Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast with Rob Woodhouse - Conquering the Oceans 7 swims and leading Swimming Australia to new heights as CEO

What does it take to conquer some of the world's most gruelling open water swims?
 
Join us on Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast as we reconnect with the inspiring Rob Woodhouse, who is just one swim away from completing the Ocean 7 and the Triple Crown. Rob shares the excitement of his preparations for the Manhattan 20 Bridges Swim and discusses his new, high-stakes role as the CEO of Swimming Australia. 

Nutrition and preparation are crucial for open water swimming, and Rob brings his expert insights to the table. Learn about the strategies that keep him fueled and ready, from testing nutrition plans during rigorous training to the essential role of a professional support team during monumental challenges like the English Channel. We also delve into the mental and physical hurdles faced in some of the most demanding swims, including encounters with marine life and the icy waters of the North Channel.

Looking ahead, Rob offers us a glimpse into the future of Australian swimming under his leadership. Discover his ambitious vision for unifying stakeholders and fostering development across all levels of the sport, with the Paris 2024 Olympics and the Brisbane 2032 Games on the horizon. We highlight the talents of Kaylee McKeown, Arianne Titmus and Kyle Chalmers, while also celebrating other stars in the Australian Swim Team for Paris.  

Don't miss our inspiring conversation about personal triumphs, professional ambitions, and the bright future of Australian swimming.

Transcript

Danielle Spurling: 0:09

Hello swimmers, welcome to another episode of Torpedo Swim Talk podcast. I'm your host, D danielle Spurling, and each week we chat to a master swimmer from around the world about their swimming journey. For today's episode, I caught up with Rob Woodhouse to see what he's been up to in the last three years since he was on the podcast and his head must be spinning because he's jam-packed a lot into those two years. He's nearly finished the Ocean 7 and the Triple Crown open water swims, and he's just taken on a huge job as the CEO of Swimming Australia. So, as you can see, we had lots to chat about. Hi, rob, welcome to the podcast.

Rob Woodhouse: 0:57

Hi Danielle, good to be here.

Danielle Spurling: 0:59

Yeah, it's great to have you back, and we had you on in 2021, but you've done so much since then, so I feel we've got a lot to talk about today well I guess we both have, yeah, a lot's changed over three years, hasn't it? Yeah, definitely, definitely. I mean you've nearly completed the ocean seven and the triple crown and you've just um taken on a huge job as ceo of swimming australia.

Rob Woodhouse: 1:19

Your head must be spinning uh, it's been spinning a little bit, yes, uh, the 10 weeks gone as the CEO and that's all going well. A fantastic time to join, of course, leading into firstly the Olympic and Paralympic trials which have just been held recently, and then now the Olympics and Paralympics ahead. So really exciting times for Australian swimming and world swimming, I think. But exciting for me as well to move back over from the UK after a long time there and settle back into the hometown in Melbourne yeah, how long were you away in the UK?

Rob Woodhouse: 1:51

16 years over there 10 years in Sydney, then 16 years over in the UK, so, uh, quite a long time and um, uh, I love it over there living in Scotland. My kids are still there, they're loving life there and uh, through uni and things like that, and so I look forward to going to see them quite a few times during my travels, but it's great to be back in Australia as well.

Danielle Spurling: 2:13

Yeah, yeah, there's nothing. Quite like your hometown, I think.

Rob Woodhouse: 2:17

No, nothing quite like it at all. I'm a Demon supporter. I've come back and haven't done so well since I've come back, and they haven't done so well since they've come back. My mates think I'm a curse, but hopefully they'll improve.

Danielle Spurling: 2:29

I can't believe they had such a great season and then they've just bombed since then.

Rob Woodhouse: 2:32

Yeah, a few injuries and a bit of bad luck and a few other things, but hopefully they'll bounce back. There's still time this season.

Danielle Spurling: 2:39

Yeah, fingers crossed for all Demon supporters, because it was a long time that you waited for your premiership.

Rob Woodhouse: 2:44

It certainly was let's talk.

Danielle Spurling: 2:47

Let's start by talking about your own swimming. What made it? What sort of motivated you to go for the ocean seven?

Rob Woodhouse: 2:53

I'd never heard of the ocean seven until I started swimming uh training for the english channel back in 2022. That was so uh, it was 2022, I think it was yeah and and uh, I joined it. Uh, a company called red top uh training red top marathon training. And uh, an english guy, tim den, who runs that over in london and met him and uh, he set my program training program in the lead up to the english channel and through that I went to a training camp with him and his team in croatia, met a whole lot of like-minded open water swimmers and just had a fantastic time and discovered this open water swimming community that I never really knew existed. And that was kind of the start of it really swimming the English Channel. And then from there thinking, oh, that was so good.

