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.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Danielle Spurling (00:09):
Hello swimmers, welcome to another
episode of Torpedo Swim Talkpodcast.
I'm your host, D danielleSpurling, and each week we chat
to a master swimmer from aroundthe world about their swimming
journey.
For today's episode, I caughtup with Rob Woodhouse to see
what he's been up to in the lastthree years since he was on the
(00:30):
podcast and his head must bespinning because he's jam-packed
a lot into those two years.
He's nearly finished the Ocean7 and the Triple Crown open
water swims, and he's just takenon a huge job as the CEO of
Swimming Australia.
So, as you can see, we had lotsto chat about.
Hi, rob, welcome to the podcast.
Rob Woodhouse (00:57):
Hi Danielle, good to be here.
Danielle Spurling (00:59):
Yeah, it's great to have you back, and we
had you on in 2021, but you'vedone so much since then, so I
feel we've got a lot to talkabout today well I guess we both
have, yeah, a lot's changedover three years, hasn't it?
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
I mean you've nearly completedthe ocean seven and the triple
crown and you've just um takenon a huge job as ceo of swimming
(01:19):
australia.
Rob Woodhouse (01:19):
Your head must be spinning uh, it's been spinning
a little bit, yes, uh, the 10weeks gone as the CEO and that's
all going well.
A fantastic time to join, ofcourse, leading into firstly the
Olympic and Paralympic trialswhich have just been held
recently, and then now theOlympics and Paralympics ahead.
So really exciting times forAustralian swimming and world
(01:39):
swimming, I think.
But exciting for me as well tomove back over from the UK after
a long time there and settleback into the hometown in
Melbourne yeah, how long wereyou away in the UK?
16 years over there 10 years inSydney, then 16 years over in
the UK, so, uh, quite a longtime and um, uh, I love it over
(02:00):
there living in Scotland.
My kids are still there,they're loving life there and uh
, through uni and things likethat, and so I look forward to
going to see them quite a fewtimes during my travels, but
it's great to be back inAustralia as well.
Danielle Spurling (02:13):
Yeah, yeah, there's nothing.
Quite like your hometown, Ithink.
Rob Woodhouse (02:17):
No, nothing quite like it at all.
I'm a Demon supporter.
I've come back and haven't doneso well since I've come back,
and they haven't done so wellsince they've come back.
My mates think I'm a curse, buthopefully they'll improve.
Danielle Spurling (02:29):
I can't believe they had such a great
season and then they've justbombed since then.
Rob Woodhouse (02:32):
Yeah, a few injuries and a bit of bad luck
and a few other things, buthopefully they'll bounce back.
There's still time this season.
Danielle Spurling (02:39):
Yeah, fingers crossed for all Demon
supporters, because it was along time that you waited for
your premiership.
Rob Woodhouse (02:44):
It certainly was let's talk.
Danielle Spurling (02:47):
Let's start by talking about your own
swimming.
What made it?
What sort of motivated you togo for the ocean seven?
Rob Woodhouse (02:53):
I'd never heard of the ocean seven until I
started swimming uh training forthe english channel back in
2022.
That was so uh, it was 2022, Ithink it was yeah and and uh, I
joined it.
Uh, a company called red top uhtraining red top marathon
training.
And uh, an english guy, tim den, who runs that over in london
and met him and uh, he set myprogram training program in the
(03:16):
lead up to the english channeland through that I went to a
training camp with him and histeam in croatia, met a whole lot
of like-minded open waterswimmers and just had a
fantastic time and discoveredthis open water swimming
community that I never reallyknew existed.
And that was kind of the startof it really swimming the
English Channel.
And then from there thinking,oh, that was so good.
(03:37):
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 thecamaraderie amongst that, as
said, that like-minded group ofuh people and so started
thinking about what else I mightwant to do, and that's when I
found out about the ocean seven.
I thought I'll give it a bit ofa crack and uh, now here we are
with uh two years, just undertwo years later, and I've done
(04:00):
six of them.
Uh still got.
Still got one in the Sugar IceStrait, which I'll do July next
year, 2025.
And in the meantime, I'm doinga just in a couple of weeks
actually, I'll be doing theManhattan 20 Bridges Swim around
Manhattan.
So I'm looking forward to that.
Danielle Spurling (04:15):
Yeah, that'll be a great swim.
So that will actually completeyour Triple Crown, because
you've done Catalina and theEnglish Channel.
Rob Woodhouse (04:22):
Correct.
Yeah, so everyone says it'sdone, the Manhattan swim.
It's just such a fantastic swimand great sights and you just
enjoy yourself all the wayaround and you get some really
good currents and tides comingpushing you down the river as
well, so I'm looking forward tothat.
I didn't get a choice of whatdates I was swimming, so the
(04:44):
timing's not brilliant justbefore, especially with this new
job.
But it's also a night swim, so,and July 4 weekend, so it's on.
Danielle Spurling (04:52):
July 6, which is a Saturday night.
Rob Woodhouse (04:54):
So it should be.
All those combinations make itwhat should be a fantastic
experience.
Danielle Spurling (05:01):
Well, at least you know.
Look, there's a lot of lightcoming from the buildings around
, so it won't be pitch black,and you obviously have your boat
lights and you'll have akayaker as well.
Rob Woodhouse (05:10):
Correct.
Yeah, there'll be a kayakerthere and look, it's all very
safety first, of course, as allthese swims are, and they have
to be, so I'll have completeconfidence in the crew that are
steering, basically steering mearound the island, around
Manhattan.
And yeah, it should be, as Isaid, should be a great
experience.
I've no idea sort of how longit will take, but I'll be set
(05:31):
for a long night and see whattime we finish.
So, all going well, it could besort of sometime in the early
hours of the morning, maybe 2, 3, 4 o'clock, but honestly I
don't know.
Danielle Spurling (05:41):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, that's all right, though.
It's all right to have thatsort of uncertainty there,
because it makes it a little bitmore exciting.
Rob Woodhouse (05:48):
Well it does, and yeah, don't have to think about
sharks this time, which is anice change as well, that's
right.
Danielle Spurling (05:55):
What does your training look like at the
moment?
Well, obviously you've got thisvery busy job and you're about
to head off overseas to theOlympics.
How are you squeezing it all in, and how often are you training
?
Give us a bit of an insight.
Rob Woodhouse (06:07):
The training's been a bit haphazard, I've got
to admit.
These last three or four monthsCertainly a lot different to.
I was quite structured in thelast two years when I did my
other six ocean swims and thisone because of the move from
Scotland back to Melbourne andalso because of then starting
starting the job, which has beenpretty full on these first 10
weeks.
I've been traveling around alot, uh, having as much training
(06:29):
I would have liked, but stillstill getting upwards.
Uh, I think this week was about25k, so it's not too bad and
pretty hard training as well.
Train with uh buddy portia andDavid Wilson at the Melbourne
grammar pool in Melbourne and,uh, some great training partners
there that have, um, reallypushed me.
So the training is probablymore intense than what I've done
in previous years, but notnowhere near the distance.
(06:50):
I was swimming pretty much 50ka week for sort of eight to 10
weeks before my major swims lastyear and before the English
Channel swim two years ago.
Danielle Spurling (06:59):
Oh well, look , that's great that you're
getting in some training, andespecially having people there
to push you.
It just makes it a little bitmore motivating, doesn't it?
Rob Woodhouse (07:07):
Oh it does.
Yeah, I was mostly trainingwith age groupers when I was in
Scotland as well, so trainingwith again like-minded people
and an adult squad, it's verysocial, much more enjoyable.
I did enjoy training in thelocks of Scotland, but this
one's a bit more fun, as yousaid, getting pushed a bit more,
which is really good and reallyhelpful, and particularly when
I'm, I guess, time poor comparedto what I was last year, it's
(07:30):
certainly working.
So, yeah, I'll give it my bestshot and probably next year,
ahead of the Japan swim,probably lift that intensity a
bit more.
I think I'll probably need tobe fitter for that one because
it's from everything I'm toldfrom Andy Donaldson and other
people it's a very challengingswim.
Danielle Spurling (07:45):
Yeah, I mean it's got really strong tides
obviously during the swim.
Have you sort of had muchthought about how you're going
to handle those and what you cando to sort of, you know, get
ahead of them?
Rob Woodhouse (07:56):
No, I haven't, and it's just over 12 months
away now, so I've got to behonest, it's the last thing I've
been thinking about.
But having said that, red topmarathon training with Tim Denya
they're heading over next week,I believe, with an Australian,
mark Salby, who hopes tocomplete the Ocean 7 himself.
So I should get some prettygood intel from Mark and from
(08:19):
Tim on the boat as to how thatone goes and what to expect
potentially in 12 months' time.
Danielle Spurling (08:24):
Yeah, will Tim go with you again next year
for your crossing?
Rob Woodhouse (08:28):
Yes, he will.
