By Lucy Waldron
Commonwealth Games and World Cup swimmer, Ben Armbruster, made a triumphant return to his Stanthorpe hometown, bringing a wave of inspiration and valuable insights to the young swimmers of the Southern Downs and Granite Belt.
While clubs and schools from all over the region gathered at Stanthorpe Swimming Pool for the Darling Downs Regional Swimming Association’s Country Titles on Saturday, Sunday saw the pool open for a development clinic with Olympic hopeful Armbruster.
The development clinic, open to aspiring swimmers, provided a unique opportunity for the youngsters to receive hands-on guidance from a swimming star of Armbruster’s calibre.
“We ran through skills and drills with the kids to make them better swimmers,” Armbruster, currently training on the Gold Coast, said.
His motivation to actively participate in the clinic stems from a personal connection.
“I would have loved to have an older person to help demonstrate and give me pointers and now that I am in a position to do so I like going and helping out,” Armbruster said.
An underwater camera is placed in the pool live recording the sessions so the kids are able to clearly see what Ben is doing and also for Ben to provide pointers for the young swimmers where necessary.
It isn’t easy for Armbruster to find some time in his busy schedule but when he does, his favourite part of the clinic is interacting with the kids and answering their questions.
“That way I know they are getting something out of the day, they are learning and will be able to take that back to their home program,” he said.
Looking ahead, Armbruster’s goals for the rest of the year mirror the focus he imparts to the aspiring swimmers.
“We are focusing on the little things to fine-tune my swimming like fitness and cleaning up the technical side of it,” he said.
As he continues to work on refining the technical aspects of swimming, Armbruster looks forward to achieving personal milestones and contributing to the growth of young talents in the swimming community all while putting Stanthorpe on the map globally.