Rob Woodhouse: 3:37

I really enjoyed the experience, not just the swim itself but the process leading into it, that mental challenge as well as the physical challenge and the camaraderie amongst that, as said, that like-minded group of uh people and so started thinking about what else I might want to do, and that's when I found out about the ocean seven. I thought I'll give it a bit of a crack and uh, now here we are with uh two years, just under two years later, and I've done six of them. Uh still got. Still got one in the Sugar Ice Strait, which I'll do July next year, 2025. And in the meantime, I'm doing a just in a couple of weeks actually, I'll be doing the Manhattan 20 Bridges Swim around Manhattan. So I'm looking forward to that.

Danielle Spurling: 4:15

Yeah, that'll be a great swim. So that will actually complete your Triple Crown, because you've done Catalina and the English Channel.

Rob Woodhouse: 4:22

Correct. Yeah, so everyone says it's done, the Manhattan swim. It's just such a fantastic swim and great sights and you just enjoy yourself all the way around and you get some really good currents and tides coming pushing you down the river as well, so I'm looking forward to that. I didn't get a choice of what dates I was swimming, so the timing's not brilliant just before, especially with this new job. But it's also a night swim, so, and July 4 weekend, so it's on.

Danielle Spurling: 4:52

July 6, which is a Saturday night.

Rob Woodhouse: 4:54

So it should be. All those combinations make it what should be a fantastic experience.

Danielle Spurling: 5:01

Well, at least you know. Look, there's a lot of light coming from the buildings around, so it won't be pitch black, and you obviously have your boat lights and you'll have a kayaker as well.

Rob Woodhouse: 5:10

Correct. Yeah, there'll be a kayaker there and look, it's all very safety first, of course, as all these swims are, and they have to be, so I'll have complete confidence in the crew that are steering, basically steering me around the island, around Manhattan. And yeah, it should be, as I said, should be a great experience. I've no idea sort of how long it will take, but I'll be set for a long night and see what time we finish. So, all going well, it could be sort of sometime in the early hours of the morning, maybe 2, 3, 4 o'clock, but honestly I don't know.

Danielle Spurling: 5:41

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's all right, though. It's all right to have that sort of uncertainty there, because it makes it a little bit more exciting.

Rob Woodhouse: 5:48

Well it does, and yeah, don't have to think about sharks this time, which is a nice change as well, that's right.

Danielle Spurling: 5:55

What does your training look like at the moment? Well, obviously you've got this very busy job and you're about to head off overseas to the Olympics. How are you squeezing it all in, and how often are you training? Give us a bit of an insight.

Rob Woodhouse: 6:07

The training's been a bit haphazard, I've got to admit. These last three or four months Certainly a lot different to. I was quite structured in the last two years when I did my other six ocean swims and this one because of the move from Scotland back to Melbourne and also because of then starting starting the job, which has been pretty full on these first 10 weeks. I've been traveling around a lot, uh, having as much training I would have liked, but still still getting upwards. Uh, I think this week was about 25k, so it's not too bad and pretty hard training as well. Train with uh buddy portia and David Wilson at the Melbourne grammar pool in Melbourne and, uh, some great training partners there that have, um, really pushed me. So the training is probably more intense than what I've done in previous years, but not nowhere near the distance. I was swimming pretty much 50k a week for sort of eight to 10 weeks before my major swims last year and before the English Channel swim two years ago.

Danielle Spurling: 6:59

Oh well, look, that's great that you're getting in some training, and especially having people there to push you. It just makes it a little bit more motivating, doesn't it?

Rob Woodhouse: 7:07

Oh it does. Yeah, I was mostly training with age groupers when I was in Scotland as well, so training with again like-minded people and an adult squad, it's very social, much more enjoyable. I did enjoy training in the locks of Scotland, but this one's a bit more fun, as you said, getting pushed a bit more, which is really good and really helpful, and particularly when I'm, I guess, time poor compared to what I was last year, it's certainly working. So, yeah, I'll give it my best shot and probably next year, ahead of the Japan swim, probably lift that intensity a bit more. I think I'll probably need to be fitter for that one because it's from everything I'm told from Andy Donaldson and other people it's a very challenging swim.

Danielle Spurling: 7:45

Yeah, I mean it's got really strong tides obviously during the swim. Have you sort of had much thought about how you're going to handle those and what you can do to sort of, you know, get ahead of them?

Rob Woodhouse: 7:56

No, I haven't, and it's just over 12 months away now, so I've got to be honest, it's the last thing I've been thinking about. But having said that, red top marathon training with Tim Denya they're heading over next week, I believe, with an Australian, mark Salby, who hopes to complete the Ocean 7 himself. So I should get some pretty good intel from Mark and from Tim on the boat as to how that one goes and what to expect potentially in 12 months' time.