Yeah, the Red Top guys havebeen on my boat every single
time, except for one swim inHawaii, which I had a couple of
mates on my boat Guy Farron andAngus Cameron but they had Tim
and the Red Top team on dial, onspeed, dial, on WhatsApp, right
through my swim.
So they've been fantastic and,to be honest, I wouldn't have
(08:50):
done these swims without them,not just because of the
camaraderie and the group thatthey work with, but also their
professionalism and, no matterwhat level you are, I highly
recommend, if you're going to doa marathon swim such as the
English Channel, to look at atraining company like Red Top.
Danielle Spurling (09:04):
Yeah, yeah, I was going to ask you because a
lot of people that listen arereally interested in doing those
open sort of longer open waterswims, but not quite sure where
to start, so that's a reallygood tip.
Have you got any other tipsthat you can give people who are
maybe interested but haven'tdone one yet?
Rob Woodhouse (09:20):
Probably that's the most important one to be
honest and talk to people thathave done it or taken interest
and everyone.
It's such a great communitythat everyone wants to help each
other.
It's not competitive at allwell, it is.
It is a little bit competitive,but, um, it's um, it's just a
really fun and friendlycommunity that, um, yeah, really
want to support each other.
So, uh, talk to people, um, andfrom there you get to meet
(09:43):
people, you try different things, um, and then, if you are with
a group, some of the things Iadvise, as well as your training
plan and so on, is yournutrition, which is such a
crucial part of any swim, andit's so important to practice
your nutrition before you'redoing a big swim and to make
sure that whatever you're takingon your swim day is something
you can actually keep down andit's going to help you rather
(10:06):
than something that's going tomake you sick.
It's amazing the people that dothese swim sometimes that have
never really used the nutritionuntil swim day and then find
it's not for them.
So, just really, um, you know,again, working with
professionals, they're going togive you all the right tips, um
and uh, and that's pretty muchit.
So, uh, then that is my biggesttip to get some people to help
(10:26):
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 ofelectrolytes, succinogen or
succinogen, myelo, some.
What else was there?
Ginger cordial, which is goodto ward off a bit of seasickness
.
Good for seasick, yep yeah, butit's also got some good
qualities in it.
I'm not a nutrition expert, soI can't actually sort of sing
(10:54):
the praises of what each onedoes.
Flat Coke, I had flat Coke witha that was probably every sort
of two and a half hours, so Ihad a feed every half hour and
it was a cycle of five differentfeeds so, and some of them had
some ibuprofen or panadol inthem, so to sort of ward off the
(11:15):
pain from sore shoulders andthings like that.
But I practiced uh, using thoseum, those different um, uh or
the different nutrition.
I practiced that for monthsleading into my first swim and
uh, and then again before myother swims as well, just to
make sure it was something Icould keep down.
It was going to benefit me fromrather 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 numberof people on this podcast about
those open water swims and theyall give that very same piece
of advice, and the people thathaven't practised beforehand get
in so much trouble.
So it's something to use whileyou're training as well, and
also if you can get out and anddo it in the open water and
practice taking it there,because some people stand on the
(11:51):
bottom of the pool and taketheir nutrition uh, yes, they do
.
Rob Woodhouse (11:56):
Um, so, yeah, practice, practice, practice.
It's just an important part ofyour training really.
And then, on the other, theother thing again with having a
professional team is, uh, peoplewho go and swim the channel,
particularly coming fromAustralia, it's a huge outlay of
of funds, um, it's a huge droneon anyone's resources.
Um, so to to, to not have aprofessional team on your boat
(12:16):
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 ifyou've just got a family member
or a friend or something likethat, they've also never done
the swim before either.
So, yeah, as much as they maybe 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
(12:38):
difference yeah, yeah, it'sdefinitely worth the outlay.
Danielle Spurling (12:41):
If you're going to outlay for that much to
go over and do as you say, likethe english channel or
manhattan or whatever the casemay be yep, absolutely yeah, and
out of the six that you've donein the ocean, seven, which one
did you find the mostchallenging?
Rob Woodhouse (12:55):
probably the north channel was really tough.
It was very cold.
From Ireland to Scotland I wasliving in Scotland at the time,
so it was it was very easy toget to but but it was quite a
tough swim.
Uh, I was fortunate that therewasn't wasn't uh stung by uh the
lion's mane jellyfish swimmingwith dolphins, so there's some
(13:17):
great experience in there.
The water's so crystal clearbut just very, very cold and I
found that tough probably.
The other one was uh hawaii, uhfor molokai to uh oahu and I did
did that seven days after I'ddone the Catalina swim, so it
was very, very quick time.
Afterwards I had I felt I hadrecovered but it was more mental
.
The whole swim virtually is atnight.
(13:39):
I started swimming about 5 45pm.
It got dark about 10 past 6 atnight and sunrise is 6 30 the
next morning and it was.
It took me just over 12 hours.
So the whole swim was at night.
There was no moon, there werestars.
I was lucky with the conditions, but you just have that sense
of not terror but just thatsense of the unknown and just
(14:03):
felt quite vulnerable out therefor a few hours.
So it really is a big sort ofmental game to try and sort of
stay on top of that and justthink about other things and
just concentrate on sort ofswimming for the next half hour
until the next feed and so on.
So that was pretty tough.
But even those two swims, alongwith the other four, I've
(14:24):
enjoyed every single one of them.
There's been memories from eachpart of those swims where I
look back on it and go that wasjust a fantastic experience with
the team that was on the boatand some of the things I saw in
the ocean and just accomplishingwhat are pretty tough swims.
They all added up to just areally 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 ofdolphins and, as I said, the
North Channel.
I saw them.
Not so much, fortunately, Ithink, hawaii fortunately it was
dark, because there's certainlya lot of sharks down there.
I didn't see anything anddidn't get brushed by anything
or anything like that Good.
I saw the Gibraltar Strait.
We had dolphins.
(15:11):
I saw a massive big, whatturned out to be a moonfish, but
it was virtually right on myfeet and the first time I looked
around I thought it was a sharkand I panicked.
But that was quite cool and hadsome pilot whales swimming with
us.
But even the jellyfish in theNorth Channel, they actually,
once you realise that, you canactually see them so far ahead
(15:31):
that you can virtually swimaround them at times.
They are beautiful to look at,especially with the sun on them
and so on.
So just yeah, just incrediblethings that I saw as well.
As you know, swimming intoFrance and the English Channel,
swim and there's people justlying on the beach.
There's people waving and justgoing on with their day day,
(15:51):
building sandcastles and thingslike that.
It's just like, well, this ispretty cool.
I've just swum over here andeveryone's just going about
their Saturday afternoon inFrance 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, butprior to that do you mix in a
lot of training in the openwater as well.
Rob Woodhouse (16:11):
Not so much, certainly leading into the
English Channel year 2022, andthen the following year when I
did those three swims quiteclose to each other North
Channel, catalina, hawaii I wasdoing of the 50K a week I was
doing, it was probably 30 was inthe lock in Scotland.
So I guess that's open water,albeit a lock rather than an
(16:34):
ocean, very little oceanswimming.
It just wasn't the opportunityto do that in in scotland as
much um and uh.
This time around it's all poolswimming leading into the
manhattan swim.
But I think I'll.
I also did it.
I think the thing I did I'mgetting on a bit in age and I've
been swimming for so many yearsI don't think I could do the
(16:55):
mileage for a really really longperiod of time.
For nine months or eight monthsor something, and those years
2022, 2023, it was really justeight 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 tohold that for any longer than
(17:15):
that.
I think mentally it'd be sortof too tough for me.
Danielle Spurling (17:18):
Yeah, I think that's a good way to approach
it, because you've obviously gotthat very good aerobic base
there anyway and you keepswimming 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 farmore experienced than me, but
even last year, I did four ofthe swims in 2023 and, as I said
, those three were closetogether and I was kind of doing
the training and initially notsure if I'd be able to do that
um and physically recover eachtime.
But then I thought, well, I'mprobably physically at my best,
(17:55):
um, as long as I, as long as Ido recover between each swim.
I've probably never been fitterin that sense, certainly in the
last 20 years or so.
So, uh, that, rather than doingone a year, or maybe two a year
, doing the four in one year isactually um, it wasn't my
original plan, but it's justkind of how it worked out and
I'm really glad I did it thatway.
Danielle Spurling (18:15):
And when you finish off the Ocean 7, because
I'm sure you're going to besuccessful at that have you got
any other big goals on thehorizon for your open water
swimming?
Rob Woodhouse (18:23):
No, none.
Now I'm back in Australia, Ithink I might do a few
team-based things.
I'd love to do the RottnestSwim as a team with some mates.
I've done the Maui Channel Swimmany times with a group of
mates and so just do a few morefun things.
I'm not sure I enjoy theshorter but competitive swims as
much as I used to Like the LawnPeter Pub.
(18:46):
I did that last year.
I didn't do it just in recentsummer, but I did it the year
before and then it was too hardand uh and uh.
That was.
That's harder than uh, that'sharder than any most other swims
I've done.
