articles

Swimming golden boy dives in for some tough new training

By David Starr, Sydney Morning Herald, 3 March 1995

It is often said that a change is as good as a holiday. For Barcelona Olympian Matthew Dunn, the benefits of both could provide the catalyst for his continuing rise in the ranks of international medley swimming.

The holiday - at least from swimming - began late last September when the Commonwealth Games triple gold medallist returned home after a gruelling global tour incorporating a pre-games swim camp in Seattle, Dunn's victorious golden trifecta in Canada, and his exhaustive efforts at the Rome World Championships.

In the ensuing months, the disappointments of Rome were quickly quelled by the adulation Dunn received for his wins in both medley events and the 4 x 200 metres freestyle relay at the Commonwealth Games.

Dunn's heroic, barnstorming finish in the freestyle leg of his 400m individual medley to boldly snatch gold from Canada's Curtis Myden is one of the truly lasting images etched into the sporting minds of most Australians.

Aside from Kieren Perkins's world record swim in the 1500m freestyle, Dunn's 400m individual medley was considered the best race at the meet. In sheer racing terms, perhaps the best. Certainly, it was the race that would change Matthew Dunn's life.

Financially, Dunn's success secured him a sponsorship deal with Kellogg, while the texture of his social fabric was also about to change.

Sporting functions, awards nights, media interviews and guest speaking roles were among the endless public demands for Dunn's time and presence.

"It was good to feel people recognise my achievements because I had worked so hard to perform well," Dunn told The Northern Herald.

Though based at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra, Dunn, 21, swims for the northside-based Harlequins Swim Club, alongside fellow Commonwealth record-holders Nicole Stevenson and Scott Miller.

During the summer holidays, the trio conducted the inaugural Harlequins swim clinic at Pymble Ladies College. This gave 80 young northside swimmers the chance to improve stroke technique, starts and turns and to hear their idols speak on subjects ranging from nutrition to motivation.

"It was a good opportunity to put something back into the sport of swimming," said Dunn. "Besides, it was a lot of fun, especially with the younger kids."

Dunn's holiday ended when he returned to the AIS after Christmas with his family at his home in Wahroonga.

In swimming terms, the pivotal change in Dunn's career is his decision to train under former Russian Olympic coach Gennadi Touretsky.

"Ever since Gennadi took up the head coaching job at the AIS in 1992, I've been interested in his training methods," Dunn explained, exuding confidence in his coach's experience.

"I've just spent a month in Spain training at high altitude. This was my first experience, but Gennadi's 54th.

"Gennadi has so many options mapped out if something goes wrong."

Touretsky also coaches fellow Harlequin Nicole Stevenson, and Alex Popov, the sensational Russian freestyle sprinter whose graceful technique is revered internationally.

"Training alongside Popov is a constant reminder that my coach is the coach of an Olympic and world champion."

Dunn's first chance to test his new training techniques begins today at the Australian Open Championships in Perth. The event doubles as selection trials for August's Pan Pacific Championships in Atlanta.

Controversy surrounds the biennial event with the unprecedented move by the US, Canadian and Australian officials to ban the Chinese team following 11 of their swimmers testing positive for steroids at last year's Asian Games.

With the titles shaping as a dress rehearsal for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, speculation abounds that the Chinese may even be ousted for the Olympics in an attempt to eliminate drug cheats.

"There has been speculation long before any of them tested positive," Dunn says, expressing the frustration felt by most swimmers.

"It's very disappointing for someone like Susie O'Neil, who finished third behind two Chinese in both butterfly events at the Rome World Championships.

"Susie's basically a world champion, but she doesn't have the gold medals or receive the accolades and honour of standing on that dais as the world's best. It's impossible to replicate that feeling."

Despite a recent virus, Dunn is virtually assured of Pan Pacific's selection, thus turning the public focus on his times.

Having broken Alex Baumann's Commonwealth record last year, Dunn is now closing in on the Canadian great's equally longstanding record in the 200m individual medley. Dunn's personal best of 2:01.52 is a touch short of Baumann's 2:01.42 set in 1986.

Swimming's intelligentsia anticipates Touretsky's expertise in sprinting to strengthen Dunn over the shorter distances, but it remains to be seen what effect the altitude training coupled with Dunn's extracurricular activities will have on his swimming.

If Dunn's form at February's NSW Championships is any guide, it's not a question of if, but in which city he will capture the elusive 200m individual medley Commonwealth record, Perth or Atlanta.