Leigh Nugent reverses his lethal time qualification standard - Swimming News
Australian head coach, Leigh Nugent, has disregarded his decision of a tough time qualification standard at the 2011 Telstra Australian Swimming Championship, Sydney. Nugent expressed earlier that he will take only those swimmers to 2011 World Championships,
who will post a time under the world’s top twelve timings.
His decision had crushed the hopes of many, who despite of earning gold and silver medals failed to fall under Nugent’s time bar. In addition, he announced to take only 35 to 40 swimmers to Shanghai, regardless of the maximum limit of 52 swimmers.
After the conclusion of the Australian Nationals, Nugent inverted his decision and announced that he will be taking the top two swimmers of every event to China, in July. His surprising decision has delighted the squad of Australian stars who in spite of
their gold medals at the championship, failed to meet Nugent’s criteria.
The squad includes great Australians like Geoff Huegill, Jayden Hadler, Sam Ashby, Katie Goldman, Sam Hamill and Kenneth To.
Nugent declared his prior decision quite handy for Swimming Australia. He uttered that the aim of his decision was to raise the performance standards at the Australian Championships. They succeeded in their mission, as they witnessed several Australians
stunning the arena with their dominating swims.
Nugent added, "With two Australian records and a handful of world class times, the performances bode well for the world championships in July and we have also selected the team with an eye to further developing athletes in the lead up to London."
Australia had a disappointing 2010 season, as none of their swimmers ranked first in any of the FINA organised events. Therefore, Nugent considered his decision essential and claimed that Australia would regain their spot among the world’s swimming giants
at the World Championships in Shanghai.
Nugent defended his prior decision saying that it would be useless to take those swimmers to China, who clocked times over the world’s top twelve timings.
Nugent added, "When you've got to really rise to a higher standard it creates more pressure, that's what occurs when you're racing internationally and we've got to experience that here domestically."
Nugent stressed that the world titles will pave the way for the 2012 London Olympics. Hence, the world’s top twelve timings would not be sufficient to bring Australia among the top three nations.
Nugent’s decision will definitely assist the likes of Huegill, who recently returned to competitive swimming and aims to qualify for the Australian squad to contest at the 2012 Olympic Games.
His decision has also benefitted former Australian Champions including Eamon Sullivan, Stephanie Rice, Brenton Rickard, Leisel Jones, Alicia Coutts and Olivia Halicek, who failed to dominate their main events.
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