This morning, our team discussion centred on the process of growth — both in sport and in life — using the playful analogy of a baby learning to run. In the discussion, a baby was placed on an oval, encouraged to run for a piece of chocolate as motivation. While it showed some signs of movement, it wasn’t ready to run just yet. Later, in a more suitable environment — a lush green field — the baby began to crawl, but still nowhere near running.  

This highlighted an important truth: progress takes time, the right conditions, and patience. Development cannot be rushed, and every step is meaningful. 

Insights from Our Coaches 

Coach Sam, who spent 10 years on the Australian Swim Team under Rohan Taylor (current Head Coach of Swimming Australia), explained that even Olympic swimmers don’t train exclusively in 50m pools. Most of their work is done in 25m pools, with a few focused long course sessions each week dedicated to race-specific preparation and speed. 

Coach Rachel shared her 20 years of experience coaching at the AIS during Swimming Australia camps, noting that most training was done in short course pools, with only late afternoon sessions reserved for long course. This reflects the broader philosophy of focusing on quality and efficiency over quantity or tradition. 

The swimmers showed great curiosity, asking insightful questions about what it takes to reach the top level. 

“I’ve been watching YouTube videos on swimming…” 

Coaches welcomed this interest and encouraged swimmers to bring those videos to them, so they could fact-check and discuss how the content applies (or doesn’t) to each swimmer’s current stage of development. 

“I’ve seen different training sessions online” or “I’ve seen swimmers lifting heavy weights” 

Sam and Rachel reminded the group that every swimmer progresses differently, based on age, maturity, and understanding. They emphasised trusting in the program and explained the importance of building foundational movement and control before introducing strength training. Using yoga as an example, Sam demonstrated the range of movement required at the elite level, reinforcing that flexibility and control come first, then strength. 

When appropriate, HC coaches will introduce a tailored strength and conditioning program — one that supports rather than compromises stroke technique or long-term development. 

Swimming Success Starts Close to Home 

It was noted that 21 swimmers currently on the Australian Men’s National Team are aged between 19 and 30. Over half grew up swimming in the southern states — including Kyle Chalmers, who still trains in Adelaide under Peter Bishop. This serves as a reminder that success is not limited to location — it’s shaped by commitment, consistency, and quality coaching. 

The Power of Belief and Trust in the Process 

The group also explored the mindset of a swimmer who, despite being two seconds behind on the final lap, still races to win. This is the kind of belief we want to foster — the trust that the training has prepared you, the drive to push through discomfort, and the confidence to stay in the fight even when the odds feel stacked. 

When swimmers lose trust in the process, performance can be compromised. But when they believe in their journey, their training, and the support system around them, anything is possible. 

Moving Forward Together 

As our squad continues to evolve, Rachel and Sam remain committed to protecting the culture, integrity, and positivity that define our club. They will always encourage open questions and discussion, and they promise to answer with both evidence and experience. 

Let’s continue to inspire our swimmers to take ownership of their journey, to ask questions, to trust the process — and to believe in their ability to achieve their personal best. 

Thank you for your ongoing support as we grow stronger, together. 

Coach Rachel and part of the Australian Coaching Team on 2016 at the AIS 

Sam in action at the World Championships under a Victorian Swim Coach – Glen Baker 

Introduction:

In the world of swimming, innovation and adaptation are key to achieving optimal performance. At the HC Swim Club in Tasmania, coaches Sam and Rachel, Jess, Harry and Mitch have introduced an approach to skill development. By breaking down progressions of skills using shapes as cues, swimmers have experienced significant improvements in their technique and overall performance. This article explores how this unique method has become a driver for change within the swim club and highlights its positive impact on swimmers' abilities.

Breaking Down Skills:

One of the key strategies employed by Coaches at HC Swim Club is the use of shapes to guide swimmers in mastering specific skills. For example, when teaching turns, swimmers are taught to create an ‘h’ shape with their bodies, balancing themselves under the water:

By first practicing this movement on land and then transferring it to the water, swimmers can better understand and execute the necessary actions for a successful turn. This breakdown into biomechanics has proven highly effective in helping swimmers grasp the intricacies of each skill.

