The duo starts first professional training team in swimming

– But even when it comes to training itself, I have wanted to see a new thinking.

Eliasson’s frustration that he lacked a holistic view, has been gnawing in the back of the head for several years

– In the end, I began to think more concretely about what I think needed to be done.

During a call With swimming friend Jonathan Kling two years ago, Isak Eliasson realized that they had a consensus both in terms of the problems and the solutions.

Together they started sketching on a project. Now they have come so far that for the first time they are ready to tell about it officially.

In August this year, the professional training team « Growth Obafive » will start its business with Gothenburg as a base.

– We want to create something that has not existed before, and which we think will change swimming for the better, says Eliasson.

Isak Eliasson and Jonathan Kling almost speaks in each other when they talk about « growth obosp ‘. It is noticeable how much they have longed to tell.

– Our goal is not to turn swimmers from clubs around Sweden, but vice versa. What we want is to pick up the swimmers in an environment where they can develop, but not only the hard values ​​that their times count, says 31-year-old Jonathan Kling.

– They should then be able to bring the knowledge that they get back to the clubs in the form of, for example, mentoring programs where they share their experiences with the club’s younger swimmers. Because, as I said, we want to work in symbiosis with the clubs, he continues.

Initially, the plan is that nine swimmers should be included in the training team.

– We will inform swimmers about our plans and how everything will work, but it is the swimmers that may come to us and report their interest. In the selection, their own ambition rather than previous levels of results will be crucial, says 29-year-old Isak Eliasson.

– To emphasize what I said before, it is not only what times the swimmer has done that is crucial, but we want to access people who can also attract several young people to start swimming or who have the ability to inspire others to extend their careers, says Kling.

– Yes, and throughout the business there is a holistic approach. We will help the swimmers find a balance that makes their investment sustainable. We will not only focus on what it takes for them to swim quickly at the World Cup in a year, or how to get to the Olympics, says Eliasson.

The day before ours A meeting has taken the train from Gothenburg to Stockholm to present, among other things, their project for possible sponsors and partners.

Two large partners that enable the duo’s version to be realized, based on training opportunities and technical solutions, are clear. In addition, a sponsor has contributed financial resources for the start -up of the project. However, the duo is in search of several sponsors.

– When Christer Gardell talked about his investment in skiers, he said he hoped that several billionaires would do as he, so we hope they have listened, says Eliasson.

He continues More serious voice:

– What we want to make sponsors understand is that this is not only an elite project but also a way to try to fundamentally change the sport.

– We not only want our swimmers to take medals, although it is obviously also a goal, but we want to work to improve mental health and give sports tools that make them feel good while investing.

The swimmers included In the training team will receive financial support.

– We have a lot of good swimmers in Sweden, but few can live fully on the sport. The constant concern for money I think in many ways has been a hell, says Isak Eliasson, who was in the Paris Olympics and who has been swimming both the World Cup and the European Championships.

– But it will not be that we throw a bag of money over the swimmers that are in the team. Our goal is to create the conditions for them to live on their sport, at the same time it will also require some of them.

For more Swimmers should be given the opportunity to invest, the duo believes that the marketing of the sport must be improved.

– Our way of working is a step towards commercializing swimming in the same way that other individual sports have already succeeded. But we want to do it our way with a broader perspective than just medals.

From the start and year out, the training will be held at existing facilities in Gothenburg and its neighboring areas. From 2026, the plan is for the group to have access to a dedicated swimming arena as a base for training.

Like Swedish swimming Looks today, many of the national team swims at NEC, national elite center, train at Eriksdalsbadet in Stockholm. Eliasson and Kling have also done so.

NEC is run by the Swedish Swimming Association with the support of SOK, Sweden’s Olympic Committee. There is a supporting device with coaches and access to SOK’s resource persons. However, the swimmers have no income from the union.

Eliasson and Kling’s group thus become the first private investment in a Swedish training team.

– When we say that we start a professional training team, our definition is that we want to be the first to create the conditions for sports to live on the sport, get an income and be part of the social insurance system.

This is However, no breakthrough group that goes across the union. Rather a complement. The swimmers will continue to compete for their clubs, and the national team if they are selected.

– Given that there has previously been no sensible alternative in Gothenburg for those who want to invest in swimming, I think everyone will win this, says Isak Eliasson.

As Jonathan is a trained physiotherapist and that I have studied sports psychology, we become a perfect mix of what we want to offer.

The training team will primarily associate sprint swimmers. The sprint distances are both Eliasson and Kling warmest about the heart, but the focus also has his explanation in knowledge that Eliasson gained when he trained in Australia.

He trained then Together with the Olympic gold medalist at 50 free Cameron Mcevoy, and briefly it can be described that the training methodology that they developed in 2023 is clearly focused on sprint training, and more niche than is common in Swedish swimming. Last year, Jonathan Kling also joined them in Australia.

We continue to talk about big and small goals when Isak Eliasson with a laugh says:

– As Jonathan is a trained physiotherapist and that I have studied sports psychology, we become a perfect mix of what we want to offer – a training environment where the swimmers develop as an athlete while feeling good in both body and head.

When swimming have Been Isak Eliasson’s prio until the Paris Olympics, Jonathan Klings swimming career has been something of a roller coaster. He has had long breaks both because the body has resigned, but also because it has been difficult to find a balance between training and studies. Now he has done it.

Despite a full -time job, Kling has never had as much fun in the pool as now. Something that made him swam home his first individual SM gold last fall as a 31-year-old.

– Which brings us back to that with sustainable sports. If we can get several Swedish swimmers to continue higher up in the ages, the sport will benefit in general, says Kling.

What happens With Isak Eliasson’s swimming career, a blade is so long. He has not competed since the Olympics, but there are many indications that we will see him in the pool again.

– When we get to the methodology on which our project is based – and our visions become a reality – I will certainly jump in again. But until then, the project work and the establishment of the methodology are the focus.