Gold Coast Mermaids Synchronised Swimming Club: Marina Kholod’s next challenge after training up 11 Olympic champions

There aren’t many coaches that can lay claim to producing 11 Olympic champions within a decade, but Gold Coast coach Marina Kholod can. However, her next challenge will prove more difficult.

THERE aren’t many coaches that can lay claim to producing 11 Olympic champions within a decade, but Marina Kholod can.

And it’s all thanks to a sport she began, begrudgingly, at age six in Ukraine in synchronised, or as it’s officially called now, artistic swimming.

“My parents just decided for me that I should do the sport,” Ms Kholod said.

“I pretty much didn’t have a choice. I can’t say I loved it at the start or had fun, it was a completely different approach to the sport back then, but I’m very grateful that they made me do that.”

The swimmers at Mermaids Synchronised Swimming Club are highly dedicated. Picture: Jerad Williams

Thirty-two years on, after winning championships and coaching Australian Olympic artistic swimmers, Ms Kholod can’t keep away.

Ms Kholod finished her own sporting career when she was 23, modifying her path to instead train athletes in the Ukraine, then Portugal, before moving permanently to Australia.

She opened up the Gold Coast Mermaids Synchronised Swimming Club in 2009.

The club, which focuses on high performance, launched with just three pupils, but the Mermaids team now boasts 70 members.

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Coach Marina Kholod with her swimmers (back row, L-R) Samantha Reid, Jenny-Lyn Anderson, Francesca Owen, Tamika Domrow, Sarah Bombell (middle), (front row, L-R) Olia Burtaev, Eloise Amberger and Bianca Hammett in 2012.

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Eleven pupils have gone onto to become Olympic champions, competing at London and in Rio de Janeiro.

Many more have taken out national, state, regional and local titles, while the club itself was recently awarded the Australian Club of the Year for the second time running.

But Ms Kholod isn’t stopping there, revealing her latest challenge — besides training up future Olympians for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics — is getting more boys involved, hopefully in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

“I have this fixed idea, it’s bothering me every day,” she said.

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Swimmers practice six times a week. Picture: Jerad Williams

Kiera Gazzard, 17, and Kirsten Kinash, 20. Picture: Jerad Williams

“It’s so hard to get boys to break the stereotype (of female-only swimmers). This is the challenge, I love when something becomes almost unachievable and you need to find the way to make it work.

“I’m confident I can do it … it’s doable, but nothing is easy. And the sport is actually extremely difficult.

“It requires the flexibility of the gymnast, the co-ordination of the acrobat, the stamina of the swimmer, plus you have to be upside down all the time and do all this while you’re not breathing.

“It’s a ridiculous sport really.”

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It’s all girls for now - but not for long! Picture: Jerad Williams

For her plan to work, Ms Kholod needs to start training her young male athletes now, but she has just three male swimmers.

One member, her son, is a promising swimmer and she doesn’t want to pull him away from the pool for a different sport, while the remaining two will not be eligible to enter the Olympics in 2024 as they would not have reached the minimum age of 15.

She said she needs a boy between the age of 10-12 who is currently training in gymnastics, diving, dancing ballet or swimming.

Swimmers from the Gold Coast Mermaids Synchronised Swimming Club. Picture: Liquid Pix by Brooke Shaw

Fellow club members Kirsten Kinash, 20, and Kiera Gazzard, 17, are supportive of Ms Kholod’s latest quest.

They giggle when questioned whether or not it’s a positive pathway for the club.

“It’s a fantastic that our sport is open to everyone, including guys now,” Ms Kinash said.

“It would be great to have more people join.”

Ms Kinash hails from Canada, saying she started artistic swimming there and joined the club when her family relocated to Australia.

“It requires the flexibility of the gymnast, the co-ordination of the acrobat, the stamina of the swimmer, plus you have to be upside down all the time and do all this while you’re not breathing.” Picture: Liquid Pix by Brooke Shaw

She trains six days a week — not including a few extra morning sessions.

“Right now I’m on the national team and I want to keep going with that,” she said.

“We just got back from Japan, it was an incredible experience. We’re going to keep building from there.”

Ms Gazzard said her swimming journey started when she was about six years old in Sydney, moving up to the Gold Coast last year specifically to join the Mermaids due to its focus on high performance.

“We are going to the world championships in Korea in June and I hope to do a good performance for both the team events and hopefully qualify for Australia in the Olympics,” she said.

“Twelve girls will go to Korea, but only eight will go to the Olympics.”