Rollason comments on the toughness of Danish Swimmers

In late January Australian coach Shannon Rollason was hired to take over the coaching duties at the Danish National Training Centre. Since arriving in Denmark he has had a short time to assess his new environment and shared his initial impressions in an interview with Danish Swimming.

Rollason discussed his impressions of the facilities in Denmark, his evaluation of the training centre athletes, the environment at the NTC and what he has seen when it comes to the mindset of Danish swimmers.

Rollason told the interviewer that he was impressed with the facilities in the country, comparing them to what you would see in Australia, with the exception being the Australian Institute of Sport.

He commented that he has had a chance to start to evaluate how the older athletes train and has spoken with them about the training they have done in the past and some of his plans for the future,

He also complimented both Paulus Wildeboer and Mark Regan for the environment that they had built at the NTC during their time in the country.

“My impression was that a lot of the swimmers had a tougher mentality.”

Shannon Rollason

“Some swimmers in Australia only like to do one race at a swim meet where as the Danish swimmers were doing two, three in a short turn around.”

One of the most interesting comments came after Rollason told the interviewer that he was impressed with the Danish athletes’ toughness, when asked whether he could compare the Danish swimmers mentality to that of the Australians, he had a straight forward answer, “My impression was that a lot of the swimmers had a tougher mentality,” said Rollason.

“They were more willing to do good work. Some swimmers in Australia only like to do one race at a swim meet where as the Danish swimmers were doing two, three in a short turn around.”

The interview can be seen in its entirety on the Danish Swimming site