Australian swimming team choose Darwin as head quarters ahead of World Championships

Australia’s best swimmers will use the Top End as their training headquarters as they complete preparations and take on the heat ahead of the World Championships.

The Australian Dolphins use the Top End as their headquarters ahead of the world championships.

Australia’s best swimmers will use the Top End as their training headquarters as they complete preparations ahead of the World Championships.

The squad of 46 of the country’s very best pool and open water Olympians are using Darwin to attune to the heat ahead of the Singapore event that starts on July 15.

The open water crew touched down in Darwin first and were treated to the facilities at the Parap Pool and Darwin Waterfront to suit their needs ahead of the big event.

Among them was dual Olympian Chelsea Gubecka, ahead of what will be her eighth World Championship, and rookie Thomas Raymond set to make his first appearance.

Open water head coach Fernando Possenti brings 20 years of coaching experience, including working with seven time world champion and Olympic gold medal winner Ana Marcela Cunha.

“It’s really important to be in Darwin, there’s a lot of things here that we’re going to face in Singapore,” Possenti said.

“The facilities at Parap Pool are excellent and in addition to providing a welcome break from winter, our time here is also important part of our heat training process and time zone adaptation.

“For Darwin athletes it’s important to make them believe that it’s possible for anyone to if they believe and put their focus in to make this happen, and seeing this is part of that.

Chelsea Gubecka, Fernando Possenti and Thomas Raymond as the Australian Dolphins use the Top End as their headquarters ahead of the world championships.

“Through this collaboration a gym is being built at Parap Pool that will support the community and also contribute to the Darwin becoming a destination for future high performance training camps.”

Gubecka has got stuck straight into the heat training rugging up and hoping on the training bike to build up a sweat.

“It was so funny because the Darwin swim team watching were a bit confused about what was going on,” she said.

“I want my body temperature to rise as much as possible and be comfortable with that as possible in that space, while trying to keep the heart rate controlled as the temperature increases.

“We’ve been very lucky to have some lane space at Parap Pool and to see all the juniors train is super cool and also the masters too.

“I’m lucky enough to coach a team myself and though being is a privilege, but to be able to give back and do something as much as say hello or share stories is really inspiring.”

Raymond is at the opposite end of his national’s journey but has already developed his own heat training routine to help for Singapore.

“The sauna helps me a lot to raise my body temperature and then go in the pool and train off the back of that,” Raymond said.

“I’ve been in the 25m pool here and luckily that’s warm compared to what it’s like back home, and got in last night with my suit to see if it exceeded my comfort level.

The Australian Dolphins use the Top End as their headquarters ahead of the world championships.

“Training with these guys has been eye opening for me, Chelsea is so experienced and it definitely helps me as an athlete and a person to learn their attributes and what they do.

“Having that effort given back into us makes us train so much harder, having a support network is so important and what the NT has given to us has been great.”

NT Swimming chief executive Warren Dopson said it was a huge endorsement of the NT to have the Australian team make their way north.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to position the Northern Territory as a premium destination for elite sporting camps and events,” he said.

“While leaving a lasting legacy through local engagement, coach development, and heightened aspiration among our youth. The ripple effect will be felt across our entire sporting ecosystem.”

Originally published as Australian swimming team choose Darwin as head quarters ahead of World Championships