To be honest, it was only about1.2k but, um, I don't know, I
haven't really thought about it.
I don't think I'll do the bigopen water swims in Australia,
(19:07):
um, uh, as a solo.
But yes, maybe some of those uhones 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 orpeople just do it as a solo swim
, you know, like most of theseother swims yeah, I think it's
an all-in-one day thing, becauseI think andy donaldson's done
it we were talking about it whenI 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, alittle village called West
Kilbride is where he was bornand where he grew up.
Danielle Spurling (19:54):
Oh really.
Rob Woodhouse (19:56):
And he moved back .
He moved over to Australia, toWestern Australia, perth I'm not
sure when, but it was quite along time ago, 10 or so years
ago, but yeah, this tiny littlevillage on the west coast of
Scotland, and we swam theEnglish Channel, which was the
first ocean swim for both of us.
We swam them a day apart and Imet Andy about a week later in
(20:18):
West Goodbride and we caught upand 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 supportspretty much every open water
swimmer in the world who reachout 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 openwater swimming and uh, yeah,
I've got huge respect for himyeah, same, same, absolutely
yeah, he never says no to anyoneand he's about to do that big
swim in Hawaii, I think nextweek or the week after.
So, yes, always someone towatch 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 youdid the Dardanelles swim as well
.
That's one that I've got on mylist 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 visitGallipoli and pay my respects
there since I was a kid.
And the Dardanelles swim.
There is two swims acrosseffectively from Europe to Asia
One's the Bostra swim, which isa little bit closer to Istanbul,
and the Dardanelles swim, ofcourse, is from the Dardanelles
across to oh, I can't rememberthe name of the town, but it's
(21:26):
right near the ruins of what wasTroy in the famous Battle of
Troy and they have a huge statueof a wooden horse, the famous
wooden horse of Troy, there onthe waterfront there.
And beautiful little town,Chinakli, I think it's called.
I've got that wrong, I'm sure.
But the swim itself's aboutfive kilometers um, and you swim
(21:48):
with a current and you that youhave to go across on a boat the
day before a big ferry whichtakes all the competitors over
and they do a briefing and youvirtually just aim for these
different uh points on thehorizon, depending on sort of
what sort of pace you think youmight swim, because you can get
swept past the finish line andyou have to swim.
If you do that, you've got toswim against the current.
So I love that swim and then,of course, while I was there, of
(22:12):
course, I did a tour ofGallipoli, which was very
emotional and quite amazing.
Just a beautiful land andbeautiful people.
Danielle Spurling (22:20):
Yeah, yeah, that's something I'd love to do.
So, yeah, it's good to hearthat it's a good one.
A few people I know have doneit 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 SwimmingAustralia, and everyone was
thrilled when you got that jobbecause you know both sides.
You were a swimmer Olympicmedalist and you've worked in
sports admin and working withathletes for many, many years,
so you understand both sides ofthe coin.
What are your thoughts on whereSwimming in Australia is headed
(22:50):
into Brisbane 2032?
Rob Woodhouse (22:55):
Look from a competitive point of view.
I suppose I'll look shorterthan that into Paris.
We're in a great position.
We saw the recent trials forthe Paralympic and Olympic teams
.
Really excited to see whathappens now over in Paris at
both those games.
Some fantastic athletes and notjust those established ones and
the world record holders andworld champions, but some really
(23:16):
good up-and-coming athletes aswell.
But I'm also really excitedabout the coaches and some great
young coaches that have comeonto the team as well.
Ben Hickson, for example, fromWestern Australia, and he's
going to be an amazing coach forAustralia in many years to come
.
But looking into Brisbane 2032,there's lots of opportunities.
(23:37):
One of my key roles in coming tothis CEO role is to bring all
of our stakeholders together.
It's been pretty welldocumented.
There's been some troubles outof the water and so on.
So you know we're not quitethree months in, just on two
months in actually into my roleand I think we're heading in the
right direction.
With that.
We're going to do a little bitof a strategic reset towards the
(23:58):
end of this year and ensurethat strategically we know and
we have clarity across the board, across the whole organisation
and the whole sport, in terms ofwhere we're heading and what
we're doing and how we're doingit.
Swimming Australia doesn't needto control and own everything in
swimming, but we should be anadvocate and a voice in
everything in swimming, whetherit be supporting Royal Life
(24:20):
Saving's water safety messagesor supporting Surf Life Saving
or supporting Master Swimming.
We need to be supporting thestates in their development and
participation plans and so on.
But at the same time, we doneed to take a leading role in
things like coaching education,ensuring we have coaches
licensed and keeping ourswimmers and staff safe this
(24:45):
whole safeguarding piece and soon.
So we want to take a leadingrole in the coach education
piece.
But the elite side, thehigh-performance side, very much
is in a good position now andthere's great talent coming
through, not just on the Olympicand Paralympic team but in the
future.
So we need to nurture that andwe need to help grow that and
encourage it.
(25:06):
And another key part of my role,of course, is to try and bring
in the commercial partners aswell, whether they be sponsors
or whether they be bringing innew events which generate
revenue or TV revenue and so on.
So, look, we're off to a reallygood start.
The trials was a great successand being there in Brisbane it
felt like swimming was back inthis country for the first time
(25:28):
in a long time.
People were talking about allthe good things in the sport and
you know, I hope that continuesthrough to Paris and beyond.
Danielle Spurling (25:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think you know I saw some ofthe primetime watching was huge
numbers, you know, back aroundthe 2000s it was sort of at you
know that viewership as well.
I'm just interested to know atthe moment everyone so I mean
obviously us in swimming we'revery excited about it, but
people outside of swimming aretalking about it how can you
(25:59):
sort of get those people onboard when after the olympics it
all dies down because we're youknow, swimming's competing with
AFL footy and and the Matildasnow and and all these other you
know sports in our media.
How can swimming stay up therein 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 dolphinscompeting on on home soil in our
own pools, don't we?
We need pools we don't have atthe moment.
There's no legacy at all out ofBrisbane at 2032 because
they're talking about havingswimming in a drop-in arena.
So we don't actually have apool which even comes out of it,
(26:38):
and the Olympic and Paralympictrials were in a pool which was
50 years old.
The athletes were warming upoutdoors before their finals and
it just wasn't good enough.
Basically, having said that, theQueensland government and
everyone were so fantastic withtheir support and making it as
successful as it was.
But, moving forward, if we wantto have international events
(26:58):
here in Australia, we need toadvocate for a facility for the
Brisbane Olympics which we canuse to host world championships,
host world cups and pan packsand world para championships and
things like that, not just inthe lead-up to Brisbane, but
beyond Brisbane.
So that's another key part ofmy role.
(27:19):
But we also are looking todevelop and working with the
high performance team, greg Shawand Rowan Taylor and others on
this to develop a much morecompetitive sort of schedule of
events here in Australia,ideally bringing in
internationals as well to someof those events, getting them
televised and getting them seen.
Danielle Spurling (27:39):
Yeah.
Do you think that the Brisbanegovernment would oh sorry, the
Queensland government wouldthink about redeveloping
Chandler?
Or will they go with thatfootball sort of stadium idea
where they drop in the pool?
Rob Woodhouse (27:53):
That's what they're talking about now.
Yeah, it's a new arena that'sbeen built, so as it stands
right now.
There's a new entertainmentarena it's not even a sports
arena which will hold concertsand various other things.
So that's where the swimmingwill be held an 18 000 seat
stadium which look it's greatfor the, great for the during
the games, but there's just nolegacy out of that for the sport
, and not just our sport, butalso for artistic swimming and
(28:15):
diving and water polo as well.
So will they redevelop chandler?
Um, I'm sure I'm sure they'relooking at a whole lot of
different.
Uh, there is a state electioncoming up in Queensland in
October and there may well be asort of reset after that and a
review, and I would imagine thatprobably early next year we'll
have an idea.
So there's quite a lot ofpeople working very hard behind
the scenes to do all the rightthings.
(28:38):
It's not just about makingnoise about this.
It's about understanding andgetting economic impact studies
done and costing models andproving that there is a
financially sustainableoperational model after the
Games for the facility andthings like that.
So all that work has been doneand obviously lobbying and all
(28:59):
those sorts of things are a keypart of that.
Danielle Spurling (29:01):
So we'll see what happens, but certainly it's
first and and foremost in mymind, that's for sure yeah, I
wanted to ask hopefully this isnot um out of left field for you
obviously there's a quota forthe number of swimmers that you
can take over, and it was 52 andthey ended up picking what.
Was it 41 or 44 that they'retaking?
(29:21):
I just wondered why they didn'tfeel that quota right out to 52
when they had people winningthat might have just been
outside those times.
Rob Woodhouse (29:30):
Yeah, we have pretty robust selection criteria
and everyone knows what thosecriteria are.
And it does open up Pandora'sbox if you change the criteria
for one athlete and still leaveothers at home.
There was scope to maybe addother relay athletes as well,
but the rules have also changedat Olympic level.
