Time to narrow the focus – Leigh Nugent, Head Coach

Swimming Victoria
Published: Jul 10, 2012 01:01:32 PM Updated: Aug 14, 2012 10:27:40 AM

After almost four years of preparation there are now less than three weeks to go until the Opening Ceremony and the challenge for athletes and coaches in these last few weeks is to really narrow the focus. Success at the Olympic Games in London will come to those who have prepared to their utmost and to those who can handle the big occasion.

The Olympics is like no other event and around half of our team will be heading to their first Games. Experience at World Championships, Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs is important, but there are many more distractions at an Olympic Games which can impede ones focus if allowed. For our experienced swimmers, those who have been to the Olympics before and performed, their knowledge and advice will be important, while for our first-time Olympians the chance to perform at the Games should be embraced, not feared, as they have truly earned it.

History does not discriminate when it comes to handing out gold medals not to a first timer, or a four-time Olympian. John Sieben’s win in 1984 and Duncan Armstrong in 1988 were both the performances of first time Olympians, where both athletes were completely prepared to take on the world’s best and win. Shane Gould’s performance at her only Games in 1972 was also outstanding, especially for someone so young, winning three gold, one silver and a bronze medal, while Stephanie Rice showed that a Games debutant can be one to watch taking triple gold in Beijing in 2008.

Our swim team has a proud history at the Olympic Games, winning more than 40 precent of the overall medals for Australia and with that tradition of success comes expectation. We know that all eyes will be on the pool in those first eight days of the Games, and as Head Coach I know that our athletes, coaches and support staff have done everything they can to get themselves to this point.

The challenge for all of us now is to maintain that focus, concentrate on what is important and on what we can control, and back the preparation. Achieve this, and the performances will come, the exciting bit is seeing where they’ll come from and just who will step up to the pinnacle of our sport.

Leigh Nugent – Swimming Australia Head Coach

With a total of 96 medals up for grabs in the pool, our Swim Team will also be looking for individual glory, here’s a snapshot of just some of the stars in action at the Aquatic Centre.

Day 1 – Women’s 400m Individual Medley Final
Current Olympic champion and Beijing golden girl Stephanie Rice will be looking to re-establish herself on the world stage, but will go into the 400m IM as an underdog alongside fellow Aussie Blair Evans from Western Australia. Rice has the fourth fastest 400m IM time in the world this year and will be chasing American and current world champion Elizabeth Beisel.

Day 2 – Women’s 100m Butter­y Final
Five-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist and world championship silver medallist Alicia Coutts will lead Australia’s charge in the women’s 100m fly with former world record holder and bronze medallist from Beijing Jessicah Schipper also well in the mix. Both girls have the ability and past experience to medal, and both will start underdogs behind Dana Vollmer from the US.

Day 3 – Women’s 100m Breaststroke Final
As the current Olympic champion, four-time Olympian Leisel Jones will need all her experience and racing knowledge to hold back world champion Rebecca Soni and rising Australian star Leiston Pickett. Pickett got the better of Jones at the Olympic Trials in March, while Soni and another youngster in Breeja Larson will also be tough.

Day 4 – Women’s 200m Individual Medley Final
Stephanie Rice and Alicia Coutts will be back in the pool on Day 4 as the medley girls go at it again. A gold medallist and world record breaker in Beijing in this event, Rice will again be watching out for Beisel from the US and China’s Siwen Ye, while Coutts will be keen to improve on her fifth place in the same event in Beijing.

Day 5 – Men’s 100m Freestyle Final
James ‘The Missile’ Magnussen and James ‘Rocket’ Roberts will load up for what promises to be one of the races of the Games. Magnussen is half a second quicker than the rest of the world over the distance this year, while Roberts dropped half a second off his PB at the Olympic Trials in March. The Aussie duo will need to keep an eye on Frenchman Yannick Agnel and Brazilian Cesar Cielo.

Day 6 – Women’s 100m Freestyle Final
Our women sprinters will get their chance on Day 6 with the Australian pair of Melanie Schlanger and Cate Campbell leading the way over the 100m freestyle. A bronze medallist over 50m in Beijing, Campbell has the experience while Schlanger also knows what it takes having returned to the national team for the first time in four years.

Day 7 – Men’s 50m Freestyle Final
James Magnussen will return to the water for the men’s 50m freestyle with fellow sprinter and Olympic silver medallist from Beijing, Eamon Sullivan set to line up alongside the 21-year-old. Magnussen shaved more than half a second off his PB in the event in March, while Sullivan already has runs on the board in Olympic finals. It will all be over in less than 22 seconds.

Day 8 – Women’s 50m Freestyle Final
Australia’s sister act will be in action on the final night of competition as Cate and Bronte Campbell look to make history on the Olympic Team. The first siblings to represent Australia in swimming at an Olympic Games for 40 years, anything can happen in the one lap dash, all you need is a lane in that final.