By Michael Hamann on SwimSwam
To see all of our 2021 Swammy Awards, click here.
2021 Oceania Coach of the Year: Dean Boxall
For the third time in his career, St. Peter’s Western coach Dean Boxall takes home the Swammy Award for Oceania Coach of the Year. Best known for his work with freestyle superstar Ariarne Titmus, Boxall won the award in 2018 and 2019 as well.
It was Titmus’ historic performances at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that gives Boxall the edge for this award. On the first night of the Games, Titmus went head to head with American Katie Ledecky in the 400 free and came from behind to win with the second fastest time in history, behind only Ledecky’s winning time from the 2016 Rio Games.
Titmus’ win also resulted in Boxall becoming an international sensation overnight, with video of his celebration going viral on the internet.
Titmus’ great meet didn’t stop there, though, as she also claimed gold in the 200 free, topping a loaded field that included Ledecky, Siobhan Haughey, Penny Oleksiak and Federica Pellegrini in a new Olympic Record of 1:53.50. Titmus also took silver in the 800 free behind Ledecky and led off Australia’s bronze medal winning 4×200 free relay with the relay’s fastest split of 1:54.51.
In addition to Titmus, several of Australia’s other top swimmers call St. Peters Western their home, including Elijah Winnington, who won a bronze medal as a prelim swimmer on Australia’s 4×200 free relay, and Mitch Larkin, who competed on Australia’s 4×100 medley relay in Tokyo.
Honorable Mention (in no particular order):
- Michael Bohl: The coach at Griffith University on the Gold Coast guided Emma McKeon to be Australia’s winningest athlete at the Tokyo Games. McKeon won four golds and three bronze at the Games, including individual gold in the 50 and 100 free and individual bronze in the 100 fly. McKeon also was a cog in all of Australia’s relays, winning gold in the 4×100 free, 4×100 medley and bronze in the 4×200 free and 4×100 mixed medley relays.
- Simon Cusack: The longtime coach of Australia’s sprint sisters Cate and Bronte Campbell, Cusack is a two-time winner of this award. Older sister Cate qualified for her fourth Australian Olympic team, something only two other Aussies have done, and secured three medals in Tokyo (100 free bronze, 4×100 free and medley gold). Younger sister Bronte also won two medals in Tokyo, including gold in the 4×100 free and bronze in the 4×100 mixed medley.
Previous Winners:
- 2015: Simon Cusack
- 2016: Peter Bishop
- 2017: Simon Cusack
- 2018: Dean Boxall
- 2019: Dean Boxall
- 2020: Chris Mooney
Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2021 Swammy Awards: Oceania Coach of the Year, Dean Boxall
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