Danielle Spurling: 8:24

Yeah, will Tim go with you again next year for your crossing?

Rob Woodhouse: 8:28

Yes, he will. Yeah, the Red Top guys have been on my boat every single time, except for one swim in Hawaii, which I had a couple of mates on my boat Guy Farron and Angus Cameron but they had Tim and the Red Top team on dial, on speed, dial, on WhatsApp, right through my swim. So they've been fantastic and, to be honest, I wouldn't have done these swims without them, not just because of the camaraderie and the group that they work with, but also their professionalism and, no matter what level you are, I highly recommend, if you're going to do a marathon swim such as the English Channel, to look at a training company like Red Top.

Danielle Spurling: 9:04

Yeah, yeah, I was going to ask you because a lot of people that listen are really interested in doing those open sort of longer open water swims, but not quite sure where to start, so that's a really good tip. Have you got any other tips that you can give people who are maybe interested but haven't done one yet?

Rob Woodhouse: 9:20

Probably that's the most important one to be honest and talk to people that have done it or taken interest and everyone. It's such a great community that everyone wants to help each other. It's not competitive at all well, it is. It is a little bit competitive, but, um, it's um, it's just a really fun and friendly community that, um, yeah, really want to support each other.

Rob Woodhouse: 9:39

So, uh, talk to people, um, and from there you get to meet people, you try different things, um, and then, if you are with a group, some of the things I advise, as well as your training plan and so on, is your nutrition, which is such a crucial part of any swim, and it's so important to practice your nutrition before you're doing a big swim and to make sure that whatever you're taking on your swim day is something you can actually keep down and it's going to help you rather than something that's going to make you sick. It's amazing the people that do these swim sometimes that have never really used the nutrition until swim day and then find it's not for them. So, just really, um, you know, again, working with professionals, they're going to give you all the right tips, um and uh, and that's pretty much it. So, uh, then that is my biggest tip to get some people to help you yeah, look, great advice.

Danielle Spurling: 10:29

What works for you in the nutrition side of things? What do you find?

Rob Woodhouse: 10:33

I had a mix of, which again was recommended by the Red Top guys, was a mix of electrolytes, succinogen or succinogen, myelo, some. What else was there? Ginger cordial, which is good to ward off a bit of seasickness.

Rob Woodhouse: 10:47

Good for seasick, yep yeah, but it's also got some good qualities in it. I'm not a nutrition expert, so I can't actually sort of sing the praises of what each one does. Flat Coke, I had flat Coke with a that was probably every sort of two and a half hours, so I had a feed every half hour and it was a cycle of five different feeds so, and some of them had some ibuprofen or panadol in them, so to sort of ward off the pain from sore shoulders and things like that. But I practiced uh, using those um, those different um, uh or the different nutrition. I practiced that for months leading into my first swim and uh, and then again before my other swims as well, just to make sure it was something I could keep down. It was going to benefit me from rather than something that was going to make me ill.

Danielle Spurling: 11:31

Yeah, yeah, I think so. I mean, I've talked to a number of people on this podcast about those open water swims and they all give that very same piece of advice, and the people that haven't practised beforehand get in so much trouble. So it's something to use while you're training as well, and also if you can get out and and do it in the open water and practice taking it there, because some people stand on the bottom of the pool and take their nutrition uh, yes, they do.

Rob Woodhouse: 11:56

Um, so, yeah, practice, practice, practice. It's just an important part of your training really. And then, on the other, the other thing again with having a professional team is, uh, people who go and swim the channel, particularly coming from Australia, it's a huge outlay of of funds, um, it's a huge drone on anyone's resources. Um, so to to, to not have a professional team on your boat is is really a big mistake, because they just know what to eat, you know what to expect, because you can, you have to expect the unexpected, and if you've just got a family member or a friend or something like that, they've also never done the swim before either. So, yeah, as much as they may be great support and they're great to have on the boat, uh, without their professional help or with the professional help, it just makes such a massive difference yeah, yeah, it's definitely worth the outlay.

Danielle Spurling: 12:41

If you're going to outlay for that much to go over and do as you say, like the english channel or manhattan or whatever the case may be yep, absolutely yeah, and out of the six that you've done in the ocean, seven, which one did you find the most challenging?

Rob Woodhouse: 12:55

probably the north channel was really tough. It was very cold. From Ireland to Scotland I was living in Scotland at the time, so it was it was very easy to get to but but it was quite a tough swim. Uh, I was fortunate that there wasn't wasn't uh stung by uh the lion's mane jellyfish swimming with dolphins, so there's some great experience in there. The water's so crystal clear but just very, very cold and I found that tough probably.