You can't actually takereserves for relays and not swim
(29:55):
them, whereas in the past somepeople have gone to the Olympics
and not actually got to swimand some of our relays the
relays are so competitiveworldwide now that some of our
relays we have to swim our Ateam in the mornings just to get
into the final.
It's going to be that tight Anevent, like the men's 4x100
freestyle relay, for example,and we did take the fifth place
(30:17):
getter in that, but I don'tthink we took sixth, for example
, because we probably wouldn'tuse fifth and sixth.
We'd need to use almost our topteam in the heats.
So there's those sorts ofthings come into the whole
selection debate.
There are also World Aquatics,fina, as they used to be called.
They set times as well, and Ithink that some of those winning
(30:37):
times you mentioned weren'tachieved in those events too.
So it's not just the SwimmingAustralia times.
So you know it's tough, justthe swimming australia times, um
.
So you know it's tough, it'sreally tough.
But um, we look at uh, we lookat some of the people that have
missed out, um, for the samereason in in previous games at
the start of their career.
Um, suzy o'neill's a goodexample.
(30:57):
She missed out in 1988.
She got second at the trialsand she just missed the time and
they didn't take her.
They didn't take her even as areserve for the relay, even when
they could have done that.
But of course she went on andhad a fantastic career as a
result.
That kept her hungry and kepther going, and I can't remember
which swimmer it was, it's justat the recent trials.
But they had had a similarexperience four years earlier or
(31:20):
three years earlier, and theymention it in their interview
that that's what spurred them onthese last three years.
And this time they're goinginto the Olympics now ranked in
the top four or five in theworld.
So there are very valid reasonswhy the full team, if you like,
that could have been selectedis not.
Danielle Spurling (31:40):
Yeah, I think that was Lizzie Deckers.
I think she came second at thelast 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 worldchampionships and she's got a
real shot going into Paris.
It's quite an open event that200 fly, isn't it?
Danielle Spurling (31:57):
Yeah, I think so.
I think she's got a reallygreat sort of outlook to her
swimming and obviously thatdisappointment 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 thosestories come out alexa leary and
uh in the in the, theparalympic team and rowan
crothers and others, and timhodge, who's won everything
there is to win to win in paraswimming except that the
paralympic gold medal and hebroke a world record at trials.
And just fantastic storiesbehind these incredible athletes
(32:30):
that we've got.
Danielle Spurling (32:31):
Yeah, I love the mix of the Paralympics in
with the able-bodied and I thinka lot of people were just so
supportive of it.
You know that I've seen in chatgroups 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 atevents, bringing events here to
australia.
There are some events which areseparate, like a world para
championships, um, and parisswimming is not part of world
aquatics.
Uh, that may well, that maywell happen in the future, but,
uh, paris swimming, uh, at aglobal level, is managed through
(33:04):
the international paralympicCommittee at the moment.
But there are events that wewould look to create which do
combine both para swimming andable-bodied swimming as well.
So we're looking forward tothat and I agree with you, it
was fantastic to have bothselection trials at the same
meet.
Yeah, yeah, I think it reallyadded to it and I love the same
(33:25):
meet.
Danielle Spurling (33:25):
Yeah, yeah, I think it really added to it and
I love the fact that you knowwe got to hear from all those
athletes and they were soexcited making the team.
It was just, you know.
It just makes it seem fantasticfrom a viewer point of view to
see all that hard work come tofruition and get on the team.
Rob Woodhouse (33:42):
Oh, very much so.
And, look, we love worldrecords and we love gold medals,
of course, and we'll all becheering from our lounges or
from Paris if we're lucky enough.
But you know, those backstoriesthat we hear and we heard some
of them during the trials andjust listening to the athletes
or listening to their parents ortheir loved ones, and those
interviews, they're justfantastic, aren't they?
(34:04):
And, yeah, it's, those that arepassionate 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 theathlete.
It is a lifelong journey and itgoes for many, many, many years
.
But look, the rewards are therefor those athletes that have
(34:26):
made either of those teams.
They will never forget whatlies ahead these next five, six
weeks or 12 weeks for theParalympians, because it is an
experience that they willremember for the rest of their
lives.
So, yeah, let's just hope theyget over there.
We'll be really proud of them.
They enjoy themselves, theyswim to the best of their
ability and and they come homesatisfied and and have a great
(34:48):
experience and represent us wellyeah, I'm sure they will.
Danielle Spurling (34:52):
I'm sure they will.
Who are you most excited to seerace 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 mckeownrace.
She's just brilliant.
Every time she gets in thewater there's a chance of a
world record.
And even just since I've beenhome, the national championships
in the Gold Coast she had acrack at the 200 IM and the 400
(35:19):
IM world records and not too faroff both of them.
She did it again at the trialsin the 200 IM and the 100 back
and the 200 back.
She's really exciting to watcharianne, of course.
Um, just an incredible swimmer,just so gutsy.
That 200 freestyle if I look atan event you know, molly, molly
of course is just amazing andmolly in the 100 and the 200
(35:40):
will be terrific as well.
But that 200 freestyle is justgoing to be just so great to
watch there.
They're such determinedathletes.
They train in the same squadbut I think they do different
programs and things like thatbecause one's more focused on
the 100 and the other one on the400 than they meet in the 200.
So that's exciting.
I've still got IM in my heart,of course.
(36:01):
So again, kayleigh in the IMs,but also Brendan Smith, of
course, winning the medal lastOlympics and he swam pretty well
too.
And look, there's so many.
Kyle Chalmers is probably theother one.
He's probably one of thegreatest racers I've ever seen,
and I was lucky enough to havehim in the London Royal Team in
the International SwimmingLeague and having Kyle swimming
(36:24):
in relays and you just know thatif Kyle's anchoring a relay,
you've got every chance, nomatter how far behind he is, of
getting up onto the podium, andI love watching him race as well
.
And if he can get on the podiumagain in the 100 freestyle for
the third consecutive Olympics Idon't know how many athletes
have done that, but it's apretty small club, I would say.
So, yeah, all of those athletesand pretty much anyone that
(36:47):
wears the green and gold, thatputs 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 thinkwe should be watching out for?
Rob Woodhouse (36:57):
Last year well, three years ago, the Tokyo
Olympics there was only oneAustralian who had one medalist
of our.
I'm not sure the number ofmedalists we had, but there was
only one that didn't go into thegames in the top five in the
world and that was Brendan Smithwho I think ran into number
seven in the 400 IM.
So it's probably harder to seea dark horse coming through
compared to what we had in the80s with Duncan Armstrong or
(37:19):
John Sieben or something likethat.
But there's some great onesAlex Perkins in the 100 fly.
Lani Pallister she's afantastic gutsy swimmer and I'd
love to see her get on thepodium in the distance freestyle
events Probably better chancein the 800 or the 1500,.
I would think Isaac Cooperdidn't swim that fast in the 100
(37:43):
backstroke to win the trials,but he's such a talent and you
know, if he gets everythingright he could well challenge
for the medals as well.
And Iona Anderson, the youngbackstroker from Perth, world
junior champion last year.
She trains under Ben Hicksonand she's an outstanding talent
as well.
She got into the team becauseshe finished third at the trials
(38:05):
and of course Molly O'Callaghanwas second and and uh pulled
out, um, uh, before the end ofthe trials, before the team was
selection selected, which openeda spot for iona, and I think
she's a chance for a medal aswell.
So there's a few uh, there'splenty more, and there's even
olympic champions I haven'tmentioned, like zach stubble d
cook, who's just um, just soconsistent, and I'd love to see
him back on the podium and, ifnot, defending his gold medal.
Danielle Spurling (38:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
I was really impressed withWill Patrick.
You know another winning boywho came through in the medley
and I just thought he was verycomposed and spoke so well and
obviously he's worked so hard toget there.
So it's so great to have twoguys on that 400 IM.
Rob Woodhouse (38:45):
Yeah, really good .
And look Will.
I've actually never met Willpersonally.
I'm looking forward to doingthat.
I know he's coached Joel Finkquite well, from Melbourne
originally and then over in theUK and he's an experienced coach
.
Joel and Will's in a goodprogram there.
He's got great teammates aroundhim.
He's a big improver.
So, um, yeah, it's, it's.
(39:06):
It's a really tough event thatform on it I am.
He's in the 200 course as well.
I think that the uh, that 400uh with uh marshawn leon
marshall.
I guess from a globalperspective, he's probably the,
the uh, the, the swimmer thatmost people are most excited
about him and uh, summermcintosh.
But uh, um, yeah, will's got aa really big future ahead of him
(39:26):
and, yeah, being an IMO, I'llbe 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 yourperspective on Swimming
Australia matters and also onyour own swimming, and wishing
you best of luck for Manhattanin 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 forfitting us into his very busy
schedule and best of luck forhis upcoming Manhattan swim.
Don't forget to follow us onInstagram, facebook and YouTube
under Torpedo Swim Talk Podcast.
Till next time, happy swimmingand bye for now.
