EACH Thursday evening, as the clock ticks towards 6pm, you’ll find former Olympic swimmer Ash Delaney crouched over his laptop, waiting for the electronic timesheet to open for the following Wednesday’s members’ competition at Maroochy River Golf Club, ready to pounce.
Now one of the country’s most respected, successful – and busy – swim coaches, Delaney knows he can play on Wednesdays only in the afternoon; teeing off only between 10.45am and 11.15am; taking advantage of the limited time between his morning and late afternoon pool deck commitments.
And he knows there is such a demand for those particular time slots that if he’s a second or two late, or if his fingers fumble, he’ll be too late, and a rare opportunity to play the game he’s come to love will be lost.
Though swimming is his job, golf is Ash Delaney’s passion.
“I just love it,” he said. “I was talking to a friend only last week, day-dreaming about what I’d do if I won the lottery – maybe $2 million. I’d retire straight away and play golf every day.
“I only wish I’d played when I was younger. It’s such a good mental game, you’re outdoors and you’re having fun with your mates.”
Olympian and now swim coach Ash Delaney (centre) with his 2024 Olympic Games charges Kyle Chalmers (left) and Isaac Cooper.
Delaney, 39, who has lived on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast since accepting an offer to take over as head coach at St Andrew’s Aquatic Centre, at Peregian Springs, five years ago, is no newcomer to golf.
While still living in Melbourne he joined Settler’s Run, and later Riversdale Golf Club, playing well enough to cut his handicap from 24 to eight in the space of just four or five years.
When he relocated to Queensland he was determined to again join a club and, despite having to wait two years for a vacancy, chose Maroochy River, won over by its practice facilities, course and restaurant.
“I’d lost a bit of momentum, though,” he said. “I hadn’t played comps since Covid and my handicap had drifted out to 13 or 14.”
He was off 15 in late January in the midweek Monthly Honours when he had one of those rounds that could have been special. After 11 holes he was three over par and, even after a run of six straight bogeys, was still contending strongly until he came to his last hole – a daunting par four into the breeze.
“I took a triple-bogey,” he said, the horror of such an error still clearly irking him. “I choked – the worst choke you could ever imagine.”
Because of his work and family commitments – he has two sons, aged six and eight – Delaney’s golf these days is limited to Wednesdays, and an occasional Friday or Saturday hit.
The rest of the time is taken up with coaching elite swimmers, notably Isaac Cooper, the Australian record holder for the 50m backstroke, a world champion at the distance, and an Olympic medal winner.
Ash Delaney the golfer, all smiles following a hole in one.
Delaney also coached sprint legend Kyle Chalmers, who has been winning Olympic gold and silver medals in the 100m event since he was champion at 18 in Rio de Janeiro.
He’s delighted that his St Andrew’s swim centre is ‘bursting at the seams,’ and says he’s ‘at a happy point’ with the quality of his high performance squad – a mix of experienced campaigners and promising young swimmers.
He leads a team of four fulltime coaches and one casual and all of them are looking forward to this year’s Commonwealth Games, Pan-Pacific Championships and the world short-course championships. Delaney tips Isaac Cooper to be a strong chance of Commonwealth gold in the 50m backstroke.
And he is a position to know. He won medals at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and at world championships, and is one of Australia’s very best backstroke swimmers.
After leaving Beijing with a silver in the 4x100m medley relay, and a fifth-place finish in the 100m backstroke, Delaney won all three backstroke events at the 2009 Telstra Trials, setting national records in the 50m and 200m. He was an Australian record holder in the 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke, and a former Commonwealth record holder for the 200m backstroke.
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