At AIS, details make the difference

Canberra: It’s always in the details. The temperature in Canberra was a wonderful 22 degrees Celsius. But as soon as we entered the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) aquatic center, we started sweating. It had nothing to do with the heat of competition and everything to do with the science.

Olympic swimming pool regulations ensure consistency and fairness with temperatures between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius. This range promotes efficient heat dissipation, muscle function and general comfort during training and competition.

That’s why at AIS, Australia’s premier training facility, the pool temperature is kept at 27 degrees Celsius. The air conditioning is set to 27 °C so that the swimmers do not have to cope with a drop in temperature when leaving the pool. You don’t sweat automatically, but intentionally.

Australia finished fourth at the Paris Olympics with 18 gold, 19 silver and 16 bronze medals, but seven of those golds and 18 medals came from swimming. In terms of gold medals won, it was the country’s best Olympic Games ever. That’s what it takes. It’s always in the details.

Cameras cover every part of the pool so swimmers and coaches can watch every stroke – not just above the water, but in it too. There are also underwater cameras and one wall of the pool is a one-way mirror that allows the coach to walk alongside the swimmer and perhaps see things only an experienced eye could see.

When finished with sessions, swimmers can head to the “Rest Hub”. This center is divided into two areas: a dry area dedicated to massages and physiotherapy and a wet area where you can receive aquatherapy, ice bath or a salt water bath that promotes sleep cycle regulation.

This is just a sport. The eight founding sports were basketball, gymnastics, netball, swimming, tennis, athletics, football and weightlifting. Martial arts have been added to the mix, and with each sport the attention to detail is the same. Part of this is also because Australia will host the Olympics in Brisbane in 2032.

The story of the AIS, which covers an area of ​​66 hectares, is the result of the crisis that the country suffered after the 1976 Montreal Olympics, when the Australian team of 184 athletes returned without a gold medal. It was the first time since 1936 that Australia failed to win a gold medal at the Games, and its tally of one silver and four bronze medals was also its lowest since then.

The AIS began awarding sponsorships to top athletes, similar to what India does with its TOPS (Target Olympics Podium Scheme). However, this led to accusations that too much money was being spent on elite athletes and not enough on finding and supporting young talent.

India too has a National Institute of Sports (NIS) in Patiala, but the difference between the two is like chalk and cheese, and if the country is serious about hosting the Olympics, it needs to start investing in this sort of thing immediately investing in infrastructure.

Winning medals at the Olympics costs a lot of money, but it must be spent correctly. India is still massively lagging behind in sports science. The hockey team has come together on the technology front and the results have started to improve, and that’s a pointer that many sports need to take a cue from.

If there are programs that focus on the sport and not the athletes, the country will suffer. The USA’s growth began with the founding of the United States Sports Academy in 1972 after a weak showing in Munich. The same goes for Australia, China and every other successful sporting nation you can think of.

Many are trying to improve sports administration in India, but athlete development and scouting are two important pieces of the puzzle. That and the need to have far more home-grown, high-level coaches than India has now.

“We lack nothing at the elite level, but the problem is at the grassroots level where things are not up to par. We need to start making a difference at the U14 and U16 levels, where talent can be properly formed. That is the reason for the success of Australians and Europeans,” PR Sreejesh, the inspirational former Indian hockey goalkeeper, recently told HT.

This is not an isolated comment. Pistol shooter Manu Bhaker, a double Olympic medalist in Paris, had told HT that India’s scouting mechanism can and should be improved.

And it’s okay to start slowly, but India’s sports revolution needs to gain momentum now. For clues, just look down under.