Hello swimmers, welcome to another
episode of Torpedo Swim Talkpodcast.
I'm your host, D danielleSpurling, and each week we chat
to a master swimmer from aroundthe world about their swimming
journey.
For today's episode, I caughtup with Rob Woodhouse to see
what he's been up to in the lastthree years since he was on the
(00:30):
podcast and his head must bespinning because he's jam-packed
a lot into those two years.
He's nearly finished the Ocean7 and the Triple Crown open
water swims, and he's just takenon a huge job as the CEO of
Swimming Australia.
So, as you can see, we had lotsto chat about.
Hi, rob, welcome to the podcast.
Rob Woodhouse (00:57):
Hi Danielle, good to be here.
Danielle Spurling (00:59):
Yeah, it's great to have you back, and we
had you on in 2021, but you'vedone so much since then, so I
feel we've got a lot to talkabout today well I guess we both
have, yeah, a lot's changedover three years, hasn't it?
Yeah, definitely, definitely.
I mean you've nearly completedthe ocean seven and the triple
crown and you've just um takenon a huge job as ceo of swimming
(01:19):
australia.
Rob Woodhouse (01:19):
Your head must be spinning uh, it's been spinning
a little bit, yes, uh, the 10weeks gone as the CEO and that's
all going well.
A fantastic time to join, ofcourse, leading into firstly the
Olympic and Paralympic trialswhich have just been held
recently, and then now theOlympics and Paralympics ahead.
So really exciting times forAustralian swimming and world
(01:39):
swimming, I think.
But exciting for me as well tomove back over from the UK after
a long time there and settleback into the hometown in
Melbourne yeah, how long wereyou away in the UK?
16 years over there 10 years inSydney, then 16 years over in
the UK, so, uh, quite a longtime and um, uh, I love it over
(02:00):
there living in Scotland.
My kids are still there,they're loving life there and uh
, through uni and things likethat, and so I look forward to
going to see them quite a fewtimes during my travels, but
it's great to be back inAustralia as well.
Danielle Spurling (02:13):
Yeah, yeah, there's nothing.
Quite like your hometown, Ithink.
Rob Woodhouse (02:17):
No, nothing quite like it at all.
I'm a Demon supporter.
I've come back and haven't doneso well since I've come back,
and they haven't done so wellsince they've come back.
My mates think I'm a curse, buthopefully they'll improve.
Danielle Spurling (02:29):
I can't believe they had such a great
season and then they've justbombed since then.
Rob Woodhouse (02:32):
Yeah, a few injuries and a bit of bad luck
and a few other things, buthopefully they'll bounce back.
There's still time this season.
Danielle Spurling (02:39):
Yeah, fingers crossed for all Demon
supporters, because it was along time that you waited for
your premiership.
Rob Woodhouse (02:44):
It certainly was let's talk.
Danielle Spurling (02:47):
Let's start by talking about your own
swimming.
What made it?
What sort of motivated you togo for the ocean seven?
Rob Woodhouse (02:53):
I'd never heard of the ocean seven until I
started swimming uh training forthe english channel back in
2022.
That was so uh, it was 2022, Ithink it was yeah and and uh, I
joined it.
Uh, a company called red top uhtraining red top marathon
training.
And uh, an english guy, tim den, who runs that over in london
and met him and uh, he set myprogram training program in the
(03:16):
lead up to the english channeland through that I went to a
training camp with him and histeam in croatia, met a whole lot
of like-minded open waterswimmers and just had a
fantastic time and discoveredthis open water swimming
community that I never reallyknew existed.
And that was kind of the startof it really swimming the
English Channel.
And then from there thinking,oh, that was so good.
(03:37):
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 thecamaraderie amongst that, as
said, that like-minded group ofuh people and so started
thinking about what else I mightwant to do, and that's when I
found out about the ocean seven.
I thought I'll give it a bit ofa crack and uh, now here we are
with uh two years, just undertwo years later, and I've done
(04:00):
six of them.
Uh still got.
Still got one in the Sugar IceStrait, which I'll do July next
year, 2025.
And in the meantime, I'm doinga just in a couple of weeks
actually, I'll be doing theManhattan 20 Bridges Swim around
Manhattan.
So I'm looking forward to that.
Danielle Spurling (04:15):
Yeah, that'll be a great swim.
So that will actually completeyour Triple Crown, because
you've done Catalina and theEnglish Channel.
Rob Woodhouse (04:22):
Correct.
Yeah, so everyone says it'sdone, the Manhattan swim.
It's just such a fantastic swimand great sights and you just
enjoy yourself all the wayaround and you get some really
good currents and tides comingpushing you down the river as
well, so I'm looking forward tothat.
I didn't get a choice of whatdates I was swimming, so the
(04:44):
timing's not brilliant justbefore, especially with this new
job.
But it's also a night swim, so,and July 4 weekend, so it's on.
Danielle Spurling (04:52):
July 6, which is a Saturday night.
Rob Woodhouse (04:54):
So it should be.
All those combinations make itwhat should be a fantastic
experience.
Danielle Spurling (05:01):
Well, at least you know.
Look, there's a lot of lightcoming from the buildings around
, so it won't be pitch black,and you obviously have your boat
lights and you'll have akayaker as well.
Rob Woodhouse (05:10):
Correct.
Yeah, there'll be a kayakerthere and look, it's all very
safety first, of course, as allthese swims are, and they have
to be, so I'll have completeconfidence in the crew that are
steering, basically steering mearound the island, around
Manhattan.
And yeah, it should be, as Isaid, should be a great
experience.
I've no idea sort of how longit will take, but I'll be set
(05:31):
for a long night and see whattime we finish.
So, all going well, it could besort of sometime in the early
hours of the morning, maybe 2, 3, 4 o'clock, but honestly I
don't know.
Danielle Spurling (05:41):
Yeah, yeah.
Well, that's all right, though.
It's all right to have thatsort of uncertainty there,
because it makes it a little bitmore exciting.
Rob Woodhouse (05:48):
Well it does, and yeah, don't have to think about
sharks this time, which is anice change as well, that's
right.
Danielle Spurling (05:55):
What does your training look like at the
moment?
Well, obviously you've got thisvery busy job and you're about
to head off overseas to theOlympics.
How are you squeezing it all in, and how often are you training
?
Give us a bit of an insight.
Rob Woodhouse (06:07):
The training's been a bit haphazard, I've got
to admit.
These last three or four monthsCertainly a lot different to.
I was quite structured in thelast two years when I did my
other six ocean swims and thisone because of the move from
Scotland back to Melbourne andalso because of then starting
starting the job, which has beenpretty full on these first 10
weeks.
I've been traveling around alot, uh, having as much training
(06:29):
I would have liked, but stillstill getting upwards.
Uh, I think this week was about25k, so it's not too bad and
pretty hard training as well.
Train with uh buddy portia andDavid Wilson at the Melbourne
grammar pool in Melbourne and,uh, some great training partners
there that have, um, reallypushed me.
So the training is probablymore intense than what I've done
in previous years, but notnowhere near the distance.
(06:50):
I was swimming pretty much 50ka week for sort of eight to 10
weeks before my major swims lastyear and before the English
Channel swim two years ago.
Danielle Spurling (06:59):
Oh well, look , that's great that you're
getting in some training, andespecially having people there
to push you.
It just makes it a little bitmore motivating, doesn't it?
Rob Woodhouse (07:07):
Oh it does.
Yeah, I was mostly trainingwith age groupers when I was in
Scotland as well, so trainingwith again like-minded people
and an adult squad, it's verysocial, much more enjoyable.
I did enjoy training in thelocks of Scotland, but this
one's a bit more fun, as yousaid, getting pushed a bit more,
which is really good and reallyhelpful, and particularly when
I'm, I guess, time poor comparedto what I was last year, it's
(07:30):
certainly working.
So, yeah, I'll give it my bestshot and probably next year,
ahead of the Japan swim,probably lift that intensity a
bit more.
I think I'll probably need tobe fitter for that one because
it's from everything I'm toldfrom Andy Donaldson and other
people it's a very challengingswim.
Danielle Spurling (07:45):
Yeah, I mean it's got really strong tides
obviously during the swim.
Have you sort of had muchthought about how you're going
to handle those and what you cando to sort of, you know, get
ahead of them?
Rob Woodhouse (07:56):
No, I haven't, and it's just over 12 months
away now, so I've got to behonest, it's the last thing I've
been thinking about.
But having said that, red topmarathon training with Tim Denya
they're heading over next week,I believe, with an Australian,
mark Salby, who hopes tocomplete the Ocean 7 himself.
So I should get some prettygood intel from Mark and from
(08:19):
Tim on the boat as to how thatone goes and what to expect
potentially in 12 months' time.
Danielle Spurling (08:24):
Yeah, will Tim go with you again next year
for your crossing?
Rob Woodhouse (08:28):
Yes, he will.
Yeah, the Red Top guys havebeen on my boat every single
time, except for one swim inHawaii, which I had a couple of
mates on my boat Guy Farron andAngus Cameron but they had Tim
and the Red Top team on dial, onspeed, dial, on WhatsApp, right
through my swim.
