Swimming: Rising young talent sets competition sights high

Otumoetai swimmer Tem Strickland will compete at the Youth Olympics in China in August. Photo/George Novak

Tem Strickland may not know exactly where Nanjing is in China yet but the 14-year-old will do in August when he represents the Cook Islands at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics.

Strickland, 14, has risen up the national age group ranks in quick-smart time, with the Otumoetai swim club member setting some smart times in the 100m backstroke and freestyle events. "I have really got a lot better in backstroke and freestyle now and they are quite equal," he said. "I have kind of dropped a bit in my breaststroke and butterfly. For 100 back I have done a 1-minute 7 and for 100 free I did a 1-minute (even).

"The backstroke time is not far off qualifying for nags (national age groups) and it is pretty much the same thing for free. I am quite equal with a lot of kids my age."

Strickland's parents are both Cook Islanders so that has opened up an opportunity for him to compete this year at the Youth Olympics. "It will be a good experience in China but I am also going to have to train real hard for such a big event like that. I average about 16 hours a week in the pool. By the time I go there I should have faster times and I am definitely looking forward to it."

Strickland is flourishing under the coaching programme run at the Otumoetai club by Stefan Swanepoel.

"Tem has been with me for about four years," Swanepoel said. "For a couple of years we worked on fundamentals but because he is such a big, powerful boy, he relies quite heavily on that strength so it took a wee while for him to start really concentrating more on the stroke.

"He has been doing that for a year and a half now and because he has had that base fitness and has really started paying a lot of attention on the stroke, his progress has been absolutely enormous over the last year."

Strickland, like so many young elite swimmers, has set high aspirations for himself, like qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Swanepoel encourages his swimmers to aim high and has a family motto that fits the bill here nicely.

"My dad used to have this saying that it's not a shame to miss the target but it is a shame to aim too low. So all of the guys in that national squad have got their goals set quite high.

"We have had very successful swimmers come out of the Bay of Plenty, like Moss Burmester, so it is not unrealistic to think that we may have some more in the future."