The Western Australian Institute of Sport is pleased to reveal the nominees for the 2019 WAIS Program and Coach of the Year awards.
The nominees for Program of the year are rowing, who received the 2018 award, sailing and swimming with all three programs achieving excellent results across age groups at international level in 2019.
Jamie Hewlett and Rhett Ayliffe (Rowing) both find themselves up for Coach of the Year, as does sailing coach Belinda Stowell, Water Polo’s Paul Oberman and Mick Palfrey of swimming with all five coaching athletes to world championship medals.
Program of the Year
Rowing
The WAIS rowing program supported six athletes to the Australian team for the Junior World Championships and a further five to the Under 23 World Championships, with two members of the junior team still at high school. Giorgia Patten won silver at the U23 World Championships and Hamish Henriques gold at the Junior World Championships. Athletes and coaches from rowing have been nominated for multiple awards in a sign of the high quality work being achieved through the program. Seven athletes have been selected for the National Training Centre intake including graduates Annabelle McIntyre, Bronwyn Cox and Josh Hicks who claimed medals at the World Championships.
Sailing
2019 was another successful year for sailing with 10 athletes representing Australia at World Championships in Olympic boat classes. Matt Wearn spent much of 2019 as world number one in the Laser, where he won the European Championships and claimed silver at the Laser World Championships. In the women’s 470 Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries won World Cup silver in Japan and have secured Australia a spot for Tokyo, as has Zoe Thompson in the Laser Radial. At youth level Zac Littlewood finished second at the Youth World Championships, where he won gold in the Under 18 category.
Swimming
Brianna Throssell’s two gold medals and a world record, among a four medal haul at the World Championships in Korea were a standout result for swimming. Brianna became the first West Australian to win two gold in swimming at the one Championships. Significant progress was made within the program with increased athlete engagement around performance support. While a new video system is being installed at HBF stadium to ensure it remains a world leading facility.
Coach of the Year
Jamie Hewlett (Rowing)
Jamie Hewlett plays an important role in pathway development of Australia’s next generation of rowers and encouraging cooperation between WAIS, Rowing WA and local clubs, as well as talent identification. His approach continues to produce gains with Jamie coaching Hamish Henriques and Harrison Fox under a training agreement to gold at the Junior World Championships in Japan in the men’s double sculls. Six WAIS scholarship athletes competed at the Junior World Championships, the first time this has happened in over 10 years.
Rhett Ayliffe (Rowing)
Rhett Ayliffe continued to oversee a resurgence in West Australian rowing over the past 12 months, collaborating with stakeholders across the state to improve the growth in competitive rowing. He also coached Giorgia Patten and Harriett Hudson to silver in the women’s double sculls at the Under 23 World Championships.
Belinda Stowell (Sailing)
10 WAIS sailors represented Australia in Olympic boat classes at World Championships in 2019, as further evidence of Belinda’s coaching success. Belinda personally coached Nia Jerwood and Monique de Vries to their first international medal at the World Cup in Japan, in the women’s 470. Who along with Zoe Thompson in the Laser Radial, have qualified boats for Australia at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Sailing secured another world champion with Zac Littlewood claiming the Under 18 Laser Radial world title. In addition to her coaching she plays a key support and mentoring role to Matt Wearn who has been selected for next year’s Olympics in the Laser.
Paul Oberman (Men’s Water Polo)
Paul Oberman oversaw strong representation of WA athletes across the world in 2019. Four WAIS scholarship athletes were selected in the Sharks team for the World Championships, where they placed sixth, their best result since 1998. Seven West Australian’s, making up more than half the Australian Team will compete at the Junior World Championships in December.
Michael Palfrey (Swimming)
Michael Palfrey’s role in coaching Brianna Throssell to become the first West Australian swimmer to win two world titles in a single championships highlights another strong year for the two time coach of the year. Brianna’s four medals including gold in the 4x200m freestyle relay, in world record time and the 4x100m freestyle relay. Plus representatives on the Australian Teams for the World Junior Championships and World University Games underpins a strong year.