So they've been fantastic and,to be honest, I wouldn't have
(08:50):
done these swims without them,not just because of the
camaraderie and the group thatthey work with, but also their
professionalism and, no matterwhat level you are, I highly
recommend, if you're going to doa marathon swim such as the
English Channel, to look at atraining company like Red Top.
Danielle Spurling (09:04):
Yeah, yeah, I was going to ask you because a
lot of people that listen arereally interested in doing those
open sort of longer open waterswims, but not quite sure where
to start, so that's a reallygood tip.
Have you got any other tipsthat you can give people who are
maybe interested but haven'tdone one yet?
Rob Woodhouse (09:20):
Probably that's the most important one to be
honest and talk to people thathave done it or taken interest
and everyone.
It's such a great communitythat everyone wants to help each
other.
It's not competitive at allwell, it is.
It is a little bit competitive,but, um, it's um, it's just a
really fun and friendlycommunity that, um, yeah, really
want to support each other.
So, uh, talk to people, um, andfrom there you get to meet
(09:43):
people, you try different things, um, and then, if you are with
a group, some of the things Iadvise, as well as your training
plan and so on, is yournutrition, which is such a
crucial part of any swim, andit's so important to practice
your nutrition before you'redoing a big swim and to make
sure that whatever you're takingon your swim day is something
you can actually keep down andit's going to help you rather
(10:06):
than something that's going tomake you sick.
It's amazing the people that dothese swim sometimes that have
never really used the nutritionuntil swim day and then find
it's not for them.
So, just really, um, you know,again, working with
professionals, they're going togive you all the right tips, um
and uh, and that's pretty muchit.
So, uh, then that is my biggesttip to get some people to help
(10:26):
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 ofelectrolytes, succinogen or
succinogen, myelo, some.
What else was there?
Ginger cordial, which is goodto ward off a bit of seasickness
.
Good for seasick, yep yeah, butit's also got some good
qualities in it.
I'm not a nutrition expert, soI can't actually sort of sing
(10:54):
the praises of what each onedoes.
Flat Coke, I had flat Coke witha that was probably every sort
of two and a half hours, so Ihad a feed every half hour and
it was a cycle of five differentfeeds so, and some of them had
some ibuprofen or panadol inthem, so to sort of ward off the
(11:15):
pain from sore shoulders andthings like that.
But I practiced uh, using thoseum, those different um, uh or
the different nutrition.
I practiced that for monthsleading into my first swim and
uh, and then again before myother swims as well, just to
make sure it was something Icould keep down.
It was going to benefit me fromrather 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 numberof people on this podcast about
those open water swims and theyall give that very same piece
of advice, and the people thathaven't practised beforehand get
in so much trouble.
So it's something to use whileyou're training as well, and
also if you can get out and anddo it in the open water and
practice taking it there,because some people stand on the
(11:51):
bottom of the pool and taketheir nutrition uh, yes, they do
.
Rob Woodhouse (11:56):
Um, so, yeah, practice, practice, practice.
It's just an important part ofyour training really.
And then, on the other, theother thing again with having a
professional team is, uh, peoplewho go and swim the channel,
particularly coming fromAustralia, it's a huge outlay of
of funds, um, it's a huge droneon anyone's resources.
Um, so to to, to not have aprofessional team on your boat
(12:16):
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 ifyou've just got a family member
or a friend or something likethat, they've also never done
the swim before either.
So, yeah, as much as they maybe 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
(12:38):
difference yeah, yeah, it'sdefinitely worth the outlay.
Danielle Spurling (12:41):
If you're going to outlay for that much to
go over and do as you say, likethe english channel or
manhattan or whatever the casemay be yep, absolutely yeah, and
out of the six that you've donein the ocean, seven, which one
did you find the mostchallenging?
Rob Woodhouse (12:55):
probably the north channel was really tough.
It was very cold.
From Ireland to Scotland I wasliving in Scotland at the time,
so it was it was very easy toget to but but it was quite a
tough swim.
Uh, I was fortunate that therewasn't wasn't uh stung by uh the
lion's mane jellyfish swimmingwith dolphins, so there's some
(13:17):
great experience in there.
The water's so crystal clearbut just very, very cold and I
found that tough probably.
The other one was uh hawaii, uhfor molokai to uh oahu and I did
did that seven days after I'ddone the Catalina swim, so it
was very, very quick time.
Afterwards I had I felt I hadrecovered but it was more mental
.
The whole swim virtually is atnight.
(13:39):
I started swimming about 5 45pm.
It got dark about 10 past 6 atnight and sunrise is 6 30 the
next morning and it was.
It took me just over 12 hours.
So the whole swim was at night.
There was no moon, there werestars.
I was lucky with the conditions, but you just have that sense
of not terror but just thatsense of the unknown and just
(14:03):
felt quite vulnerable out therefor a few hours.
So it really is a big sort ofmental game to try and sort of
stay on top of that and justthink about other things and
just concentrate on sort ofswimming for the next half hour
until the next feed and so on.
So that was pretty tough.
But even those two swims, alongwith the other four, I've
(14:24):
enjoyed every single one of them.
There's been memories from eachpart of those swims where I
look back on it and go that wasjust a fantastic experience with
the team that was on the boatand some of the things I saw in
the ocean and just accomplishingwhat are pretty tough swims.
They all added up to just areally 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 ofdolphins and, as I said, the
North Channel.
I saw them.
Not so much, fortunately, Ithink, hawaii fortunately it was
dark, because there's certainlya lot of sharks down there.
I didn't see anything anddidn't get brushed by anything
or anything like that Good.
I saw the Gibraltar Strait.
We had dolphins.
(15:11):
I saw a massive big, whatturned out to be a moonfish, but
it was virtually right on myfeet and the first time I looked
around I thought it was a sharkand I panicked.
But that was quite cool and hadsome pilot whales swimming with
us.
But even the jellyfish in theNorth Channel, they actually,
once you realise that, you canactually see them so far ahead
(15:31):
that you can virtually swimaround them at times.
They are beautiful to look at,especially with the sun on them
and so on.
So just yeah, just incrediblethings that I saw as well.
As you know, swimming intoFrance and the English Channel,
swim and there's people justlying on the beach.
There's people waving and justgoing on with their day day,
(15:51):
building sandcastles and thingslike that.
It's just like, well, this ispretty cool.
I've just swum over here andeveryone's just going about
their Saturday afternoon inFrance 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, butprior to that do you mix in a
lot of training in the openwater as well.
Rob Woodhouse (16:11):
Not so much, certainly leading into the
English Channel year 2022, andthen the following year when I
did those three swims quiteclose to each other North
Channel, catalina, hawaii I wasdoing of the 50K a week I was
doing, it was probably 30 was inthe lock in Scotland.
So I guess that's open water,albeit a lock rather than an
(16:34):
ocean, very little oceanswimming.
It just wasn't the opportunityto do that in in scotland as
much um and uh.
This time around it's all poolswimming leading into the
manhattan swim.
But I think I'll.
I also did it.
I think the thing I did I'mgetting on a bit in age and I've
been swimming for so many yearsI don't think I could do the
(16:55):
mileage for a really really longperiod of time.
For nine months or eight monthsor something, and those years
2022, 2023, it was really justeight 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 tohold that for any longer than
(17:15):
that.
I think mentally it'd be sortof too tough for me.
Danielle Spurling (17:18):
Yeah, I think that's a good way to approach
it, because you've obviously gotthat very good aerobic base
there anyway and you keepswimming 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 farmore experienced than me, but
even last year, I did four ofthe swims in 2023 and, as I said
, those three were closetogether and I was kind of doing
the training and initially notsure if I'd be able to do that
um and physically recover eachtime.
But then I thought, well, I'mprobably physically at my best,
(17:55):
um, as long as I, as long as Ido recover between each swim.
I've probably never been fitterin that sense, certainly in the
last 20 years or so.
So, uh, that, rather than doingone a year, or maybe two a year
, doing the four in one year isactually um, it wasn't my
original plan, but it's justkind of how it worked out and
I'm really glad I did it thatway.
Danielle Spurling (18:15):
And when you finish off the Ocean 7, because
I'm sure you're going to besuccessful at that have you got
any other big goals on thehorizon for your open water
swimming?
Rob Woodhouse (18:23):
No, none.
Now I'm back in Australia, Ithink I might do a few
team-based things.
I'd love to do the RottnestSwim as a team with some mates.
I've done the Maui Channel Swimmany times with a group of
mates and so just do a few morefun things.
I'm not sure I enjoy theshorter but competitive swims as
much as I used to Like the LawnPeter Pub.
(18:46):
I did that last year.
I didn't do it just in recentsummer, but I did it the year
before and then it was too hardand uh and uh.
That was.
That's harder than uh, that'sharder than any most other swims
I've done.
To be honest, it was only about1.2k but, um, I don't know, I
haven't really thought about it.
