The Swans found out this week when former Olympian Matt Shirvington took charge of the warm-up drills at the club’s Wednesday morning training session on Lakeside Oval.
The Aussie sprint star, who held the 100-metre national sprint title between 1998 and 2002 and competed in the Sydney Olympic Games, took on Jetta and was put to the test by the Swans speedster.
“I raced Lewis Jetta today, which I’ve always wanted to do and he got me on the first one!” Shirvington told SwansTV.
“He’s such a natural, gifted runner and he’s just so smooth.
“He’s still got loads to improve on and he’s still growing and getting stronger, but he’s such a threat when he’s doing well.”
Shirvington has previously worked with former players Jarred Moore and Dylan McNeil as well as being a sprint coach for NRL club St George Illawarra.
The former Australian 100m record holder said he will work with the majority of the Swans playing group during the pre-season to improve their speed, acceleration and agility leading into the new season.
“Sprinting is a fundamental movement and we can all run, but there’s loads you can work on and there is loads that your body can do to inspire connection with the ground and power application and being able to use that power,” Shirvington said.
“Most of the guys lift heavy in the gym but then they come out here and their technique is off a little bit and they lose a bit of power out of their body and if they don’t direct it correctly then it’s a little bit of a waste of time.
“Being able to take what they learn in the gym and their natural ability to sprint and to really consolidate that out here on the field and have them move into some skills is really fun.”
Jetta, who is hoping to produce a big season next year following an injury interrupted season in 2013, said he felt he was benefitting from Shirvington’ s advice this pre-season.
“It’s good that he’s taking our warm-ups,” he said.
“We’ve learnt a lot about running, and we already thought we knew a lot about running, but we learnt about different ways of running and just using your strength and all your joints in your legs like your knees, ankles and hips.
“It’s about using those joints and turning on all of those muscles.
“He’s got Olympic training and I’m pretty quick myself, so if I can put those two things together then hopefully I get faster.”
Shirvington said he felt the Swans were adapting well to his sprint program, and were keen to test themselves against each other on the track.
He added that Swans midfielder Dan Hannebery was among the club’s most competitive players.
“Dan just puts in 110 per cent every time he does something, and for me doing sprints and power, it’s great to have that because it lifts the other guys,” he said.
“We did a few competitive drills today, and those players who work with him have to work hard, so he’s great to have in the squad.
“We’re only a couple of weeks into pre-season but there is nothing wrong with getting the guys focused and ready to move and ready to run.
“Hopefully we’ll start to see the benefits out in their game.”
