New head coach for Liz van Welie Aquatics

NEW BEGINNINGS: Left to right, Greg Cummings, new coach Daniel Cooper and Liz van Welie. PHOTO: SUPPLIED

Liz van Welie Aquatics have appointed Daniel Cooper as head coach for their new facility and future swimming club in Pyes Pa.

An extensive recruitment exercise supported by ex-New Zealand Swimming head coach Clive Power saw applications come from around the world.

"To appoint and invest in a New Zealand coach has longer term sustainability and shows our personal interest in seeing swimming develop," said Liz van Welie, who is co-owner with husband Greg Cummings.

"We were quite overwhelmed by the number and quality of applications. When you have coaches just coming out of Rio Olympics swim programmes from countries around the world, all wanting a different focus and opportunity to live in New Zealand, we really had a huge task in front of us."

Former head of the coaching team at Sport Bay of Plenty, Cummings took the opportunity to test applicants' knowledge and thinking on a number of coaching levels.

"There are plenty of people in the world who know more than a thing or two about swimming but there are not so many that passionately understand how to coach, and, more importantly, are great at delivery," he said.

Cooper is certainly no stranger to swimming.

Growing up in Waihi, his first competitive coach was Penina Siatuu in Thames before moving to swim under Clive Power with the Harlequins in Tauranga. A top backstroker, Cooper swam for New Zealand in the international Tri-Series against Australia and Japan.

Coaching and teaching swimming has been a focus for Cooper since his late teens. Five seasons ago he was asked to help out with the Te Aroha Swim Club, taking a small group through the winter, one day a week. This quickly grew to three times a week with swimmers competing in a couple of small meets.

Under Cooper's guidance, the small Te Aroha programme has grown to eight sessions a week with swimmers achieving national age rankings, adult/masters swimming and one of his swimmers named best overall male swimmer in the recent tri-series attended by top swimmers from throughout the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taranaki.

The achievements of Te Aroha's swimmers is no accident with Cooper being appointed as head coach of one of the tri-series teams and his team going on to win the tri-series overall.

Working with mentors Power and Graeme Laing, Cooper recently shadowed them both while they were coaching the national team for the Rio Olympics.

"My coaching has been shaped by these two great coaches, amongst others, and my own experiences. I work firstly with technique as you can only swim so fast with poor or incorrect technique," Cooper said.

Power said Cooper's appointment to the Liz van Welie Aquatics team would be a big boost to swimming in the Bay of Plenty.

"Daniel has been part of Swimming Waikato's coach development program and has impressed with his ability to develop skills in young swimmers and to develop training models for more advanced swimmers.

"Greg and Liz's decision to invest in a local New Zealand coach is very important for the future of our sport."