Coach & Athlete – Adam Kable & Matthew Wilson from Swimming Australia on Vimeo.
20-year-old Matt Wilson knows what it feels like to come up short, having been within hundredths of qualifying for elite international rosters in the past. In 2016, the breaststroking ace fell just .26 shy of the FINA A time in the 200m and finished .03 out of 2nd place at Australian Nationals in the 100m breast, leaving the Sydney Olympic Park swimmer off the Rio roster for the 2016 Olympic Games.
But the Adam Kable-trained athlete has been staying true to the grind, producing bronze medal-worthy results at both the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the Pan Pacific Championships.
Most recently at the 2019 Australian National Championships, 20-year-old Wilson threw down the swim of his life, clocking a monster 200m breast effort of 2:07.16 to produce a new Australian National Record and Commonwealth Record.
Splitting 1:00.94/1:06.22, Wilson produced his fastest time ever, obliterating his previous career-fastest of 2:08.22 from Pan Pacs. His 2:07.16 time also overtook the supersuited record of Christian Sprenger, who held the Aussie NR of 2:07.31 since the 2009 World Championships in Rome.
Wilson’s time remains the 3rd fastest in the world this season and his swim inserted him as the 4th fastest performer of all-time in the event worldwide.
In the video above, listen to how Coach Kable and Wilson work together to produce the results they’re after, as well as how his new record lit a fire in the star who is ready to break through in Gwangju. He’ll need to get through the Aussie World Trials first, the meet which kicks off on Sunday.