Rob Woodhouse: 13:23

The other one was uh hawaii, uh for molokai to uh oahu and I did did that seven days after I'd done the Catalina swim, so it was very, very quick time. Afterwards I had I felt I had recovered but it was more mental. The whole swim virtually is at night. I started swimming about 5 45 pm. It got dark about 10 past 6 at night and sunrise is 6 30 the next morning and it was. It took me just over 12 hours.

Rob Woodhouse: 13:50

So the whole swim was at night. There was no moon, there were stars. I was lucky with the conditions, but you just have that sense of not terror but just that sense of the unknown and just felt quite vulnerable out there for a few hours. So it really is a big sort of mental game to try and sort of stay on top of that and just think about other things and just concentrate on sort of swimming for the next half hour until the next feed and so on. So that was pretty tough. But even those two swims, along with the other four, I've enjoyed every single one of them. There's been memories from each part of those swims where I look back on it and go that was just a fantastic experience with the team that was on the boat and some of the things I saw in the ocean and just accomplishing what are pretty tough swims. They all added up to just a really fun and memorable time.

Danielle Spurling: 14:47

Yeah, what was the best thing you saw in the ocean?

Rob Woodhouse: 14:50

Dolphins. I think I've seen lots of dolphins and, as I said, the North Channel. I saw them. Not so much, fortunately, I think, hawaii fortunately it was dark, because there's certainly a lot of sharks down there. I didn't see anything and didn't get brushed by anything or anything like that Good. I saw the Gibraltar Strait. We had dolphins. I saw a massive big, what turned out to be a moonfish, but it was virtually right on my feet and the first time I looked around I thought it was a shark and I panicked.

Rob Woodhouse: 15:21

But that was quite cool and had some pilot whales swimming with us. But even the jellyfish in the North Channel, they actually, once you realise that, you can actually see them so far ahead that you can virtually swim around them at times. They are beautiful to look at, especially with the sun on them and so on. So just yeah, just incredible things that I saw as well. As you know, swimming into France and the English Channel, swim and there's people just lying on the beach. There's people waving and just going on with their day day, building sandcastles and things like that. It's just like, well, this is pretty cool. I've just swum over here and everyone's just going about their Saturday afternoon in France that's amazing, do you get?

Danielle Spurling: 16:01

I know you're training in the pool a lot and you've had a busy 10 weeks, but prior to that do you mix in a lot of training in the open water as well.

Rob Woodhouse: 16:11

Not so much, certainly leading into the English Channel year 2022, and then the following year when I did those three swims quite close to each other North Channel, catalina, hawaii I was doing of the 50K a week I was doing, it was probably 30 was in the lock in Scotland. So I guess that's open water, albeit a lock rather than an ocean, very little ocean swimming. It just wasn't the opportunity to do that in in scotland as much um and uh. This time around it's all pool swimming leading into the manhattan swim. But I think I'll. I also did it.

Rob Woodhouse: 16:46

I think the thing I did I'm getting on a bit in age and I've been swimming for so many years I don't think I could do the mileage for a really really long period of time. For nine months or eight months or something, and those years 2022, 2023, it was really just eight or nine, maybe a 10-week burst of sort of high mileage, and before that I was only doing about 15, 20k a week. So yeah, I wouldn't be able to hold that for any longer than that. I think mentally it'd be sort of too tough for me.

Danielle Spurling: 17:18

Yeah, I think that's a good way to approach it, because you've obviously got that very good aerobic base there anyway and you keep swimming all the time, so you can do a burst of, you know, upping your training up before one of those swims yeah, absolutely, and I guess I'm learning.

Rob Woodhouse: 17:33

I've got so much to learn about open water swimming. There's people that are far more experienced than me, but even last year, I did four of the swims in 2023 and, as I said, those three were close together and I was kind of doing the training and initially not sure if I'd be able to do that um and physically recover each time. But then I thought, well, I'm probably physically at my best, um, as long as I, as long as I do recover between each swim. I've probably never been fitter in that sense, certainly in the last 20 years or so. So, uh, that, rather than doing one a year, or maybe two a year, doing the four in one year is actually um, it wasn't my original plan, but it's just kind of how it worked out and I'm really glad I did it that way.

Danielle Spurling: 18:15

And when you finish off the Ocean 7, because I'm sure you're going to be successful at that have you got any other big goals on the horizon for your open water swimming?

Rob Woodhouse: 18:23

No, none. Now I'm back in Australia, I think I might do a few team-based things. I'd love to do the Rottnest Swim as a team with some mates. I've done the Maui Channel Swim many times with a group of mates and so just do a few more fun things. I'm not sure I enjoy the shorter but competitive swims as much as I used to Like the Lawn Peter Pub. I did that last year. I didn't do it just in recent summer, but I did it the year before and then it was too hard and uh and uh. That was. That's harder than uh, that's harder than any most other swims I've done. To be honest, it was only about 1.2k but, um, I don't know, I haven't really thought about it. I don't think I'll do the big open water swims in Australia, um, uh, as a solo. But yes, maybe some of those uh ones as a team, like Rodness, would be good fun.

