Australia’s stunning success in the 4 x 200m Women’s relay and other Australian relay medals has highlighted the crucial role of the Australian swimming relay camp, held at the AIS in the lead up to the Beijing Games.

Co-ordinated by the AIS and Swimming Australia, the relay camp is the brain child of AIS Swimming Head Coach Shannon Rollason and involves all the stars of Australian swimming coming together to perfect what is a fine art.

At the camp, the swimmers work on all aspects of the relay swim, from the all important changeover to selection analysis.

AIS coaches are heavily involved, particularly when Rollason is the Australian Women’s relay coach and AIS Senior Coach Vince Raleigh looks after the men.

During the camp, a DVD is produced and given to all participants so they can work on specific aspects of the relay during their training.

And it isn’t just the coaches who are on hand to improve performance. The sports scientists and the AIS’s world leading hi-tech pool play their part.

AIS Biomechanist Dr Bruce Mason says that detailed analysis in the pool can have a huge impact on relay times.

‘In the US, relays are in their culture. Here we don’t do them as much, so we need to use science to gain some ground,’ Mason said.

By testing and analysing the athletes force on the starting blocks and timing gates, Mason says we have been able to get the changeover times to .15 of second – right where we need it to be.

Through a co-ordinated approach involving coaches, athletes and sports scientists, the AIS and Swimming Australia have once again delivered outstanding world class results.

Each year, over 8000 athletes from more than 300 teams visit the AIS in Canberra for a sports camp. These include national representative teams, professional sporting teams and visiting teams from high schools and other sporting groups and clubs.