Australia’s MLC National Flippers Squad Named

Courtesy: Swimming Australia

Australia’s next wave of swim talent have been identified and named as part of the MLC National Flippers Squad at a program launch on the Gold Coast today hosted by Olympic gold medallist Duncan Armstrong OAM and Olympian Meagen Nay.

Held both in person at the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre and virtually for those outside of Queensland, the 38 member squad will join up for the first time at MLC National Flippers camp from 3-9 January.

Squad members will be given valuable information regarding technical, tactical, physical, psychological and wellbeing skills to assist in their development via a series of webinars delivered throughout the year by Swimming Australia’s technical leads and high performance staff.

The squad includes promising Queensland age grade swimmer Ella Ramsay who claimed seven medals, including three gold, at the 2019 Hancock Prospecting Age Swimming Championships. Victorian distance swimmer and 2018 Junior Pan Pacs medallist Silas Harris also becomes a national flipper, along with up-and-coming Tasmanian freestyler Maximillian Giuliani.

Swimming Australia General Manager Performance Pathway Jamie Salter said the athletes and coaches selected were crucial to the future of swimming in Australia.

“The MLC National Flippers program is extremely important to our pathway system as it provides a great foundation to develop and nurture both swimmers and coaches,” he said.

“Our aim is to have these athletes transition to a senior Dolphins team in the years to come and have selected a talented group of young swimmers who we believe have what it takes to succeed, towards Paris and beyond.

“We are thrilled to be delivering this program in partnership with MLC whose purpose is to create future confidence for Australians – very much what we are wanting to achieve in this program with our next wave of swimming talent in Australia.”

MLC Chief Communications, Digital and Marketing Officer, Kylie Smith, said “We are proud to support the development of our nation’s young swimmers and potential future champions.

“We congratulate all the talented athletes selected in the MLC National Flippers Squad and applaud their determination and commitment,” she said.

The athletes and coaches for the MLC National Flippers Camp were chosen by State Technical Directors and Swimming Australia’s Performance Pathway team after a rigorous assessment of their international performance against key high performance criteria.

Subjectivity is also taken into consideration based on their potential to successfully represent Australia at major international meets in the coming years.

The Flippers Program has a history of success, having had 32 athletes successfully make the transition to the Australia Dolphins Swim team since 2014, including Ariarne Titmus, Jack Cartwright, Zac Stubblety-Cook, Bradley Woodward, Jess Hansen, Kaylee McKeown and Elijah Winnington.