Big crowds expected for Commonwealth Games swim trials

Swimming Australia is hoping for the biggest domestic crowds for a decade at the Games trials on the Gold Coast.

Potential Gold Coast Commonwealth Games stars Kyle Chalmers and Cameron McEvoy after the 100m freestyle final at the national swimming trials in Brisbane this year.

If the stars align, Swimming Australia is hoping for the biggest domestic crowds it has seen for more than a decade when it holds the Common-wealth Games trials on the Gold Coast next February-March.

The national body announced yesterday that it would hold the trials in the Commonwealth Games venue, the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, from February 28 to March 3, just five weeks before the Games open on April 5.

The overriding principle behind the choice of those dates was for the national team to experiment with an American-style late trials schedule to decide if that could work for Australian swimming ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Traditionally, the Australian trials have been held at least three months before the major championship of the year.

That was the policy when the national team was at its most recent performance peak between 2000 and 2004, but current national head coach Jacco Verhaeren and his high-performance team want to try out a later selection meet after last year’s Rio Olympic results, where the team did not deliver on the promise of the trials performance three months earlier.

The other change is that the trials will be compressed into four days, rather than mimicking the six-day schedule of the Games, a move designed to put pressure on the swimmers to perform in both heats and finals.

The timing of the trials is based on performance but Swimming Australia (SAL) also believes it should be a commercial hit for the organisation, because the trials will be held in the Games host city right when enthusiasm for the Games is reaching a peak.

“It’s a great opportunity to be here at the pool that we will be competing at five weeks later,’’ SAL chief executive Mark Anderson said.

“It will be a great opportunity for those who missed out on swimming tickets at the Commonwealth Games to come along and see our swimmers qualify for the Games.’’

The swimming program was oversubscribed in the recent Games ticket ballot so SAL is hoping that swimming fans who missed out will make the effort to see the same swimmers compete five weeks earlier.

At Games time, the aquatic centre will hold 10,000 spectators but the capacity for the trials has currently been set at around 3500, although the organisers may be able to boost that, depending on Games preparations. If it remains around 3500, SAL will be hoping for sellouts on most days. The Australian team will be announced on the last night.