The purpose of the Coach Accelerator is to develop a small group of elite coaches who are capable of coaching World, Olympic and/or Paralympic champion athletes within the next 5 years. It is a joint initiative between SPARC, the New Zealand Academy of Sport regional operations and NSOs.

The Coach Accelerator programme is aligned to SPARCs High Performance Strategy 2006-2012 and impacts SPARCs high performance mission of More New Zealanders winning on the world stage.

Carded Coach Scott Talbot is no stranger to success in international swimming. A double Olympian and former NZ record holder himself, Scott now coaches leading NZ swimmers and was one of the New Zealand Coaches at the 2009 World Championships in Rome.

Scott aims to continually develop his coaching skills to the highest international levels. To help him with this, Scott is actively involved in the NZAS coach performance programme.

“I have the full support of my Coach Advisor Graeme Robson who meets with me regularly to see where I am looking to take my coaching and is able to help keep me pointed in the right direction. It gives me an outlet away from swimming to talk coaching and I think this is a great benefit as in sport a lot of coaches can get isolated” said Scott.

Scott works with his Coach Performance Adviser across many professional development areas. “I have even utilized Graeme’s physiology background to enhance my programme. I feel though any topic is open for discussion – which I suppose is the mark of a good Coach Performance Advisor” said Scott.

Scott is also finding great benefit from his involvement in the Coach Accelerator Programme. “NZAS has given me a lot of support over the past 3 years, but most recently being named on the second intake of the Coach Accelerator Programme, has given me an opportunity to mix and learn from some of the best young and established coaches and leaders in NZ sport” said Scott.

According to Graeme Robson, Scott is in a great position for a young coach.  “As a former Olympic swimmer, he is already well aware of the demands of High Performance sport and his inclusion in the Coach Accelerator Programme occurs at a perfect time in his coaching career.  Scott has a natural ability as a coach and relates very well to his swimmers – he has a great future ahead of him” said Graeme.

Scott aims to guide and lead the best NZ swimmers to international medals. He says his next challenge is “to coach an athlete to their maximum potential – in which I have full belief of medal success for themselves and our country “. With Scott’s pedigree (his parents have both coached world champions) and track record to date, we can be confident that there are extraordinary things to come from Coach Scott Talbot!