Olympian swimmers Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson training in Townsville
Olympians have been training and relaxing in Townsville the month before the Paris Olympics, with one power couple celebrating a milestone birthday on The Strand.
Townsville
Don't miss out on the headlines from Townsville. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Olympic swimmers have spent a week training in Townsville in preparation for the Paris Olympics in a month, including most decorated Australian Olympian Emma McKeon.
Ms McKeon also celebrated her 30th birthday with her partner Cody Simpson and shared posts on her Instagram celebrating on Friday night while also being part of a cake cutting ceremony with her swim team.
Coaches Michael Bohl and Richard Scarce, and among a dozen Olympic swimmers including McKeon, Simpson, Lani Pallister, Lachlan Walker and Daiya Seto have been training as part of a swim camp since last Monday.
Observers have remarked at their approachability considering they only have a month to go they compete at the Olympics in France.
Two time Japanese Olympian Daiya Seto now also trains under Bohl, and was born on the same day as McKeon.
They low-key celebrated their “dirty 30” with their team at The Strand with cake, dips and nibblies.
They have stayed at a hotel at The Strand and walked to the Tobruk Memorial Pool each day since last Monday to train from 7am to 9.30am for their sessions, while also fitting in three hour sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.
The community was welcome to watch and even visiting West Tigers players were reported to have showed up the day before they were defeated by the Cowboys.
The squad held a racing competition and a presentation at the pool on Friday night with local swimmers encouraged to join in, before they returned to the pool for one last session this morning.
Ms McKeon has won five gold, two silver and four bronze medals in her career, and she has publicly let it be known that this would be her last Olympics.
McKeon’s partner, popstar-turned-swimmer Simpson, told News Corp earlier this month his entire focus on June’s Olympic trials and earning a spot on the Australian team for Paris.
“In a sense I really can’t fail, because I either succeed, or I don’t, in making the Olympics team this year,” Simpson said.
“A fairytale ending would be nice but it will either happen or it won’t and that is the reality of it.”
Pool owner Luc Senent said the team had considered the trip to be successful for their development.
“The idea is to take these athletes away from their normal environment, school, uni, work, whatever, de-stress them and put them in an environment like this,” he said.
“They just walk across for training and then times that they’ve been swimming is unbelievable.”
Development swimming club coach Rachel King said it was interesting to see the different styles of coaching from the higher levels.
“Michael Bohl is quite relaxed in his coaching while Richard is a lot more high energy I’d say in comparison,” she said.
“It was really good to watch them train and do all their different sessions and just compare them to our sessions we’ve been doing.
“It’s nice to see what they’re doing are very similar sessions to what we’ve been doing.”
Originally published as Olympian swimmers Emma McKeon and Cody Simpson training in Townsville
‘Hands-on approach’: Property agent awarded for sales success
The decision to carve her own path has paid off for a Townsville real estate agent who is thriving on the back of the region’s booming property market. Now, shes shared the secrets to success.
How to prevent your child from getting sick this school year
A North Queensland doctor is urging parents to ensure their child’s immunisations are up to date and they’re skilled up in hand washing ahead of the back-to-school rush where sickness can run rife.