Aussie cricket, rugby squads seek help from sailing manager Conde

Sydney, Australia (4E Sports) – After leading the Australian sailing squad to three gold medals in the London Olympics, several teams are seeking advice from team manager Peter Conde, hoping that his success will rub off on them.

Among those seeking Conde’s advice are the Australian cricket team, the rugby team Wallabies and a leading Australian Football League club.

“There’s quite a number of professional sports that’s come to talk to us, which I think has been an interesting situation,” Conde said during the Australian yachting awards where he was named sports professional of the year.

“And that’s great because it gives us an opportunity to learn from what they do as well,” added Conde.

Since taking over in 2009, Conde has turned the Australian sailing team as the world’s best in the sport, with a team that includes 470 dinghy gold medalists Malcolm Page and Mat Belcher, Laser class Olympic champion Tom Slingsby and 49er skiff gold medal winners Nathan Outteridge and Iain Jensen.

Aside from a successful campaign in London, Conde also spearheaded the team’s campaign in the 2011 Perth world championships with three gold medals.

Last week, Conde visited the Australian cricket team’s Brisbane center of excellence and witnessed its talent identification program. There have also been talks with the Wallabies’ coaches and an AFL club in recent days.

“I think they’re smart enough to do what we would want to do, which is go and talk to successful people to see whether they can learn something,” Conde said.

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