Olympic swim hopefuls make a splash at Parap

A number of Saint Peters Western (Queensland) and South Australian Sports Institute swimmers are attending a two week training camp at City of Darwin’s Parap Pool in preparation for the Olympic qualifying event in June.

The redeveloped Parap Pool is the only 50 metre swimming pool in Darwin that meets the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) specifications for national level competition and is an ideal training facility for the Olympic hopefuls.

Lord Mayor Kon Vastkalis said: “It is great to see the interstate swimmers training in Darwin and taking advantage of the fantastic Parap Pool facilities and beautiful dry season weather that Darwin has to offer.

“It’s not every day we are able to get up close and personal with these talented swimmers, so I encourage anyone interested to come along to the Parap Pool. Spectators can watch the swimmers in action for free.

“We could be hosting some future Olympic champions. I wish them all the best of luck for the Olympic qualifying event in June.”

Amongst the group of swimmers training here in Darwin is 400m freestyle World Champion 2019 Ariarne Titmus. Ariarne has a strong chance of reaching the Tokyo Olympics and winning an individual Olympic swimming title. If successful, she would be the first Australian woman to win an individual Olympic swimming title since Stephanie Rice in 2008.

Mitchell Larkin is another well-known Australian swimmer here as a member of the training team. A former Olympian, Mitchell has won gold in both the 100m and 200m backstroke events at the World Championships in 2015 and was part of the team to win gold and set a new Commonwealth Games Record in the 4x100m medley relay in 2018.

Australian National/Olympian Swimming Coach Rohan Taylor said: “The Parap pool facility and Darwin’s weather conditions are the perfect set up for National team staging camps prior to international competitions.

“Darwin is earmarked to be a high-performance hub for Swimming Australia. We have worked closely with Swimming NT to ensure that Darwin will continue to be a training destination for our high-performance athletes.”

The 50m pool will be closed or have reduced lane availability for public access during this training camp. Contact Parap Pool on 0475 031 573 to find out when the swimmers are training or visit https://www.darwin.nt.gov.au/explore/out-and-about/find-a-facility/parap... or https://www.facebook.com/parappool.

The 25m pool will remain open to the public.

For further information, please contact Council’s Coordinator Recreation and Leisure on 08 8930 0300 or email [email protected].

The photograph shows Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis with the Saint Peters Western (Queensland) and South Australian Sports Institute swimmers.at Parap pool.