March 20, 2014
Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett will be invited back into the Australian team as mentors after Swimming Australia launched a scheme to help swimmers handle the pressure of life in and out of the pool.
Hackett and Thorpe are in rehabilitation to overcome personal battles they have suffered since their careers ended, prompting Swimming Australia to take a far more active approach to the “life balance” of their athletes.
Former champions Susie O’Neill and Michael Klim were yesterday announced as leadership mentors for the team, with a new “personal excellence” program focused on helping athletes transition in and out of the team.
High performance boss Michael Scott said Hackett and Thorpe would be welcomed back as mentors in the future, but stressed that would only come when the time was right for the Olympic greats.
“We will embrace a number of our past champions in a variety of activities going forward and certainly Grant and Ian fit that bill,” Scott said.
“Whilst they’ve got their personal challenges right now and we respect that they need some space right now, when the time is right for them then we certainly would like to sit down and talk to them.’’
Ian Thorpe and Grant Hackett will be invited back into the Australian team as mentors after Swimming Australia launched a scheme to help swimmers handle the pressure of life in and out of the pool.
Hackett and Thorpe are in rehabilitation to overcome personal battles they have suffered since their careers ended, prompting Swimming Australia to take a far more active approach to the “life balance” of their athletes.
Former champions Susie O’Neill and Michael Klim were yesterday announced as leadership mentors for the team, with a new “personal excellence” program focused on helping athletes transition in and out of the team.
High performance boss Michael Scott said Hackett and Thorpe would be welcomed back as mentors in the future, but stressed that would only come when the time was right for the Olympic greats.
“We will embrace a number of our past champions in a variety of activities going forward and certainly Grant and Ian fit that bill,” Scott said.
“Whilst they’ve got their personal challenges right now and we respect that they need some space right now, when the time is right for them then we certainly would like to sit down and talk to them.’’
