After having been self-nominated, voted by peers and finally confirmed by the upper echelons of Swimming Australia, 5 Australian Dolphins have been named to the squad’s Leadership Team for 2019/2020.
Swimming Australia Chief Executive Leigh Russell and High Performance Chief strategist Alex Baumann have announced that Mitch Larkin, Jess Hansen, Alex Graham, Bronte Campbell and Cate Campbell will be serving as Dolphins leaders for the upcoming season.
Paralympians Ellie Cole, Matt Levy, Monique Murphy and Blake Cochrane will continue to serve as para representatives alongside the new Olympic leadership group.
Said Russell of the newly confirmed leaders, “I’d like to congratulate Mitch, Cate, Bronte, Jess and Alex on their election to the leadership group, as well as Ellie, Matt, Blake and Monique, who will continue in their leadership roles as the team prepares for the Paralympics in 2020.
“It was evident in the discussions that Alex and I had, that we have a really impressive group of young people who want to represent Australia with pride, and we’re fortunate they’re so passionate about our sport and genuinely want to make a difference out of the pool too.
“This is an opportunity, not only to help shape the performance of our team in and out of the pool, but also to develop these young athletes’ leadership capabilities, to aid them and others to achieve success.
“They’ll benefit from working alongside some of swimming’s past leadership mentors, as well as undertaking other leadership development opportunities over the coming two years.
“Most importantly, this group of athletes will represent the wider Australian Dolphins’ team in discussing challenges and opportunities, while maintaining a strong connection and open communication with Swimming Australia’s organisational leaders.”
Said Bronte Campbell of the honor, “I feel privileged to be a part of this leadership group again and I am really excited about what we can achieve as a collective team working with Swimming Australia.
“Leadership is something I am very passionate about, so to be able to represent my peers both on and off the team for the next two years – especially as we work towards Tokyo 2020 – is something I am very proud of.”
Hansen said, “I feel honoured to have been chosen to represent my teammates as part of the Dolphins’ leadership group.
“This leadership program has been designed to help us grow in these roles and I’m really looking forward to developing my leadership skills with a leadership mentor – it will be an incredibly valuable experience.
“Alex and I are both early-career athletes, so I think we’ll bring a different perspective to the group which will complement the experience of Mitch, Cate and Bronte.”
Levy said, “I’m really looking forward to working together as a collective to promote and instil the values we’ve developed within the Dolphins swim team leading in Tokyo 2020.”
Quotes courtesy of Swimming Australia.
I’m just wondering why Emily Seebohm wasn’t on this “group”?
Seems weird that the most senior and successful swimmer is not involved?????
Just saying!
She may not have wanted to. Plus it would be difficult for both her and Mitch to both be leaders after a hard break up.
Oh…..she wanted to