STARTING their rise towards the peak of Australian swimming, a group of Casey TigerSharks was selected to hone its skills at a series of development camps recently.
The TigerSharks swimmers secured their places in the Swimming Victoria Development Squad’s select Performance Squad with outstanding results at this year’s state and national championships.
The squad is put together with an eye towards developing future Victorian swimming talent and creating strong opportunity for success at the national level or even getting onto the Australian team.
National age champion Nick Galileos heads the list of TigerSharks added to the Performance Squad which went into a camp recently for the Victorian Development Program.
Also earning their places in the squad were Zoran Biskup, Natalie Grey, Kyle Young, Jake Mitreski and 13-year-old tandem Joshua Yong and Jack McDonald.
“These kids are on the radar and being developed towards getting VIS funding and Swimming Australia Scholarship levels,” Casey TigerSharks coach Ben Hiddlestone said.
“Working away at it – but this is where you make the results for nationals, where no one is looking during winter and you just have to plug away in training.”
Hiddlestone knows these training programs open the door for swimmers to move onto bigger and better things with Commonwealth Games medallists Josh Beaver and Matson Lawson having run the gamut through the programs en route to the Australian team.
“It’s is our next crop, absolutely.
“I remember when it was Josh Beaver, Matson Lawson, Craig Watson and those sorts at the development level and we got three onto major teams,” Hiddlestone said.
“So, it’s major achievement – other people go from here to the VIS to Australian swimming so these guys are on the first rung of that pathway.”
The club is also holding a novice meet for 13-and-under swimmers this Sunday at Casey ARC at 1.45pm.
For more information, contact the club at sue@rippon.com.au or on 0407 557 130.
Swimming Victoria 2015-16 Development Squad Casey TigerSharks are Zoran Biskup (16), Nicholas Galileos (15), Natalie Grey (15), Kyle Young (14), Jake Mitreski (14), Joshua Yong (13) and Jack McDonald (13).