I don't think I'll do the bigopen water swims in Australia,
(19:07):
um, uh, as a solo.
But yes, maybe some of those uhones 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 orpeople just do it as a solo swim
, you know, like most of theseother swims yeah, I think it's
an all-in-one day thing, becauseI think andy donaldson's done
it we were talking about it whenI 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, alittle village called West
Kilbride is where he was bornand where he grew up.
Danielle Spurling (19:54):
Oh really.
Rob Woodhouse (19:56):
And he moved back .
He moved over to Australia, toWestern Australia, perth I'm not
sure when, but it was quite along time ago, 10 or so years
ago, but yeah, this tiny littlevillage on the west coast of
Scotland, and we swam theEnglish Channel, which was the
first ocean swim for both of us.
We swam them a day apart and Imet Andy about a week later in
(20:18):
West Goodbride and we caught upand 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 supportspretty much every open water
swimmer in the world who reachout 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 openwater swimming and uh, yeah,
I've got huge respect for himyeah, same, same, absolutely
yeah, he never says no to anyoneand he's about to do that big
swim in Hawaii, I think nextweek or the week after.
So, yes, always someone towatch 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 youdid the Dardanelles swim as well
.
That's one that I've got on mylist 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 visitGallipoli and pay my respects
there since I was a kid.
And the Dardanelles swim.
There is two swims acrosseffectively from Europe to Asia
One's the Bostra swim, which isa little bit closer to Istanbul,
and the Dardanelles swim, ofcourse, is from the Dardanelles
across to oh, I can't rememberthe name of the town, but it's
(21:26):
right near the ruins of what wasTroy in the famous Battle of
Troy and they have a huge statueof a wooden horse, the famous
wooden horse of Troy, there onthe waterfront there.
And beautiful little town,Chinakli, I think it's called.
I've got that wrong, I'm sure.
But the swim itself's aboutfive kilometers um, and you swim
(21:48):
with a current and you that youhave to go across on a boat the
day before a big ferry whichtakes all the competitors over
and they do a briefing and youvirtually just aim for these
different uh points on thehorizon, depending on sort of
what sort of pace you think youmight swim, because you can get
swept past the finish line andyou have to swim.
If you do that, you've got toswim against the current.
So I love that swim and then,of course, while I was there, of
(22:12):
course, I did a tour ofGallipoli, which was very
emotional and quite amazing.
Just a beautiful land andbeautiful people.
Danielle Spurling (22:20):
Yeah, yeah, that's something I'd love to do.
So, yeah, it's good to hearthat it's a good one.
A few people I know have doneit 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 SwimmingAustralia, and everyone was
thrilled when you got that jobbecause you know both sides.
You were a swimmer Olympicmedalist and you've worked in
sports admin and working withathletes for many, many years,
so you understand both sides ofthe coin.
What are your thoughts on whereSwimming in Australia is headed
(22:50):
into Brisbane 2032?
Rob Woodhouse (22:55):
Look from a competitive point of view.
I suppose I'll look shorterthan that into Paris.
We're in a great position.
We saw the recent trials forthe Paralympic and Olympic teams
.
Really excited to see whathappens now over in Paris at
both those games.
Some fantastic athletes and notjust those established ones and
the world record holders andworld champions, but some really
(23:16):
good up-and-coming athletes aswell.
But I'm also really excitedabout the coaches and some great
young coaches that have comeonto the team as well.
Ben Hickson, for example, fromWestern Australia, and he's
going to be an amazing coach forAustralia in many years to come
.
But looking into Brisbane 2032,there's lots of opportunities.
(23:37):
One of my key roles in coming tothis CEO role is to bring all
of our stakeholders together.
It's been pretty welldocumented.
There's been some troubles outof the water and so on.
So you know we're not quitethree months in, just on two
months in actually into my roleand I think we're heading in the
right direction.
With that.
We're going to do a little bitof a strategic reset towards the
(23:58):
end of this year and ensurethat strategically we know and
we have clarity across the board, across the whole organisation
and the whole sport, in terms ofwhere we're heading and what
we're doing and how we're doingit.
Swimming Australia doesn't needto control and own everything in
swimming, but we should be anadvocate and a voice in
everything in swimming, whetherit be supporting Royal Life
(24:20):
Saving's water safety messagesor supporting Surf Life Saving
or supporting Master Swimming.
We need to be supporting thestates in their development and
participation plans and so on.
But at the same time, we doneed to take a leading role in
things like coaching education,ensuring we have coaches
licensed and keeping ourswimmers and staff safe this
(24:45):
whole safeguarding piece and soon.
So we want to take a leadingrole in the coach education
piece.
But the elite side, thehigh-performance side, very much
is in a good position now andthere's great talent coming
through, not just on the Olympicand Paralympic team but in the
future.
So we need to nurture that andwe need to help grow that and
encourage it.
(25:06):
And another key part of my role,of course, is to try and bring
in the commercial partners aswell, whether they be sponsors
or whether they be bringing innew events which generate
revenue or TV revenue and so on.
So, look, we're off to a reallygood start.
The trials was a great successand being there in Brisbane it
felt like swimming was back inthis country for the first time
(25:28):
in a long time.
People were talking about allthe good things in the sport and
you know, I hope that continuesthrough to Paris and beyond.
Danielle Spurling (25:37):
Yeah, absolutely.
I think you know I saw some ofthe primetime watching was huge
numbers, you know, back aroundthe 2000s it was sort of at you
know that viewership as well.
I'm just interested to know atthe moment everyone so I mean
obviously us in swimming we'revery excited about it, but
people outside of swimming aretalking about it how can you
(25:59):
sort of get those people onboard when after the olympics it
all dies down because we're youknow, swimming's competing with
AFL footy and and the Matildasnow and and all these other you
know sports in our media.
How can swimming stay up therein 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 dolphinscompeting on on home soil in our
own pools, don't we?
We need pools we don't have atthe moment.
There's no legacy at all out ofBrisbane at 2032 because
they're talking about havingswimming in a drop-in arena.
So we don't actually have apool which even comes out of it,
(26:38):
and the Olympic and Paralympictrials were in a pool which was
50 years old.
The athletes were warming upoutdoors before their finals and
it just wasn't good enough.
Basically, having said that, theQueensland government and
everyone were so fantastic withtheir support and making it as
successful as it was.
But, moving forward, if we wantto have international events
(26:58):
here in Australia, we need toadvocate for a facility for the
Brisbane Olympics which we canuse to host world championships,
host world cups and pan packsand world para championships and
things like that, not just inthe lead-up to Brisbane, but
beyond Brisbane.
So that's another key part ofmy role.
(27:19):
But we also are looking todevelop and working with the
high performance team, greg Shawand Rowan Taylor and others on
this to develop a much morecompetitive sort of schedule of
events here in Australia,ideally bringing in
internationals as well to someof those events, getting them
televised and getting them seen.
Danielle Spurling (27:39):
Yeah.
Do you think that the Brisbanegovernment would oh sorry, the
Queensland government wouldthink about redeveloping
Chandler?
Or will they go with thatfootball sort of stadium idea
where they drop in the pool?
Rob Woodhouse (27:53):
That's what they're talking about now.
Yeah, it's a new arena that'sbeen built, so as it stands
right now.
There's a new entertainmentarena it's not even a sports
arena which will hold concertsand various other things.
So that's where the swimmingwill be held an 18 000 seat
stadium which look it's greatfor the, great for the during
the games, but there's just nolegacy out of that for the sport
, and not just our sport, butalso for artistic swimming and
(28:15):
diving and water polo as well.
So will they redevelop chandler?
Um, I'm sure I'm sure they'relooking at a whole lot of
different.
Uh, there is a state electioncoming up in Queensland in
October and there may well be asort of reset after that and a
review, and I would imagine thatprobably early next year we'll
have an idea.
So there's quite a lot ofpeople working very hard behind
the scenes to do all the rightthings.
(28:38):
It's not just about makingnoise about this.
It's about understanding andgetting economic impact studies
done and costing models andproving that there is a
financially sustainableoperational model after the
Games for the facility andthings like that.
So all that work has been doneand obviously lobbying and all
(28:59):
those sorts of things are a keypart of that.
Danielle Spurling (29:01):
So we'll see what happens, but certainly it's
first and and foremost in mymind, that's for sure yeah, I
wanted to ask hopefully this isnot um out of left field for you
obviously there's a quota forthe number of swimmers that you
can take over, and it was 52 andthey ended up picking what.
Was it 41 or 44 that they'retaking?
(29:21):
I just wondered why they didn'tfeel that quota right out to 52
when they had people winningthat might have just been
outside those times.
Rob Woodhouse (29:30):
Yeah, we have pretty robust selection criteria
and everyone knows what thosecriteria are.
And it does open up Pandora'sbox if you change the criteria
for one athlete and still leaveothers at home.
There was scope to maybe addother relay athletes as well,
but the rules have also changedat Olympic level.