Danielle Spurling: 19:12

Yeah, do they do that Shelley Beach one as a team as well, or is that a solo?

Rob Woodhouse: 19:16

I think that's a solo Is that the. Palm Beach to Shelley yeah.

Danielle Spurling: 19:19

I think that's a solo.

Rob Woodhouse: 19:21

I'm not aware of it being as a team.

Danielle Spurling: 19:24

I don't actually know much about it, even if it's all on one day or people just do it as a solo swim, you know, like most of these other swims yeah, I think it's an all-in-one day thing, because I think andy donaldson's done it we were talking about it when I had him on I'm pretty sure it's all in one day in it. I think it's a race.

Rob Woodhouse: 19:40

It could well be 24K, I think. Okay, yeah, Andy's. Amazing, isn't he? And we'd be incredibly. Where I lived in Scotland, a little village called West Kilbride is where he was born and where he grew up.

Danielle Spurling: 19:54

Oh really.

Rob Woodhouse: 19:56

And he moved back. He moved over to Australia, to Western Australia, perth I'm not sure when, but it was quite a long time ago, 10 or so years ago, but yeah, this tiny little village on the west coast of Scotland, and we swam the English Channel, which was the first ocean swim for both of us. We swam them a day apart and I met Andy about a week later in West Goodbride and we caught up and had a coffee and we've stayed in touch ever since. But I know um and I know you do, danielle. I know how much he supports pretty much every open water swimmer in the world who reach out to him and so on.

Danielle Spurling: 20:30

He's just an incredible guy and he's done so much for the sport, uh, and open water swimming and uh, yeah, I've got huge respect for him yeah, same, same, absolutely yeah, he never says no to anyone and he's about to do that big swim in Hawaii, I think next week or the week after. So, yes, always someone to watch and just very generous with his time as well.

Rob Woodhouse: 20:52

And fast.

Danielle Spurling: 20:53

And very fast. Yeah, exactly, and I saw you did the Dardanelles swim as well. That's one that I've got on my list to do in the next few years. Was that a good swim? Did you enjoy it?

Rob Woodhouse: 21:03

That was amazing. I've always wanted to visit Gallipoli and pay my respects there since I was a kid. And the Dardanelles swim. There is two swims across effectively from Europe to Asia One's the Bostra swim, which is a little bit closer to Istanbul, and the Dardanelles swim, of course, is from the Dardanelles across to oh, I can't remember the name of the town, but it's right near the ruins of what was Troy in the famous Battle of Troy and they have a huge statue of a wooden horse, the famous wooden horse of Troy, there on the waterfront there.

Rob Woodhouse: 21:40

And beautiful little town, Chinakli, I think it's called. I've got that wrong, I'm sure. But the swim itself's about five kilometers um, and you swim with a current and you that you have to go across on a boat the day before a big ferry which takes all the competitors over and they do a briefing and you virtually just aim for these different uh points on the horizon, depending on sort of what sort of pace you think you might swim, because you can get swept past the finish line and you have to swim. If you do that, you've got to swim against the current. So I love that swim and then, of course, while I was there, of course, I did a tour of Gallipoli, which was very emotional and quite amazing. Just a beautiful land and beautiful people.

Danielle Spurling: 22:20

Yeah, yeah, that's something I'd love to do. So, yeah, it's good to hear that it's a good one. A few people I know have done it in the last year or so and rave about it.

Rob Woodhouse: 22:28

Yeah, I highly recommend it.

Danielle Spurling: 22:30

Now the other thing I want to talk about was your new role at Swimming Australia, and everyone was thrilled when you got that job because you know both sides. You were a swimmer Olympic medalist and you've worked in sports admin and working with athletes for many, many years, so you understand both sides of the coin. What are your thoughts on where Swimming in Australia is headed into Brisbane 2032?

Rob Woodhouse: 22:55

Look from a competitive point of view. I suppose I'll look shorter than that into Paris. We're in a great position. We saw the recent trials for the Paralympic and Olympic teams. Really excited to see what happens now over in Paris at both those games. Some fantastic athletes and not just those established ones and the world record holders and world champions, but some really good up-and-coming athletes as well. But I'm also really excited about the coaches and some great young coaches that have come onto the team as well. Ben Hickson, for example, from Western Australia, and he's going to be an amazing coach for Australia in many years to come. But looking into Brisbane 2032, there's lots of opportunities.

