inductee…..
George Brown of Thornlie Swimming Club was inducted into the Swimming Western Australia Hall of Fame this month. Over the course of his 40+ year coaching career, which included having able-bodied, physically disabled and intellectually-disabled swimmers under his tutelage, Brown’s athletes earned 17 collective medals at the Paralympic Games between 1984 and 1992.

Reflecting on his career, “When I went away (to the Paralympics and World Swimming Championships) in 1984 and 1986, there weren’t’ any other coaches there, at least not any professional coaches,” Brown said. “They had minders, chaperones, volunteers, but they had very little knowledge of technique of stroke or coaching expertise. While I coached, I also adopted other swimmers that weren’t mine from other states and after that, more and more coaches realised disabled athletes could function in a squad.”

Olympian Brianna Throssell Changes Coaches…..
Aussie swimmer Brianna Throssell has decided to change coaches after a lackluster Olympic campaign in Rio. Finishing 8th in the women’s 200m butterfly in her Olympic debut, the Western Australian swimmer says that Rio ‘did not meet her expectations’ and already has her sights set on the 2017 World Championships and 2018 Commonwealth Games. To help in her quest, 28-year-old Throssell switched to the WA Institute of Sport (WAIS) late last year and is now under the guidance of coach Michael Palfrey.

“I am in such a better place now,” Throssell said. “My mental state going away this year, from what it was 12 months ago, has really changed. I am going away with no regrets and not wanting to be home all the time. [At] 2020 I would love to rectify what happened in 2016.”