Casey TigerShark Trent Lindsey is a top medal contender at this week’s Australian Age Championships in Brisbane. By Marc McGowan
WINNING national medals is the Casey TigerSharks’ next goal in establishing themselves as a swimming force.
Twelve TigerSharks flew to Brisbane on Monday to launch the club’s latest assault on the Australian Age Championships.
The team is double the size of last year, buoying expectations that Casey can drastically improve on its 2007 showing, when it finished 55th out of more than 200 competing clubs.
The stars were Trent Lindsey and Craig Watson, who reached a combined five finals, and both will feature strongly again.
But it is the TigerSharks’ much-improved depth that has head coach Ben Hiddlestone crowing.
“I’m really pumped to have so many swimmers ranked in the top 10 (on times) and obviously that means they’re in there with a good chance of making finals,” he said.
“The hard thing at nationals is that 30 per cent of them don’t swim as fast as their entry time because it’s such a high pressure event.
“Usually when you set PBs (personal bests), it is in a low profile meet, so if you can beat your entry times, the results will take care of themselves.”
Hiddlestone was ecstatic to see his athletes making national finals for the first time last year, but has even greater expectations this time around.
“This year, Trent, Craig and Brad (York) are a lot more experienced,” he said.
“They’ve had the Olympic Games trials, the open short course championships and this is their third nationals – they can focus on their performances and they’re not scared anymore.
“The team has an unspoken goal of coming back with a medal – coming back with some bling was the catchcry.”
But Hiddlestone is aware that his swimmers have a mixture of motivations this week.
“For some kids, the whole season is about qualifying for nationals if they haven’t gone before, and as soon as they step into Chandler (Aquatic Centre), they will have achieved their goal,” he said.
“Other kids have been there before and are looking to make more of an impact and swim PBs and make finals.
“I gave all the kids some homework and told them to jump online and research the times from the last few years and find out what made finals and top three in their events.”
The Australian Age Championships began yesterday (Wednesday) and run until Sunday.
