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4:24 AM Mon 17 Nov 2008 GMT
 Fletcher, sharing his wealth of knowledge from nine Olympic Games as a coach.jpg) | | 'Michael (Fletch) Fletcher, sharing his wealth of knowledge from nine Olympic Games as a coach'
Australian Sailing Team
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The momentum gained from sailing's success at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games continued full force with the expansion the Australian Sailing Development Squad (ASDS) in Yachting Australia's Performance Program.
The numbers of athletes identified in the initial ASDS program is quite large with the intention to seek as much talent as possible and see who has the goods to go all the way to becoming an Olympian and win Gold in 2012 and beyond.
The AST Program Manager, Rob Brown said, 'It is important to increase the depth of talent in all the Olympic Classes in order to stay on the top of our game. We need our potential Olympians to push our current Australian Sailing Team to greater heights, to raise the bar by producing fitter and more mentally tough athletes'.
Last week the ASDS travelled to Hamilton Island to be involved in a camp that incorporated an intensive screening process to assess the squad in all facets of campaigning.
'The aim of this Camp was to assess the fitness levels, physiotherapy, psychology, on water sailing skills and personal profiles.'
'It was a huge success with a large percentage of the squad identified as potential future Olympians'.
A total of 56 athletes attended the first ASDS Camp at the AST's major co-sponsor, Hamilton Islands resort in the Whitsundays. The Island provided the perfect training base with everything being within walking distance.
The fully equipped gym was manned by AST Strength and Conditioning National Coordinator, Andrew Verdon, AIS Physiologist, Hamilton Lee, Head of the AIS Strength & Conditioning department, Julian Jones and Gavin Thornley.
Each athlete had to perform a fitness test and screening. The coaches ran morning fitness sessions which also doubled as team building exercises.
And the AST Physiotherapist, Donna White ran extensive physio screening sessions. Whilst the current AST Management Team held meetings with each athlete to gain an understanding of each athletes situation with regards to academic, work and sailing status.
Queensland's Laser Radial squad member, Ashley Stoddart excitedly explained that, 'It was an amazing experience to be a part of the squad, where I was exposed to the professionalism which is used in the Australian Sailing Team. It is a great pleasure & honour to be involved and I look forward to future camps and training within the squad'
The camp ran from 28th October to 10th November and catered for the 10 Olympic Events that will race in London 2012 (Classes now confirmed by ISAF)
Men's & Women's Windsurfing (RS:X)
Men's & Women's One-Person Dinghy (Laser for Men & Laser Radial for Women)
Men's & Women's Two-Person Dinghy (470)
Men's Skiff (49er)
Men's Heavy-Weight Dinghy (Finn)
Men's Keelboat (Star)
Women's Match Racing (Elliot 6's but SB3's were used at the camp)
In attendance were a number of AST coaches and management staff who presented technical and program lectures to the squad. These were very well received.
The AST Coaches at the camp were; 'The Medal Maker', Victor Kovalenko who has signed with Yachting Australia for the next quadrennial after his double 470 Gold medal winning success in Beijing.
Nine times Olympic Coaching Veteran and Beijing 2008 Tornado Silver Medal winning Coach, Michael (Fletch) Fletcher. Former Olympic Windsurfing Bronze Medallist, Lars Kleppich, Star Coach Euan McNicol, 49er Coach Emmett Lazich and Yngling Coach Adrian Finglas.
In addition to the AST Coaching staff were the State High-performance Coaches;
NSW - Erik Stibbe
WA - Belinda Stowell
VIC - Glenn Collings
SA - Brendan Todd
Several AST Athletes took time out to give back to the sport. They offered coaching and mentoring support to the new sailors. The AST athletes were:
Olympic 470 Gold Medallist Malcolm Page
Three times Olympian and former world windsurfing Champion, Jessica Crisp
Two times Laser World Champion, Tom Slingsby
49er World Champion and Olympian Nathan Outteridge
Former Laser Radial World Champion and Yngling Olympian, Krystal Weir
Former ISAF World Ranked No 1 in the Men's 470, Mathew Belcher
'It was great to kick start the new Olympiad with this series of camps. The enthusiasm the athletes & coaches bought to the program was fantastic. The support of Hamilton Island was essential in ensuring the success of the camps and we thank them for their involvement,' said Katie Culbert, AST Senior Coordinator.
Rob Brown's final word, 'We acknowledge that there is probably a number of sailors out there that have not been invited as yet or that we are unaware of that may well be in line for inclusion to the squad.
'We will be looking out for those who haven't yet come onto the radar. They can fast track this by contacting Yachting Australia and request an opportunity to be considered for inclusion to the system'.
The Australian Sailing Development Squad 2008/09 List of Athletes:
Mathieu Higgins (WA)
Tim Lynch (WA)
David Gilmour (WA)
Belinda Kerl (WA)
Stacey Omay (WA)
Chelsea Hall (WA)
Steven Thomas (WA)
Luke Parkinson (WA)
Jasper Warren (WA)
Jess Eastwell (WA)
Tom Brewer (NSW)
Will Ryan (NSW)
Byron White (NSW)
Rhys Mara (NSW)
Lachlan Doyle (NSW)
Shaun Wells (NSW)
Jacqui Bonnitcha (NSW)
Hannah Nattrass (NSW)
Michelle Muller (NSW)
Amy Kivell (NSW)
Hayley Outteridge (NSW)
Dave O'Connor (NSW)
Iain Jensen (NSW)
Scott Babbage (NSW)
James Burman (NSW)
Peter Merrington (NSW)
Tom Burton (NSW)
Jye Murray (NSW)
Ashley Brunning (NSW)
Ben Morrell (NSW)
Steve Allen (NSW)
Gabrielle King (NSW)
Laura Baldwin (NSW)
Alex South (NSW)
Alisha Kawalla (NSW)
Amanda Scrivenor (NSW)
Lilly Taylor (NSW)
Olivia Price (NSW)
Simon Reffold (NSW)
Andrew Landenberger (NSW)
Nicky Souter (NSW)
Katie Spithill (NSW)
Nina Curtis (NSW)
Stacey Jackson (NSW)
Lucinda Whitty (NSW)
Kylie McKillop (NSW)
Sam Boyd (NSW)
Heidi Lambeth (NSW)
Ricky Ironmonger(VIC)
Will Phillips (VIC)
Sam Phillips (VIC)
Jon Newman (VIC)
Sam Kivell (VIC)
Max Taylor (VIC)
Warwick Hill (VIC)
Ben Gunther (VIC)
Tom England (VIC)
Felix Paterson(SA)
Shane Hughes (SA)
James Paterson (SA)
Sean Ott (QLD)
Ryan Palk (QLD)
Ashley Stoddard (QLD)
Mark Bradford (QLD)
Rayshele Martin (QLD)
Bucky Smith (QLD)
Simon Morgan (TAS)
by Event Media
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