Step-by-Step Approach:

The HC Swim Club coaches have found that breaking down skills into three steps and teaching each one separately yields excellent results. By initially focusing on individual components, swimmers can fully comprehend and master each step before combining them into a cohesive whole. This method allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the skill, ensuring that swimmers can consistently perform it correctly. Once the skill is broken down and repeated, training sets are tailored to the swimmers' abilities, gradually increasing the distance they can practice while maintaining proper technique.

Positive Outcomes:

The implementation of this innovative approach has brought about positive outcomes for swimmers at the HC Swim Club. By providing a structured framework for skill development, swimmers have experienced improved technique and efficiency in their strokes. The step-by-step approach has allowed swimmers to build a strong foundation and gradually progress to more complex movements. Moreover, the use of shapes as cues has enhanced swimmers' kinaesthetic awareness, enabling them to better understand and replicate correct body positioning in the water. For further information to support this concept, visit this blog:

Biomechanics In Sport - Physiopedia (physio-pedia.com)

Conclusion:

HC Swim Club recently sent a team to compete against the best age group swimmers in Australia. Our team, lead by Head Coach Rachel Brennemo, of William Botterill-James, Daniel Francis, Eli Jones, Ewan McIlwraith and Daniel Shilcock, held their own ranking 86th out of over 200 clubs- an impressive achievement for a team of 5 swimmers!

Daniel Francis contested 2 B Finals, for 14 Years 50m & 100m Freestyle, placing him in the top 20 in Australia, swimming consistent PBs.

Eli Jones contested the A Final of the 400m IM, placing 6th and swimming a massive PB. He also had top 20 finishes in the 200m IM, 800m Freestyle and 1500m Freestyle, showing his versatality.

William Botterill-James & Ewan McIlwraith both swam competitive times, applying the skills they had been working on in training, setting them up for an exciting year ahead.

Our standout performance from this meet was Daniel Shilcock. Daniel clinched the silver medal in the 50m Backstroke event, along with recording an Olympic Trials qualifying time and setting a new state record in the 200m Individual Medley.

45 HC Swimmers performed at the recent Tasmanian Cripps Short Course State Championships, supported by coaches Rachel Brennemo, Harry Kink, Dylan Harris and Mitchell Rickards.

As a team we achieved 118 personal bests, along with 16 gold medals, 13 silver medals and 19 bronze medals.

We also had five state records broken by Daniel Shilcock, backing up some incredibly fast swims at the New Zealand Short Course Championships and Victorian Age Championships in August. Since turning 17 in June Daniel has broken an impressive 27 State Age records and 2 State Open records. Congratulations, Daniel!

Across the board our team performed exceptionally well, and the camaraderie and spirit of our team really stood out particularly with big days, after a very busy season.

HC Swim Club achieved some fantastic results at the 2023 Short Course Victorian Age Championships.

Our team was represented by Daniel Shilcock, Eli Jones, Tommy Direen, Ewan McIlwraith, Lara Pederson, Molly Duffy, Ruby Biggins and Leila Joscelyne. Along with coaches; Rachel Brennemo, Dylan Harris and Mitchell Rickards.

Swimmers performed excellently at this high level of competition.

Daniel Shilcock broke five Tasmanian state records (some multiple times over the weekend!) to achieve first place in the 200 Breaststroke; second place in the 200 IM and 200 Backstroke; as well as third in the 100 Backstroke.

Eli Jones also achieved third place in both the 800 and 1500 Freestyle events for the 15/16 age group, despite having only turned 15 a few weeks ago. This trip was a great opportunity for our team to strengthen and provided a learning experience for both swimmers and coaches.

Swimming Tasmania recently sent a high performance team to the New Zealand Short Course Championships.

The Tasmanian head coach for this trip was HC Swim Club's head coach, Rachel Brennemo.

