Klamburg Roque Signs on for LA28

Hancock Prospecting Artistic Swimming Australia National Head Coach, Paula Klamburg Roque, has signed a four-year extension, which will see her remain in charge of the team until at least the end of the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics. The position also doubles as the Head Coach of the Hancock Prospecting Artistic Swimming Australian National Centre of Excellence, based in Perth.

Klamburg Roque, a bronze medallist from the Spanish Synchronised Swimming Team from 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, won multiple world and European medals, including several golds, during an illustrious career before turning her hand to coaching. Rising through the Spanish system, she took on the Australian Head Coach role at the beginning of 2023.

Commenting on her re-signing, Paula Klamburg Roque said ‘While my immediate focus is on our upcoming World Cup Super-Final in Budapest and then the Olympic Games in Paris, I am super excited about overseeing the next four years of the program. We have achieved significant improvement in the last 18 months, and I cannot wait to see what we can do over the next four years.’

In her first 6 months in charge, Klamburg Roque set up the full-time Hancock Prospecting Artistic Swimming Australian National Centre of Excellence training program in Perth, choreographed three new routines and has ensured the team qualified for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympic Games. The team has seen a continual improvement in their scores across the 18 months she has been in charge, making four finals at the last two World Championships (2023 in Fukuoka, Japan and 2024 in Doha, Qatar).

This is the first time the team had qualified for finals outside of a home World Championship, including a best ever 8th place finish in both 2023 and 2024. The team also won its first ever World Cup medals, with two silver and a bronze at the recent World Cup in Beijing China.

Artistic Swimming Australia Chairperson, Mark Sinderberry said ‘We are thrilled to have Paula commit to the program for a further four years. Paula and her incredible support staff have achieved wonderful results in a short space of time, and we cannot wait to see the impact she can have over a full Olympic cycle, not only for the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympic Games but setting up a National Team for success at our home Summer Olympic Games in Brisbane, in 2032.’

‘This would not be possible without the incredibly generous support of our Patron, Mrs Gina Rinehart OA, who through Hancock Prospecting, funds our full-time Hancock Prospecting Artistic Swimming Australia National Centre of Excellence program in Perth. Being able to employ a Head Coach the calibre of Paula, have a full-time program and pay our athletes, has been a game changer for our sport,’ added Sinderberry.

The Hancock Prospecting Artistic Swimming Australia National team will compete at this weekends World Cup Super-Final in Budapest, before heading to Barcelona, for a pre-Olympic training camp. From Barcelona, they will head directly to Paris for the Olympic Games. The Artistic Swimming competition takes place from the 5th to 10th August 2024.