High performance swim camps choose Mackay ARC

Swimming Australia’s High Performance training camps have seen three elite squads travel to the Mackay region in their final hit out before the Australian Swimming Trials in Brisbane next month.

Mackay Mayor Greg Williamson said it was fantastic to welcome the High Performance Camps to the Mackay ARC.

“These squads see our region and our facility as ideal for their preparations and it is our aim to encourage more and more camps to the ARC in the lead up to Brisbane 2032,” Mayor Williamson said.

“The swim camps we have hosted so far in 2024 have had an economic output of $304,000 to our region,” he said.

“This is a more than 400 per cent jump on 2023.

“It is our hope to have international teams from all different sports acclimatising to Queensland right here in Mackay as the Brisbane Olympics get closer.”

The camps currently utilising the Mackay ARC are from the South Australian Sports Institute (SASI), University of the Sunshine Coast USC Spartans Swimming and St Andrew’s Swim Club on the Sunshine Coast.

USC Spartans and Swimming Australia Hub Coach Michael Palfery said the Mackay ARC offered a first-class facility in a warm environment.

“A lot of southern teams are heading north during May, and the climate in Mackay is perfect, with a consistent temperature, sunshine and a calm, relaxed environment,” Palfery said.

“It’s important to be warm when doing high intensity, race-suited work in training. We come here and we train, eat and sleep. So, environment is everything,” he said.

Butterfly specialist Matthew Temple, from SASI, said the team was fortunate to be using such a great facility.

“It’s great to come up with USC and train alongside some familiar faces who are competitors but also mates,” Temple said.

“The next three weeks of training will have me well-placed to do well at trials. I really enjoy coming to the smaller towns to train. I’m excited to be here,” he said.

USC Spartans 200 metre butterfly swimmer Abbey Connor said being away from the home pool enabled a calmer and more relaxed environment, taking away some of the stress athletes feel.

“It’s always great to mix things up and get out of your comfort zone, and coming to Mackay is really calm and different to the Sunshine Coast,” Connor said.

“I will be putting a lot of effort into my skills here – tumble turns and dives. I’m training well and I feel good about the trials,” she said.