Swimmers from HC Swim Club were:

• Daniel Francis
• Daniel Shilcock
• Eli Jones
• Jessalyn Potter
• William Botterill-James

The following records were broken in this event by HC Swimmers:

• 200 Breast - Daniel Shilcock (2:19.42)
• 50 Back - Daniel Shilcock (26.17 & 26.01)
• 100 Back - Daniel Shilcock (56.51 & 55.91)
• 200 Back - Daniel Shilcock (2:04.47 & 2:01.95)
• 4 x 100 Medley Relay - Jessalyn Potter was part of this record breaking Relay Team

HC Swimmers achieved an impressive 20 personal best times (83.33%), breaking at least 5 state records, and brought home 1 gold, 1 silver, and 2 bronze medals. These swimmers showed great poise and resilience, even during long days and tough competition.This trip not only allowed the swimmers to learn self-regulation but also provided Rachel and the swimmers with an opportunity to coach and compete at this elite level. The swimmers where forced to race hard in both the morning and afternoon sessions, with nights finishing at 9.00pm. At all times they represented HC Swim Club with with the utmost professionalism to which they should be commended.

Moving from St Peters Western to HC Swim Club

This year I moved from Brisbane, in Queensland, to Hobart, here. Before I moved, I went to St Peters, and had swum with a group called St. Peters Western, which you may recognise due to the influx of famous swimmers it held, including Ariane Titmus. I had swum at SPW for around 2 years, joining in 2020.

Originally the purpose of me joining swimming at SPW was to make friends, as I had not yet started at St Peters but was enrolled to begin there in the following year. I had always liked swimming, and the whole thing that had got me into it was from when I was a toddler to around 7-8 when I had finally hit squad at Aquatic Achievers, which definitely isn't the biggest flex but I was pretty proud of it back then. So obviously, when I joined SPW I thought I would love it and I would beat all the other kids effortlessly; of which I was wrong for both. I found it extremely, extremely hard to keep up with the other kids and I honestly felt pretty pathetic compared to them as I was getting lapped in 100s, which I felt that I wasn't struggling to do, but I imagine I was definitely looking like it compared to the other kids who dominated me.

Nearly every morning, or afternoon before and after swimming I would cry, because I had hated it so much as I couldn't keep up, everything was so hard for me and so much more advanced than what I could do at the time but I chose to keep pushing through it, which was very hard as you could probably imagine when kids younger than me were getting times that could stack in mine by 3, not to mention the fact I didn't even know you got timed in swimming when it wasn't the Olympics! Months had gone by, and I kept doing it, despite some of the other kids and coaches calling me slow, which didn't bother me too much but nonetheless was pretty mean.

The months became a year, and my times were slowly going up, even getting a PB by 20 seconds (which is probably a worse than good thing but I was glad for it). Around early 2022 I had started to join swim meets, or swim nights, which were hosted every Friday night after school to do some races which I mostly didn't like (especially relays) but kept doing and ended up really enjoying. I was proud to see my times get better every single Friday, and it went through the year like that, with a combination of up's and down's and then during 2022 I went to regionals as well, which I was also proud of.

Then, this year I moved to HC. I, once again, thought I was going to dominate easily, which I was, once again wrong about but still happy that I got into HC Gold and might be going to State which is a huge advancement for me. From there it has been pretty good, I cannot say I enjoy getting up early, and I still have a lot of lessons to go to catch up, but I have already seen some of my times improve up to 6 seconds which really makes me proud and I am glad I still get to swim at a great club despite moving, and can't wait to see how my journey continues.

Finn Elliott

HC Swim Club Gold Squad Swimmer

Joe Pemberton is a Strength Coach; owner of Hobart Strength Training in Sandy Bay, and Sydney Strength Training in Sydney; and an online coach for Barbell Medicine - an evidence based online coaching company based in America.

Joe’s swam at Hutchins and Collegiate Swimming Club from ages 12 to 16. A backstroker initially, it didn’t take Joe long to gravitate towards 50 and 100m freestyle where he achieve national age group medals, and eventually open top 10 performances.

When Joe graduated from Hutchins in 2003 he earned a sports and academic scholarship at The University of Sydney, where Joe joined their sprint specialist program.

At the age of 20 Joe was burnt out from swimming, giving it away to focus on a career as a Chartered Accountant. Post-swimming Joe pursued competitive strongman, and powerlifting. After a few years Joe realised that working in an office, wearing a suit, and having a boss, wasn’t for him so turned his attention to personal training.

Joe has worked with a number of high level athletes - of note Joe took care of the S&C program's for James Magnussen (multiple world champion, and olympic medalist), and Lewis Blackburn (open national medalist).

Although Joe’s businesses focus on strength training for the general population, he has a passion for sustainable athletic development not only for short and medium term sports performance, but to ensure people are fit, healthy, and happy across their lifespans. 

