By James Crook

600-paralympicsMarch 28 - Paralympics New Zealand (PNZ) have announced that former Australia coach Jon Shaw will take over as head swimming performance coach from May this year, through to and including the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.


Shaw, who's most recent role saw him lead the University of the Sunshine Coast High Performance Paralympic Programme as head coach, has had success coaching Paralympic stars in the past such as Australians Rick Pendleton, who won two golds at Beijing 2008 and two bronzes at London 2012, and Blake Cochrane, who took two golds home from London last summer.

PNZ Chief Executive Ross Halpin expressed his confidence in the appointment, saying: "Jon's leadership skills and knowledge of what it takes to win gold medals at the Paralympic Games are key attributes that he will contribute over the next four years,"

"With the PNZ High Performance Swim Programme under his direction I am confident that it will continue to grow and win gold medals on the world stage."

151508356Shaw will work with Paralympic stars such as Sophie Pascoe, who took a six-medal haul at London 2012

Shaw himself spoke of his eagerness to produce an even stronger performance from New Zealand's Paralympic swimmers

"New Zealand Paralympic swimming is going from strength to strength and I am very excited about building on that success." he said

"With numerous world records and personal bests set last week at the NZ Swimming Championships things are looking very promising on the road to Rio.

"Our focus will continue to extend to development athletes coming through the programme and build the number of high performance para-swimmers in New Zealand,"

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