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The World University Games are now the second largest multi-sport event in the world, second only to the Olympics. The World University Games to be held in 2025 and 2027, are considered by Swimming Australia Head Coach Rohan Taylor to play a critical role in ensuring Australia’s Olympic swimmers have their best preparation ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Last year’s World Uni Games in Chengdu saw 6517 athletes from 119 countries compete in front of crowds of up to 40,000 spectators.

The Australian Dolphins did not send a contingent to the World University Games in Chengdu for a range of post-Covid reasons, but Taylor has confirmed that the 2025 World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr will be critical for early exposure for potential Olympic athletes, and the 2027 World University Games in Chungcheong will be one of the final opportunities swimmers will have to showcase their potential as members of the Australian Dolphins squad for LA2028.

The 2025 Rhine-Ruhr Games are expecting 10,000 athletes and officials from 170 countries provides a unique opportunity for elite student-athletes to experience an event similar to an Olympic Games in scale.

The uncertainty surrounding the future of the Commonwealth Games further increases the importance the World University Games plays in the plans of Australia’s top Olympic coaches to prepare our athletes and officials to compete on the world stage.

For instance, Rohan Taylor, with an eye on LA 2028, has confirmed his plans to use the 2025 and 2027 World University Games as a key part of Dolphins’ Olympic preparation.

Taylor notes “International exposure is very difficult for Australian athletes due to our location, so any sports with aspirations of performing well at the Olympics should take the World University Games seriously,.

“The event enables our current elite and emerging athletes to compete against the best in their sports and creates a pathway for them to transition from national-level competitions to the international arena.”

Crucially, with the support of their Universities, elite student athletes are able to maintain training commitments while undertaking higher education which will set them up for their lives post-competition.

Mark Sinderberry, Chief Executive of UniSport Australia adds “The university sector supports over six thousand aspiring student athletes, coaches and officials, providing a flexible, dual-career path that strengthens our Olympic movement while developing these individuals.”

Like the Commonwealth Games, the University Games has always been particularly important to non-corporatised sports. These sports, which include swimming and athletics, are some of the highest participation sports in Australia and are at the heart of Australia’s Olympic tradition.

Taylor added “The World University Games is a useful competition not just for swimming but as a broader, village-based multisport competition that is also highly competitive. The opportunity for aspiring Olympians to compete with pressure is valuable.”

Taylor highlighted another valuable opportunity presented to sports by the World University Games sharing “athletes often hit a fork in the road which can end their career – they think they need to make a choice between pursuing University and a career or swimming. The World Uni Games offers incentive for athletes to continue to develop both streams and by keeping them in the sport for longer, it is not unusual to uncover performance increases which simply cannot happen if they leave the sport.”

Taylor, who was in June 2020 appointed as Head Coach of the Australian Dolphins Swimming Team, has led the team to great success at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the 2022 World Aquatics Championships in Budapest and to the team’s most successful World Short Course Swimming Championships ever in 2022, was awarded Coach of the Year at the Australian Institute of Sport Performance Awards in 2023.

He cited his own experience as a student athlete as critical to keeping him in the sport longer because he was part of a team, made strong friendships and engaged in a healthy lifestyle at a time when many young people turn away from sport.

Sinderberry says that a growing body of research from around the world demonstrates that any student – not just those who have Olympic aspirations – who engages in campus-based physical activity to more likely to succeed from an academic and a well-being perspective.

Sinderberry advised “UniSport Australia’s purpose is about driving healthier campuses and research is showing us that the work being done by universities in creating flexible pathways and providing world-class facilities for students and staff with Olympic aspirations is benefiting all students.”

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