Throughout my extensive coaching experience, I have observed that swimmers, parents, and coaches often place excessive importance on the swimming programs themselves as the key to improvement. However, based on my own experience, I believe that the session program serves as a mere guide, and that a swimmer's ability to make progress stems from the way information is delivered, real-time feedback from the coach, and the careful breakdown of details within the written program.

For instance, a session may outline a warmup covering a specific distance, but it is crucial to break down the purpose and discipline behind this warmup in order to enhance the swimmers' skills or pace, which can then be applied to the main set. The coach must be willing to adapt and modify the planned program if the swimmers are not achieving the desired results. Additionally, the coach should be able to recognise and address any external factors that may be impacting the swimmers during the session. It should always be acceptable for the coach to actively work on each session and make adjustments to the program details in order to achieve better outcomes for the swimmers.

The program's structure should prioritise improvement. If the desired skill or pace is not being met, the session needs to be adjusted. For instance, if the main focus is on maintaining proper body position off the wall, but the swimmers are unable to achieve the desired distance or repeat time while maintaining that body position, it may be necessary to scale back either the distance swum or the repeat time in order to preserve the improvements made by the swimmer.

To enhance swimmers' motivation, it is beneficial to track measurable improvements. This can be done by recording stroke counts, distances, or times for each repeat. Repeat the same sets for a 3-week cycle to allow swimmers to see progress over time. During loading periods, you can increase the number of sets or decrease the repeat time. However, it is important to teach swimmers how to swim the set efficiently from the beginning.

Swimmers who feel engaged and included in the development process tend to exhibit higher levels of focus and are more likely to stay involved in the sport for an extended period of time.

Rachel Brennemo 
HC Swim Club Head Coach

2 weeks ago I started a new job as an acoustic engineer, and no, I’m not a DJ.  Despite doing an engineering degree, I don’t actually know anything about acoustic engineering so it’s been pretty tough because I’m not very good at my job. That’s not surprising though, everyone else in the office has been doing this for years.  

I remember when I was swimming, we would have new people join us and swim everyday for a month or two, maybe even a year.  But the most successful swimmers were the ones who swam for years.  The longer we do something, the better we get at it.  It’s pretty simple and it makes a lot of sense.  If you’re able to commit to something for a long time, then you’re going to be much better at it.  

I started taking swimming seriously when I was about 13.  Before that I was a coach’s nightmare, only coming to training when there was an upcoming school swimming or surf lifesaving carnival.  I was not a talented swimmer, everyone I was training with was years younger than me and I think my 100 breaststroke PB was around 1:30.

I committed to it for a long time, training pretty much everyday for 7 years.  I improved a lot over that time, but it was never a steady progression.  To show this, I’ve put all my times for 100m breaststroke that I did in a graph, at the top of this blog.    

Some seasons I went backwards, some I improved a lot but most were all over the show.  Looking back, that was definitely something I needed to work on.  

Before I started as an engineer, I coordinated the Rackley swim school at Centenary Pool in Brisbane, where our performance squad has some of Australia’s best swimmers.  There’s nothing different about what they’re doing, all the sets we do are the same, it’s about how they do them.  The Olympians we have at Rackley’s are committed 100% to their program and their coach so every time there’s an effort in training, they have their racing bathers on and it’s all in.  They’ve been doing this not just for one session where they were feeling good, but consistently every time for 10+ years.

Being consistent like this is a battle.  It can be easy to change your goals and make up excuses for yourself.  And sure, there is always a place for picking your battles in areas you want to be successful in.  I stopped swimming when I was 20 and started triathlons.  I started racing professionally about a year ago but there’s still a lot for me to improve on. Some of my competitors have been doing this for 20+ years.  But I know that just like with swimming, if I commit to it for a long time then I’ll improve.  I might get worse or stagnate for a bit, but if I commit to it for a long time then I will eventually improve.

One of my favourite phrases I heard from a coach was to get comfortable being uncomfortable.  It’s pretty obvious but it’s great to have in the back of your mind because persisting with a goal is going to get uncomfortable sometimes.  But the longer we stick at it, the more we improve and your success means a lot more if you’ve worked towards it for a long time.

From Michael Boult