You can't actually takereserves for relays and not swim
(29:55):
them, whereas in the past somepeople have gone to the Olympics
and not actually got to swimand some of our relays the
relays are so competitiveworldwide now that some of our
relays we have to swim our Ateam in the mornings just to get
into the final.
It's going to be that tight Anevent, like the men's 4x100
freestyle relay, for example,and we did take the fifth place
(30:17):
getter in that, but I don'tthink we took sixth, for example
, because we probably wouldn'tuse fifth and sixth.
We'd need to use almost our topteam in the heats.
So there's those sorts ofthings come into the whole
selection debate.
There are also World Aquatics,fina, as they used to be called.
They set times as well, and Ithink that some of those winning
(30:37):
times you mentioned weren'tachieved in those events too.
So it's not just the SwimmingAustralia times.
So you know it's tough, justthe swimming australia times, um
.
So you know it's tough, it'sreally tough.
But um, we look at uh, we lookat some of the people that have
missed out, um, for the samereason in in previous games at
the start of their career.
Um, suzy o'neill's a goodexample.
(30:57):
She missed out in 1988.
She got second at the trialsand she just missed the time and
they didn't take her.
They didn't take her even as areserve for the relay, even when
they could have done that.
But of course she went on andhad a fantastic career as a
result.
That kept her hungry and kepther going, and I can't remember
which swimmer it was, it's justat the recent trials.
But they had had a similarexperience four years earlier or
(31:20):
three years earlier, and theymention it in their interview
that that's what spurred them onthese last three years.
And this time they're goinginto the Olympics now ranked in
the top four or five in theworld.
So there are very valid reasonswhy the full team, if you like,
that could have been selectedis not.
Danielle Spurling (31:40):
Yeah, I think that was Lizzie Deckers.
I think she came second at thelast 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 worldchampionships and she's got a
real shot going into Paris.
It's quite an open event that200 fly, isn't it?
Danielle Spurling (31:57):
Yeah, I think so.
I think she's got a reallygreat sort of outlook to her
swimming and obviously thatdisappointment 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 thosestories come out alexa leary and
uh in the in the, theparalympic team and rowan
crothers and others, and timhodge, who's won everything
there is to win to win in paraswimming except that the
paralympic gold medal and hebroke a world record at trials.
And just fantastic storiesbehind these incredible athletes
(32:30):
that we've got.
Danielle Spurling (32:31):
Yeah, I love the mix of the Paralympics in
with the able-bodied and I thinka lot of people were just so
supportive of it.
You know that I've seen in chatgroups 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 atevents, bringing events here to
australia.
There are some events which areseparate, like a world para
championships, um, and parisswimming is not part of world
aquatics.
Uh, that may well, that maywell happen in the future, but,
uh, paris swimming, uh, at aglobal level, is managed through
(33:04):
the international paralympicCommittee at the moment.
But there are events that wewould look to create which do
combine both para swimming andable-bodied swimming as well.
So we're looking forward tothat and I agree with you, it
was fantastic to have bothselection trials at the same
meet.
Yeah, yeah, I think it reallyadded to it and I love the same
(33:25):
meet.
Danielle Spurling (33:25):
Yeah, yeah, I think it really added to it and
I love the fact that you knowwe got to hear from all those
athletes and they were soexcited making the team.
It was just, you know.
It just makes it seem fantasticfrom a viewer point of view to
see all that hard work come tofruition and get on the team.
Rob Woodhouse (33:42):
Oh, very much so.
And, look, we love worldrecords and we love gold medals,
of course, and we'll all becheering from our lounges or
from Paris if we're lucky enough.
But you know, those backstoriesthat we hear and we heard some
of them during the trials andjust listening to the athletes
or listening to their parents ortheir loved ones, and those
interviews, they're justfantastic, aren't they?
(34:04):
And, yeah, it's, those that arepassionate 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 theathlete.
It is a lifelong journey and itgoes for many, many, many years
.
But look, the rewards are therefor those athletes that have
(34:26):
made either of those teams.
They will never forget whatlies ahead these next five, six
weeks or 12 weeks for theParalympians, because it is an
experience that they willremember for the rest of their
lives.
So, yeah, let's just hope theyget over there.
We'll be really proud of them.
They enjoy themselves, theyswim to the best of their
ability and and they come homesatisfied and and have a great
(34:48):
experience and represent us wellyeah, I'm sure they will.
Danielle Spurling (34:52):
I'm sure they will.
Who are you most excited to seerace 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 mckeownrace.
She's just brilliant.
Every time she gets in thewater there's a chance of a
world record.
And even just since I've beenhome, the national championships
in the Gold Coast she had acrack at the 200 IM and the 400
(35:19):
IM world records and not too faroff both of them.
She did it again at the trialsin the 200 IM and the 100 back
and the 200 back.
She's really exciting to watcharianne, of course.
Um, just an incredible swimmer,just so gutsy.
That 200 freestyle if I look atan event you know, molly, molly
of course is just amazing andmolly in the 100 and the 200
(35:40):
will be terrific as well.
But that 200 freestyle is justgoing to be just so great to
watch there.
They're such determinedathletes.
They train in the same squadbut I think they do different
programs and things like thatbecause one's more focused on
the 100 and the other one on the400 than they meet in the 200.
So that's exciting.
I've still got IM in my heart,of course.
(36:01):
So again, kayleigh in the IMs,but also Brendan Smith, of
course, winning the medal lastOlympics and he swam pretty well
too.
And look, there's so many.
Kyle Chalmers is probably theother one.
He's probably one of thegreatest racers I've ever seen,
and I was lucky enough to havehim in the London Royal Team in
the International SwimmingLeague and having Kyle swimming
(36:24):
in relays and you just know thatif Kyle's anchoring a relay,
you've got every chance, nomatter how far behind he is, of
getting up onto the podium, andI love watching him race as well
.
And if he can get on the podiumagain in the 100 freestyle for
the third consecutive Olympics Idon't know how many athletes
have done that, but it's apretty small club, I would say.
So, yeah, all of those athletesand pretty much anyone that
(36:47):
wears the green and gold, thatputs 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 thinkwe should be watching out for?
Rob Woodhouse (36:57):
Last year well, three years ago, the Tokyo
Olympics there was only oneAustralian who had one medalist
of our.
I'm not sure the number ofmedalists we had, but there was
only one that didn't go into thegames in the top five in the
world and that was Brendan Smithwho I think ran into number
seven in the 400 IM.
So it's probably harder to seea dark horse coming through
compared to what we had in the80s with Duncan Armstrong or
(37:19):
John Sieben or something likethat.
But there's some great onesAlex Perkins in the 100 fly.
Lani Pallister she's afantastic gutsy swimmer and I'd
love to see her get on thepodium in the distance freestyle
events Probably better chancein the 800 or the 1500,.
I would think Isaac Cooperdidn't swim that fast in the 100
(37:43):
backstroke to win the trials,but he's such a talent and you
know, if he gets everythingright he could well challenge
for the medals as well.
And Iona Anderson, the youngbackstroker from Perth, world
junior champion last year.
She trains under Ben Hicksonand she's an outstanding talent
as well.
She got into the team becauseshe finished third at the trials
(38:05):
and of course Molly O'Callaghanwas second and and uh pulled
out, um, uh, before the end ofthe trials, before the team was
selection selected, which openeda spot for iona, and I think
she's a chance for a medal aswell.
So there's a few uh, there'splenty more, and there's even
olympic champions I haven'tmentioned, like zach stubble d
cook, who's just um, just soconsistent, and I'd love to see
him back on the podium and, ifnot, defending his gold medal.
Danielle Spurling (38:29):
Yeah, absolutely.
I was really impressed withWill Patrick.
You know another winning boywho came through in the medley
and I just thought he was verycomposed and spoke so well and
obviously he's worked so hard toget there.
So it's so great to have twoguys on that 400 IM.
Rob Woodhouse (38:45):
Yeah, really good .
And look Will.
I've actually never met Willpersonally.
I'm looking forward to doingthat.
I know he's coached Joel Finkquite well, from Melbourne
originally and then over in theUK and he's an experienced coach
.
Joel and Will's in a goodprogram there.
He's got great teammates aroundhim.
He's a big improver.
So, um, yeah, it's, it's.
(39:06):
It's a really tough event thatform on it I am.
He's in the 200 course as well.
I think that the uh, that 400uh with uh marshawn leon
marshall.
I guess from a globalperspective, he's probably the,
the uh, the, the swimmer thatmost people are most excited
about him and uh, summermcintosh.
But uh, um, yeah, will's got aa really big future ahead of him
(39:26):
and, yeah, being an IMO, I'llbe 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 yourperspective on Swimming
Australia matters and also onyour own swimming, and wishing
you best of luck for Manhattanin 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 forfitting us into his very busy
schedule and best of luck forhis upcoming Manhattan swim.
Don't forget to follow us onInstagram, facebook and YouTube
under Torpedo Swim Talk Podcast.
Till next time, happy swimmingand bye for now.
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