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2017 | SEMESTER 1
Bond builds its coaching
A-TEAM
TRIATHLON
Mr Dan
Atkins
Dan Atkins is the Triathlon Australia
National Performance Centre Head
Coach, based out of Bond University,
and the Australian Institute of Sport
at Pizzey Park.
He has been working with the
swimming squad at the University
pool since 2014.
In the lead up to the Rio Olympics,
Mr Atkins had triathletes using
the altitude chamber at the Bond
Institute of Health and Sport to
prepare for the conditions at the
humid Brazilian city.
Mr Atkins has both Olympians and
Paralympians under his tutelage
and is excited to grow the triathlon
program at Bond to include amateur
athletes into the future.
Mr Atkins sees Bond and the Gold
Coast as the best places in the world
to train triathletes.
GOOD coaches not only get the best out of
the athletes they have, they attract a new
calibre of athlete to train under them.
That’s why Bond University has secured
some of the best coaches in Australia and
internationally, for its peak performance
sports.
The partnerships in sports such as
swimming, triathlon, rugby, AFL, netball
and soccer put Bond athletes in touch with
some of the nation’s top coaches.
The athletes benefit from a high-end
coaching experience commensurate with
the high standard of education they get as
a student, and clear pathways to the higher
levels of their sports.
This all feeds into Bond’s vision to be the
leading destination for sports education.
“We have worked very hard to attract these
coaches and our intent is to continue to
do so as we develop the Bond University
sports landscape,” says Executive Director
of Sport, Garry Nucifora.
“Good coaching is the cornerstone of
success and personal development, and we
want to foster both attributes in our Bond
athletes.”
The appointment of Ben Gollings and Luca
Liussi to the rugby department is a case in
point. Mr Gollings was an internationallevel
rugby sevens player for England who
is the new coach of the Bond women’s
SWIMMING
Mr Richard
Scarce
sevens team, while Mr Luissi has held key
management roles with senior Australian
sevens teams.
“ I came here for the rugby program after I
saw the world-class people and program at
Bond’s rugby facility,” says Mr Liussi.
“The credibility of the coaches and the
administration is really exciting.”
In swimming, Richard Scarce has brought
with him some of Australia’s highest
rated talent as part of the Bond University
Swimming Team – including Olympic
medallists Cameron McEvoy and Thomas
Fraser-Holmes.
Working alongside them is the triathlon
squad under coach Dan Atkins, who says it
is a key opportunity to have elite swimmers
working alongside each other, even if they
compete in different sports.
“The team has performed well over the
past 12 months and everyone has been
patting each other on the back while also
pushing each other to go further,” says Mr
Atkins. “I believe this is the best place on
Earth to do what we do, and I am really
excited about the future.”
The momentum building behind Bond’s
sports program will continue to grow under
the watch of these top-class coaches as
more elite athletes are attracted to the
University and participation levels among
students increases.
Richard Scarce has been Head
Coach for the Bond Swim Club
since 2015, when he brought a
team of 40 swimmers to train at
the University, including Olympian
Cameron McEvoy.
Assisted by Kyle Samuelson, Mr
Scarce has taken Bond’s swimming
program to an international
standard, which is important as
the University continues to attract
elite-level swimmers through
its Georgina Hope Rinehart
Swimming Excellence Scholarship.
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