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Tim Carswell is no stranger to competing at the Olympics, representing New Zealand at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games. However, his role in Beijing will be very different as he takes on the position of Track Cycling Coach to a team of nine athletes.

Even before he retired from competitive cycling in 2000, Tim knew he wanted to go straight on to become a coach while everything was still fresh in his mind. His timing was perfect. SPARC and the New Zealand Academy of Sport (NZAS) had recently been established and were focussed on developing new coaches. “I was lucky enough to be picked up straight away.  I moved through the ranks quickly and was exposed to some great opportunities that set me up for the role I am taking on for Beijing,” says Tim.

Tim’s experience of attending the Olympics as an athlete has put him in great stead in terms of knowing what to expect. He is aware of what is required to be successful – not only from the athletes, but from the coaches too. “It’s time to step up the intensity,” Tim says, “but we also need to make sure the athletes aren’t overawed when they arrive in a completely different country like China, and we need to consider the conditions that go with that, like climatic conditions and time zones. It’s all pretty logical, but you still need to think about things like pollution, which could be a concern.”

Tim has a great team on board from Bike NZ including Craig Palmer, Sports Physiologist, who will help minimise the adverse environmental effects, along with High Performance Director, Mark Elliott. “Having these people around me makes it easier to concentrate on what I’m there to do, which is coaching,” said Tim.

“We started preparing the athletes back in December 2007, when we attended a test event in Beijing. It is very fortunate that all of the athletes at the test event have been selected for the games – so they are one step ahead already. There shouldn’t be any major surprises for the athletes when they arrive,” says Tim. “They have raced at the venue, which was a valuable experience for them, and I was able to use my time there to work out how to approach the final preparations running up to August 2008.” 

So far the team has attended the World Championships in Manchester, held in April 2008, followed by a short rest period. “I made sure they knew that it would be their last rest before Olympics, and encouraged them to take full advantage of it,” Tim explains.

But Tim’s preparation plan doesn’t stop there. After their break, the team attended a ten-day training camp in Invercargill. At the moment the team members are spread between the United States and Europe, with a large proportion of them based in Belgium. They will reunite in Bordeaux, France on July 13th for the final month of preparations before heading to Beijing.

Good luck, Tim. It sounds like we’ve got our track cycling team in good hands.