Swimmer Ryan Bambach (Year 9 in 2022) is involved in our new Flinders Elite Athlete Program (FEAP), which is designed to inspire, support and develop our exceptional student athletes. We support and mentor our athletes so that they are able to embrace the quality education on offer at Flinders, while also performing with distinction on the state, national and international stage in their chosen sports. Here we profile Year 8 FEAP student, Ryan Bambach to learn more about his passion for swimming.
A note from the Director of the Flinders Elite Athlete Program, Ms Lauren Nourse:
“Ryan is a student athlete to watch in the future. He is excelling with his swimming results and it will be exciting to see what the future holds for him.”
Ryan, what are some of your sporting achievements?
"Swimming is my focus. My achievements included securing Queensland Champion and Male Swimmer of the Meet at the recent Queensland School Championships. At the event, I won 6 x individual Gold and 1 x Silver medal from 7 individual swims and collected 2 x relay team Gold medals. I was also selected in the Queensland School Sport Merit team. It is very unfortunate that all 2021 National School Championships have been cancelled.
What are your sporting goals for 2021 and beyond?
"My goal for 2021 was to win a medal at Nationals, but unfortunately the event has been cancelled. Instead, I am trying to achieve good results at State-level competitions. In the future, I aim to represent Australia at the Olympics.
What are your academic goals at Flinders?
"My academic goal is to achieve top grades, hopefully mostly As, and keep up with all of my homework and classwork.
What support do you appreciate accessing through FEAP?
"It’s helpful to access the top class sporting facilities at Flinders. And I appreciate when the guest speakers visit for our FEAP workshops to tell us about their experiences in sport.
Please share some new skills and strategies you have learnt through FEAP?
"I’m learning that not everything is about how you perform on the day; it’s also important how you train leading up to an event.
What has been your favourite FEAP workshop?
"I enjoyed hearing Olympic kayaker, Bo Hanson speak. The lessons he taught us were very helpful and useful in my everyday life. If I can apply them to my training, I can see how it will help me to focus and achieve my goals.
What do you enjoy about the FEAP?
"FEAP is a great program that Flinders has put together. It’s an amazing opportunity for young sports athletes like myself to be able to learn lessons from athletes who were or are at the top of their sport. It helps to learn what they have created and worked on in life to be able to achieve their goals and dreams.
Who are your role models?
"My role model in life is probably Ian Thorpe, as he is an Australian Olympic swimmer who has won five Olympic Gold medals. I have also personally met Ian Thorpe as he visited to speak to us about what his swimming journey was like all the way to winning those Olympic medals."