Rob Woodhouse: 23:37

One of my key roles in coming to this CEO role is to bring all of our stakeholders together. It's been pretty well documented. There's been some troubles out of the water and so on. So you know we're not quite three months in, just on two months in actually into my role and I think we're heading in the right direction. With that. We're going to do a little bit of a strategic reset towards the end of this year and ensure that strategically we know and we have clarity across the board, across the whole organisation and the whole sport, in terms of where we're heading and what we're doing and how we're doing it.

Rob Woodhouse: 24:10

Swimming Australia doesn't need to control and own everything in swimming, but we should be an advocate and a voice in everything in swimming, whether it be supporting Royal Life Saving's water safety messages or supporting Surf Life Saving or supporting Master Swimming.

Rob Woodhouse: 24:26

We need to be supporting the states in their development and participation plans and so on. But at the same time, we do need to take a leading role in things like coaching education, ensuring we have coaches licensed and keeping our swimmers and staff safe this whole safeguarding piece and so on. So we want to take a leading role in the coach education piece. But the elite side, the high-performance side, very much is in a good position now and there's great talent coming through, not just on the Olympic and Paralympic team but in the future. So we need to nurture that and we need to help grow that and encourage it.

Rob Woodhouse: 25:06

And another key part of my role, of course, is to try and bring in the commercial partners as well, whether they be sponsors or whether they be bringing in new events which generate revenue or TV revenue and so on. So, look, we're off to a really good start. The trials was a great success and being there in Brisbane it felt like swimming was back in this country for the first time in a long time. People were talking about all the good things in the sport and you know, I hope that continues through to Paris and beyond.

Danielle Spurling: 25:37

Yeah, absolutely. I think you know I saw some of the primetime watching was huge numbers, you know, back around the 2000s it was sort of at you know that viewership as well. I'm just interested to know at the moment everyone so I mean obviously us in swimming we're very excited about it, but people outside of swimming are talking about it how can you sort of get those people on board when after the olympics it all dies down because we're you know, swimming's competing with AFL footy and and the Matildas now and and all these other you know sports in our media. How can swimming stay up there in people's minds?

Rob Woodhouse: 26:15

yeah, it's a great question and it's something we we need to. We need to have a far more um, robust sort of competitive schedule. We want to see our dolphins competing on on home soil in our own pools, don't we? We need pools we don't have at the moment. There's no legacy at all out of Brisbane at 2032 because they're talking about having swimming in a drop-in arena. So we don't actually have a pool which even comes out of it, and the Olympic and Paralympic trials were in a pool which was 50 years old. The athletes were warming up outdoors before their finals and it just wasn't good enough.

Rob Woodhouse: 26:47

Basically, having said that, the Queensland government and everyone were so fantastic with their support and making it as successful as it was. But, moving forward, if we want to have international events here in Australia, we need to advocate for a facility for the Brisbane Olympics which we can use to host world championships, host world cups and pan packs and world para championships and things like that, not just in the lead-up to Brisbane, but beyond Brisbane. So that's another key part of my role. But we also are looking to develop and working with the high performance team, greg Shaw and Rowan Taylor and others on this to develop a much more competitive sort of schedule of events here in Australia, ideally bringing in internationals as well to some of those events, getting them televised and getting them seen.

Danielle Spurling: 27:39

Yeah. Do you think that the Brisbane government would oh sorry, the Queensland government would think about redeveloping Chandler? Or will they go with that football sort of stadium idea where they drop in the pool?

Rob Woodhouse: 27:53

That's what they're talking about now.

Rob Woodhouse: 27:55

Yeah, it's a new arena that's been built, so as it stands right now. There's a new entertainment arena it's not even a sports arena which will hold concerts and various other things. So that's where the swimming will be held an 18 000 seat stadium which look it's great for the, great for the during the games, but there's just no legacy out of that for the sport, and not just our sport, but also for artistic swimming and diving and water polo as well. So will they redevelop chandler? Um, I'm sure I'm sure they're looking at a whole lot of different.

Rob Woodhouse: 28:22

Uh, there is a state election coming up in Queensland in October and there may well be a sort of reset after that and a review, and I would imagine that probably early next year we'll have an idea. So there's quite a lot of people working very hard behind the scenes to do all the right things. It's not just about making noise about this. It's about understanding and getting economic impact studies done and costing models and proving that there is a financially sustainable operational model after the Games for the facility and things like that. So all that work has been done and obviously lobbying and all those sorts of things are a key part of that.

Danielle Spurling: 29:01

So we'll see what happens, but certainly it's first and and foremost in my mind, that's for sure yeah, I wanted to ask hopefully this is not um out of left field for you obviously there's a quota for the number of swimmers that you can take over, and it was 52 and they ended up picking what. Was it 41 or 44 that they're taking? I just wondered why they didn't feel that quota right out to 52 when they had people winning that might have just been outside those times.

