As reported by Wide World of Sports Shannon Rollason the Head Coach of the Australian Institute of Sport has announced that he will be leaving the AIS to take the job as the Head Coach of the National Training Centre in Denmark.
Rollason has been on the last three Australian Olympic team staffs and began coaching at the AIS in November of 2004. He currently coaches Australian Olympians Angie Bainbridge, Sally Foster and Belinda Hocking.
Rollason left his life as a graphic designer at the age of 21 to begin his coaching career in the suburbs of Brisbane with a team that trained out of a 18.3 meter pool.
His initial success on the international stage came in 2004 when he coached Jodie Henry who came away from the Athens Olympics winning three gold medals and breaking three world records. Henry won the 100 freestyle, breaking the world record in the semi finals and was part of both the Australian 4 x 100 freestyle and 4 x 100 medley relay teams that won gold and set world records in the process.
Rollason also coached Alice Mills who was a member of the world record breaking 4 x 100 freestyle relay in Athens.
With this move the Danes have found their replacement for Paulus Wildeboer who left his positions as the Danish National Team Director and National Centre Head Coach in November to head up Queensland Swimming. This year, as was the plan before Wildeboer’s departure, the two roles will be split, so expect Danish Swimming to appoint a new National Team Director down the road still.
Rollason told Wide World of Sports that it was a difficult decision and backed the AIS to continue playing a crucial role in the development of Australian swimmers.
One would assume Rollason will also be named the Danish National Team Director, but that detail is still unclear.
Agreed. Best (Magnussens coach) should take over AIS
No .It is the system not the coaches. They are corrupted by access to taxpayer funds in the big sports dream factory.
What about Dick N’ Arsey (ahem) Nick D’ Arcy? Flunko? Really?
It is a shame that AUS Swimming has fallen so far. Too proud to recruit in any coaching talent from the USA- it’d do them some good.
They did go and get a Dutch coach- Paulus Wildeboer- to work in Queensland. I agree though, Australia could go abroad for more coaches. Probably some of the changes they are considering for their University system would help as it would draw more international swimming people to the country.
Nick D’arcy has never been an AIS scholarship holder. These things cost taxpayers $$$$$$ & nothing to show for it for years.
I don’t know what you are talking about Gary & neither do . MJ does that.
‘neither do you ‘ . This ( the AIS ) is a specific organizational DDR model that is no longer effective .
Possibly the equivalent would be to have people living at The training Centre in Colorado for up to 5 & even 7 years at taxpayers expense & their highlight was to scrape into one Olympic final & then due to this big effort , promptly get beaten by 7 secs over 4 laps.
But no one will tell them the truth. It is Sport Cronism at its best.
Don’t know what is happening down there but there has only been a few successes in many many years.
Hocking in 2011 & Alicia Coutts.
The rest are flunkos.