Last November after an analysis of all High Performance Centres within the nation, Swimming Australia announced that is National Training Centre (NTC) Transition Program in Canberra would be closing at the end of the 2018 calendar year. NTC Transition Program Head Coach Tracey Menzies would remain connected to Swimming Australia, but her role had not yet determined, per Swimming Australia’s announcement.
However, we now know where Menzies has landed, as she’s been announced as Head Coach of the brand new University of Canberra Swim Club. Calling the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) home, the program is set to offer high-level swimming coaching across elite swimming, water polo, triathlon, open water and surf competition, both to students of the University, as well as to the wider community. Water safety awareness programs will also be produced.
“It’s a program we can grow and develop which is exciting. That’s what I am really excited about, this is something that has a lot of potential,” Menzies told Canberra Times this week.
“It’s not just for swimming, it’s for water polo, surf swimming, for a whole range of different athletes. What we want to try to do is encourage people to stay in the sport of swimming, whether its leisure or high performance.
“That would be our big milestone for a lot of these athletes, to go to University Games and then World Uni Games.”
Menzies is most known for having coached 5-time Olympic champion Ian Thorpe from 2002 until his retirement in 2006.