Rob Woodhouse: 29:30

Yeah, we have pretty robust selection criteria and everyone knows what those criteria are. And it does open up Pandora's box if you change the criteria for one athlete and still leave others at home. There was scope to maybe add other relay athletes as well, but the rules have also changed at Olympic level. You can't actually take reserves for relays and not swim them, whereas in the past some people have gone to the Olympics and not actually got to swim and some of our relays the relays are so competitive worldwide now that some of our relays we have to swim our A team in the mornings just to get into the final. It's going to be that tight An event, like the men's 4x100 freestyle relay, for example, and we did take the fifth place getter in that, but I don't think we took sixth, for example, because we probably wouldn't use fifth and sixth. We'd need to use almost our top team in the heats. So there's those sorts of things come into the whole selection debate. There are also World Aquatics, fina, as they used to be called. They set times as well, and I think that some of those winning times you mentioned weren't achieved in those events too. So it's not just the Swimming Australia times. So you know it's tough, just the swimming australia times, um. So you know it's tough, it's really tough.

Rob Woodhouse: 30:46

But um, we look at uh, we look at some of the people that have missed out, um, for the same reason in in previous games at the start of their career. Um, suzy o'neill's a good example. She missed out in 1988. She got second at the trials and she just missed the time and they didn't take her. They didn't take her even as a reserve for the relay, even when they could have done that. But of course she went on and had a fantastic career as a result. That kept her hungry and kept her going, and I can't remember which swimmer it was, it's just at the recent trials. But they had had a similar experience four years earlier or three years earlier, and they mention it in their interview that that's what spurred them on these last three years. And this time they're going into the Olympics now ranked in the top four or five in the world. So there are very valid reasons why the full team, if you like, that could have been selected is not.

Danielle Spurling: 31:40

Yeah, I think that was Lizzie Deckers. I think she came second at the last trials and just missed out on the time.

Rob Woodhouse: 31:45

Yeah, and Lizzie's had an amazing few years since, hasn't she? She's won medals at world championships and she's got a real shot going into Paris. It's quite an open event that 200 fly, isn't it?

Danielle Spurling: 31:57

Yeah, I think so. I think she's got a really great sort of outlook to her swimming and obviously that disappointment has made her a stronger athlete oh, very much.

Rob Woodhouse: 32:07

So look, there's so many great stories in the team and we'll we'll hear more, more of them. We saw, we saw some of those stories come out alexa leary and uh in the in the, the paralympic team and rowan crothers and others, and tim hodge, who's won everything there is to win to win in para swimming except that the paralympic gold medal and he broke a world record at trials. And just fantastic stories behind these incredible athletes that we've got.

Danielle Spurling: 32:31

Yeah, I love the mix of the Paralympics in with the able-bodied and I think a lot of people were just so supportive of it. You know that I've seen in chat groups and things like that.

Rob Woodhouse: 32:42

Just thought it was a great sort of way of including everyone yeah, absolutely, it's something we talked earlier about looking at events, bringing events here to australia. There are some events which are separate, like a world para championships, um, and paris swimming is not part of world aquatics. Uh, that may well, that may well happen in the future, but, uh, paris swimming, uh, at a global level, is managed through the international paralympic Committee at the moment. But there are events that we would look to create which do combine both para swimming and able-bodied swimming as well. So we're looking forward to that and I agree with you, it was fantastic to have both selection trials at the same meet. Yeah, yeah, I think it really added to it and I love the same meet.

Danielle Spurling: 33:25

Yeah, yeah, I think it really added to it and I love the fact that you know we got to hear from all those athletes and they were so excited making the team. It was just, you know. It just makes it seem fantastic from a viewer point of view to see all that hard work come to fruition and get on the team.

Rob Woodhouse: 33:42

Oh, very much so. And, look, we love world records and we love gold medals, of course, and we'll all be cheering from our lounges or from Paris if we're lucky enough. But you know, those backstories that we hear and we heard some of them during the trials and just listening to the athletes or listening to their parents or their loved ones, and those interviews, they're just fantastic, aren't they? And, yeah, it's, those that are passionate about this sport know what a long journey it is, not just for the athlete, whether it's para or Olympic, but also for everyone behind them, that team behind the athlete. It is a lifelong journey and it goes for many, many, many years.

Rob Woodhouse: 34:23

But look, the rewards are there for those athletes that have made either of those teams. They will never forget what lies ahead these next five, six weeks or 12 weeks for the Paralympians, because it is an experience that they will remember for the rest of their lives. So, yeah, let's just hope they get over there. We'll be really proud of them. They enjoy themselves, they swim to the best of their ability and and they come home satisfied and and have a great experience and represent us well yeah, I'm sure they will.

Danielle Spurling: 34:52

I'm sure they will. Who are you most excited to see race from the australian swimming team? It's a great question.

