The Vanuatu Aquatics Federation (VAF) will take part of the inaugural Oceania Competition Development Camp in Sydney (Australia), from 11-20 December. Vanuatu will be represented by 2024 Paris Olympian Loane Russet OLY, National Head Coach Lachlan Milner and National Assistant Coach Reliana Alick. Organised by Oceania Aquatics, the camp will bring together leading coaches and emerging talent from across the Pacific. The initiative is delivered in partnership with World Aquatics and supported by the International Olympic Committee through Olympic Solidarity, as well as the Australian Government’s PacificAus Sports program.
The camp in Sydney forms part of a long-term commitment to strengthening high-performance pathways for coaches and athletes in Vanuatu in preparation for major international competitions including the 2026 Oceania Championships in Fiji, 2026 Commonwealth Games in Scotland, 2026 Youth Olympic Games in Senegal, 2026 World Short Course Championships in China and the 2027 Pacific Games in Tahiti in the build up to the 2028 (Los Angeles, United States of America) and 2032 (Brisbane, Australia) Olympic and Paralympic Games. Up to 45 athletes and coaches representing 10 National Federations will take part in the program. Participants will train in a high-performance environment and compete at the NSW Senior State Age Championships at the Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre, venue for the swimming at the Sydney 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games, gaining valuable exposure to elite racing conditions.
Loane Russet OLY will compete in the Women’s 50m Freestyle on Saturday 13th December and the Women’s 50m Butterfly on Thursday 18th December. Loane has previously represented Vanuatu at the 2023 (Japan), 2024 (Qatar) and 2025 (Singapore) World Championships, 2024 Paris Olympic Games (France) and 2025 Pacific Mini-Games (Palau).
Vanuatu will use the camp as a development opportunity for National Assistant Coach, Reliana Alick, a former Vanuatu Hockey player. Reliana will be mentored at the Camp by National Head Coach, Lachlan Milner. The camp will integrate a variety of professional development opportunities to further develop the coaches’ skills.
Reliana Alick commented on the Camp ‘I am very blessed for the opportunity to attend the camp in Australia. I’m passionate about developing my skills as a swimming coach and learning as much as I can from both the Australian coaches and my counterparts across the Pacific. My goal is to come back a better coach and share what I learn with my colleagues in Vanuatu and implement into our programs that VAF will run as part of our new facility, with our first ever operated pool, in 2026 and beyond.’
This is the third professional development opportunity afforded to a National Assistant Coach in the past 12 months, as part of VAF’s plan to have a Ni-Vanuatu National Head Coach in the future. Hotel Maki took the team to the 2024 World Short Course in Hungary last December and Clenta George attended the GAPS Camp on the Gold Coast (Australia) in September
Vanuatu Aquatics Federation Technical Development Director, Ben Howard, who leads Vanuatu’s High-Performance and National Teams programs added ‘VAF is dedicated to developing the first wave of Ni-Vanuatu swimming coaches. Camps like this are not only a deserved reward for coaches like Reliana for her years of dedication but also a great professional development opportunity, to accelerate her development. Reliana is a trail blazer who we hope will be a role model to inspire other Ni-Vanuatu swimming coaches. We know Reliana will lead a Vanuatu team to a major competition in the future, this camp will be key to making that a reality.’
The Vanuatu Aquatics Federation (VAF) would like to acknowledge the support of Oceania Aquatics and World Aquatics through their Support Program, Vanuatu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (VASANOC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through Olympic Solidarity funding and the Australia Government through the PacificAus Sports program for providing the invaluable funding to attend the Oceania Competition Development Camp in Sydney.