Aussie SailGP crew, Australian swim team sharing data in unusual info swap in chase for success

Two of Australia’s leading sports teams - SailGPs Flying Roos and the Dolphins - are collaborating in a hunt for “little gems” to deliver lucrative triumphs on the water and Olympic medals in it.

The Australia SailGP crew racing to victory in New Zealand.

Two of Australia’s leading sports teams - the Flying Roos SailGP crew and the Dolphins swimming team - are collaborating in a hunt for the “little gems” that can deliver lucrative triumphs on the water and world and Olympic medals in it.

In an unusual cross sharing of information between the two highly successful teams, one of the architects of Australia’s extraordinary haul in the pool at the Paris Olympics is in Sydney inbeded with the Flying Roos, headed by 20012 Olympic sailing champion and America’s Cup winner Tom Slingsby.

Australian swimming boss Rohan Taylor is keen to see first hand what has made the Australian crew the most successful in SailGP history as they prepare for the only Australian of the lucrative series on Sydney Harbour this weekend in their 50 foot catamaran which races high above the water on foils.

Conversely, Slingsby and coach Ben Durham are keen to pick the brain of Taylor for any “little gems’’ that could help them now as they chase a fourth series title and in the future as they look to feed new personnel into the successful sailing squad.

“He’s part of a sport with unbelievable success and every day we are trying to get better as individuals and a team so I’m sure he has things that we should be taking notice of and a few little gems that might make a real difference,’’ said Slingsby, who bought in Australia II skipper John Bertrand as motivation ahead of the Sydney event.

“It could be a team culture thing, some technical data they use or from an athletes perspective.

Our swimmers won medals galore at the Paris Olympics.

“Potentially it could open our eyes in what to look for with our athletes in the future.’’

Taylor is often involved in think tanks with other sports as he and swimming work to stay ahead of the game and often gains valuable insights.

“Building relationships is important. Other people in my team will potentially benefit from connecting up and learning from each other,’’ he said.

Australia won 53 medals, 18 gold, 19 silver and 16 bronze, at the Paris 2024 Olympics with swimming’s gold medallists Ariarne Titmus (400m freestyle), Kaylee McKeown (100m-200m backstroke), Cameron McEvoy (50m freestyle), Mollie O’Callaghan (200m freestyle), the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay and the women’s 4x200m Freestyle relay.

Australian head coach Rohan Taylor in Paris. Pic: Michael Klein

The Australia SailGP team involved in some tight racing in New Zealand.

McEwen was the first Australian Olympian to win four individual gold medals and the first Australian to defend a double Olympic crown.

While happy to share insights into how his swimmers achieved such sucecss, Taylor said he was interested in how the sailors analysis their data in real time and how they ascertain the information that is most important and relevant.

“How do they distil down what is the important. Pull out the most important things, I'm very curious about hat,’’ eh said.

“Then what they use the info for and then how they use it to get better at training.

“Then things like culture, working closely together, working under pressure.’’

Taylor said swimming can share the leanings of how to bring teams together, how to perform under pressure and the way its selection process’ work, how their culture supports this and all the things that go into bringing a swimmer to their peak at a certain time on a certain day.

Durham, who works with a data analysis from a coaching booth on land during the racing in his coaching role with the Flying Roos, said he is particularly interested in swimming’s learning on how to prepare athletes for big events.

“In SailGP we have a whole year of events and it’s a long time to stay at peak performance,’’ said Durham who is keen to hear what data swimming uses and how they analyse it and potentially gain insight into identifying how future sailors are bought into the fold.

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Originally published as Aussie SailGP crew, Australian swim team sharing data in unusual info swap in chase for success