Rob Woodhouse: 34:59

You put me on the spot there. I look, I love watching um. I love watching kaylee mckeown race. She's just brilliant. Every time she gets in the water there's a chance of a world record. And even just since I've been home, the national championships in the Gold Coast she had a crack at the 200 IM and the 400 IM world records and not too far off both of them. She did it again at the trials in the 200 IM and the 100 back and the 200 back. She's really exciting to watch arianne, of course. Um, just an incredible swimmer, just so gutsy. That 200 freestyle if I look at an event you know, molly, molly of course is just amazing and molly in the 100 and the 200 will be terrific as well. But that 200 freestyle is just going to be just so great to watch there. They're such determined athletes. They train in the same squad but I think they do different programs and things like that because one's more focused on the 100 and the other one on the 400 than they meet in the 200. So that's exciting.

Rob Woodhouse: 35:58

I've still got IM in my heart, of course. So again, kayleigh in the IMs, but also Brendan Smith, of course, winning the medal last Olympics and he swam pretty well too. And look, there's so many. Kyle Chalmers is probably the other one. He's probably one of the greatest racers I've ever seen, and I was lucky enough to have him in the London Royal Team in the International Swimming League and having Kyle swimming in relays and you just know that if Kyle's anchoring a relay, you've got every chance, no matter how far behind he is, of getting up onto the podium, and I love watching him race as well. And if he can get on the podium again in the 100 freestyle for the third consecutive Olympics I don't know how many athletes have done that, but it's a pretty small club, I would say. So, yeah, all of those athletes and pretty much anyone that wears the green and gold, that puts on the gold cap, I think I'll be excited to watch.

Danielle Spurling: 36:51

Yeah, absolutely Me too. Any dark horses that you think we should be watching out for?

Rob Woodhouse: 36:57

Last year well, three years ago, the Tokyo Olympics there was only one Australian who had one medalist of our. I'm not sure the number of medalists we had, but there was only one that didn't go into the games in the top five in the world and that was Brendan Smith who I think ran into number seven in the 400 IM. So it's probably harder to see a dark horse coming through compared to what we had in the 80s with Duncan Armstrong or John Sieben or something like that. But there's some great ones Alex Perkins in the 100 fly. Lani Pallister she's a fantastic gutsy swimmer and I'd love to see her get on the podium in the distance freestyle events Probably better chance in the 800 or the 1500,.

Rob Woodhouse: 37:36

I would think Isaac Cooper didn't swim that fast in the 100 backstroke to win the trials, but he's such a talent and you know, if he gets everything right he could well challenge for the medals as well. And Iona Anderson, the young backstroker from Perth, world junior champion last year. She trains under Ben Hickson and she's an outstanding talent as well. She got into the team because she finished third at the trials and of course Molly O'Callaghan was second and and uh pulled out, um, uh, before the end of the trials, before the team was selection selected, which opened a spot for iona, and I think she's a chance for a medal as well. So there's a few uh, there's plenty more, and there's even olympic champions I haven't mentioned, like zach stubble d cook, who's just um, just so consistent, and I'd love to see him back on the podium and, if not, defending his gold medal.

Danielle Spurling: 38:29

Yeah, absolutely. I was really impressed with Will Patrick. You know another winning boy who came through in the medley and I just thought he was very composed and spoke so well and obviously he's worked so hard to get there. So it's so great to have two guys on that 400 IM.

Rob Woodhouse: 38:45

Yeah, really good. And look Will. I've actually never met Will personally. I'm looking forward to doing that. I know he's coached Joel Fink quite well, from Melbourne originally and then over in the UK and he's an experienced coach. Joel and Will's in a good program there. He's got great teammates around him. He's a big improver. So, um, yeah, it's, it's. It's a really tough event that form on it I am. He's in the 200 course as well. I think that the uh, that 400 uh with uh marshawn leon marshall. I guess from a global perspective, he's probably the, the uh, the, the swimmer that most people are most excited about him and uh, summer mcintosh. But uh, um, yeah, will's got a a really big future ahead of him and, yeah, being an IMO, I'll be keeping a close watch on his development as well.

Danielle Spurling: 39:32

Yeah Well, rob, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today. It's been lovely getting your perspective on Swimming Australia matters and also on your own swimming, and wishing you best of luck for Manhattan in a few weeks and good luck over in Paris with the team.

Rob Woodhouse: 39:47

Great Thanks, danielle, great to talk to you.

Danielle Spurling: 39:49

Thanks, okay, bye. Thanks so much to Rob for fitting us into his very busy schedule and best of luck for his upcoming Manhattan swim. Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, facebook and YouTube under Torpedo Swim Talk Podcast. Till next time, happy swimming and bye for now.