British Synchronised Swimming has appointed a new National Performance Director tasked with putting a programme in place to deliver athletes capable of achieving success at the London 2012 Olympics.
Biz Price (45) joined British Synchro at the turn of the year and immediately took to the pool deck to coach those athletes earmarked to help reclaim the successes previously enjoyed by the sport in Britain.
Originally from Vancouver in Canada, Price brings with her a wealth of experience across a host of leading nations within the world of synchro.
From 1986 to 2003, Price was national coach to Canada and since then has worked as a consultant with many countries including Spain, China and New Zealand.
And Price has been impressed with what she has seen already in Britain which will give her a solid foundation on which to build as she steers the sport towards being truly competitive at the 2012 Olympics.
The three athletes identified as forming the nucleus of the initial programme are Olivia Allison, Jenna Randall and Lauren Smith who are all based at the Rushmoor Club in Farnborough, Hampshire.
All three have been selected to compete at the Melbourne FINA World Championships in March and will benefit from Price’s vast coaching experience in the run up to competition.
“I’ll be working closely with the girls between now and the World Championships,” said Price. “I’ve spent a week with them already and it’s obvious they have a lot of raw talent. This is a very good place to start.
“They’re all very motivated which is essential and I’m looking forward to seeing how far we can take them while ensuring we bring other talented athletes through the system.”
Price is well aware of the mountain British Synchro has to climb before its athletes can compete for World and Olympic honours but she will use her expert knowledge to design a pathway to ensure the destination is reached as well as putting in place a team around her that can achieve that ultimate goal.
Priorities have already been clearly defined and each competition will bring with it a fresh objective with which to gauge the progress of the programme.
“I watched the British Synchro Championships in Gloucester last month and realistically we’re a long way off producing a team to challenge the very best in the world,” said Price.
“But we can and will get there. It wasn’t too long ago that Britain was up there with the very best and our aim is to be there once again.
“One of the first things I’ll be looking to improve upon is levels of fitness. A synchronised swimmer needs to be incredibly fit as well as strong so they can withstand the demands of the modern competition. That has to be a first priority for the programme.
“The girls I’m currently working with are half way to gaining the required levels of fitness but we need to ensure those pushing through the programme also have the necessary background to enable them to perform in punishing environments.”
The quality of coaching provided will be a key factor in enabling British Synchro to achieve its targets and Price is looking to ensure the right people are brought into the programme to lead the development of athletes as she focuses on the programme itself.
“We need to have a coaching structure in place to deliver the result we’ve set ourselves,” said Price. “At the moment I’ll be very hands on coaching the current crop of girls but I’m aiming to employ professional coaches to help so I can define the programme needed to deliver results.
“We will be centralising our efforts for a select group of athletes and this will take place at an Army barracks in Aldershot. This could involve up to 20 athletes at any one time when juniors and seniors come together to train.
“However, in the main the centre will cater for 10 to 12 athletes and they will train towards Beijing and London 2012. “
Price and her team will be striving to ensure Britain has a presence at the Beijing Olympics next year and has been working towards that aim from day one.
“Realistically we’ll be looking to qualify the duet for the Beijing Olympics but we have to get an entire team to the London Olympics. There is a lot of work to do in that time,” said Price.
“The talent is there. Some of the girls possess much more talent than some of their international opponents and now we have to build on that with fitness and the right routines.”
The position of NPD and the challenge that goes hand-in-hand with it is something Price is looking forward to meeting head-on.
“I’m excited about returning to coaching and to see how far as a team we can go. For the first couple of years I’m going to be very hands on as we create the type of programme that will generate a flow of international-standard athletes,” explained Price.
“We have a deadline of 2012 to deliver that ultimate performance but it isn’t a long time so there will be little if any rest between now and then. Due to our ranking within the world we can only go forwards but the challenge is how far we can take it.”
Chief Executive of British Synchro David Sparkes is delighted by Price’s appointment and looks forward to seeing the improvements the programme will bring.
“Biz has an impressive record in high performance sport and has worked with some of the leading nations around the world in synchronised swimming,” said Sparkes.
“She faces a colossal task now to take the talented British athletes to London in 2012 but she has our full support.
“The programme will be operating from a fabulous facility in Aldershot and will have the full support of the garrison commander and the pool operator but Biz and synchro as a programme have a monumental task ahead of them.”
-ends-
The 12th FINA World Championships will take place from 17th March until 1st April 2007.
The British Sychro squad comprises:
Olivia Allison (Rushmoor)
Jenna Randall (Rushmoor)
Lauren Smith (Rushmoor)
Synchro takes place from 17th to 24th March
Diving takes place from 19th to 26th March.
Swimming takes place from 25th March to 1st April.
Open Water takes place from 18th to 25th March.
For further details contact Dave Richards, British Swimming Media Manager, on 01509 632237, 0778 992 6136 or email dave.richards@swimming.org
British Swimming is the National Governing Body for Swimming, Diving, Synchronised Swimming, Water Polo and Open Water in Great Britain. It is responsible internationally for the high performance representation of the sport. The members of British Swimming are the three Home Countries national governing bodies of England (Amateur Swimming Association), Scotland (Scottish Amateur Swimming Association) and Wales. (Welsh Amateur Swimming Association) British Swimming seeks to enable its athletes to achieve gold medal success at the Olympics, Paralympics, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
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