By Keith Dunlap on SwimSwam
Melbourne Vicentre has a new head swimming coach.
The Australian club announced last week that it has hired Richard Sleight as its new head coach, with the hire being made by the State Sports Centers Trust.
Sleight will head down the country’s east coast to Melbourne after having a bitter ending to his tenure as head coach of the Anglican Church Grammar School in Brisbane.
After being hired there in 2023, Sleight was let go by the school in late December.
Sleight then took legal action, filing an unfair dismissal claim against the school with the Fair Work Commission, the workplace tribunal of the Australian government.
As of January, Sleight was believed to be asking for the full layout of his five-year contract with Anglican Church Grammar School, which was set to expire in September 2028, according to The Courier Mail.
The school let go of Sleight and assistant Liam Smith after deciding to outsource its swimming operations to Rackley Swimming Club.
People associated with the Anglican Church Grammar School’s program came out in support of Sleight after his dismissal, including the mother of Thomas Pattison, a swimmer who made Australia’s roster for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.
In a letter to the school, Gabrielle Pattison said it was like “grieving the death of a family member,” and that Sleight was “exactly what the club needed” after former coach Ben Allen was charged with sexual assault in 2022.
Pattison was a part of Australia’s bronze-medal winning boys’ medley relay team at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships
In addition to Pattison, Zoe Ammundsen and William Shepard-Smith were also named to Australia’s team for the Junior Pan Pacific Championships.
Sleight hopes it will be a great new beginning for Melbourne Vicentre, which is based at the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre.
Sleight has coached for Australia at the Junior Pan Pacific Championships, the Youth Commonwealth and Oceania Games, and the Junior World Championships.
He was named the 2022/23 Australian Age Group Coach of the Year.
Among the past Olympic gold medalists who have trained at Vicentre are Mack Horton, Giaan Rooney, Michael Klim and Grant Hackett.
Sam Williamson, who trained at Vicentre, made the 2024 Australian team for last summer’s Paris Games and also won a 2024 world championship in the 50 breaststroke.
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