The University of the Sunshine Coast will be cheering on 17 of its athletes when the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games begin this week.

USC’s focus on becoming a high-performance sports hub in recent years has played a key role in attracting these athletes, who will compete in almost 40 events across three sports – swimming, netball and cycling – during the Games.

Nine of the athletes are USC Spartans Swimming Club members, four are from the Sunshine Coast Lightning netball team that is co-owned by USC, three are cyclists from the USC-based Australian Cycling Academy, and one is a USC student who trains at the Pelican Waters Caloundra Swimming Club.

The competitors include students who are studying degrees ranging from Animal Ecology to Sport and Exercise Science, and who receive support from the University’s High Performance Student Athlete program.

Their preparations have taken place at the University’s world-class sporting precinct, which has also been a training venue for teams from Wales and Scotland and for other local representatives.

USC has produced a fun video to encourage its Commonwealth Games athlete here: https://www.facebook.com/unisunshinecoast/videos/1621515337903070/

The Commonwealth Games events featuring USC-based athletes are listed below (note: scheduled times might change).

Thursday 5 April

10.31am – Kaylee McKeown in 400m individual medley heats (final at 7.37pm)

11am – Leah Neale in 200m freestyle heats (final at 8.04pm)

11.17am – Daniel Fox in S14 200m freestyle heats (final at 8.21pm)

1-4.30pm – Geva Mentor (England) in netball preliminary match

2.30-5.10pm – Leigh Howard & Kellan O’Brien in 4000m team pursuit heats (final 7-10pm)

6.30-10pm – Caitlin Bassett and Stephanie Wood in netball preliminary match

Friday 6 April

11.04am – Jake Packard in 100m breaststroke heats (semi-finals from 8.32pm)

11.18am – Kaylee McKeown in 100m backstroke heats (semi-finals from 8.55pm) 

11.47am – Ellie Cole in S9 100m backstroke heats (final 8.43pm)

1-4.30pm – Karla Mostert (South Africa) in netball preliminary match

1-5.10pm – Sam Welsford in 4000m individual pursuit heats (final 7-10pm)

6.30-10pm – Caitlin Bassett and Stephanie Wood in netball preliminary match

6.30-10pm – Geva Mentor (England) in netball preliminary match

Saturday 7 April

10.40am – Taylor McKeown & Tessa Wallace in 200m breaststroke heats (final at 9.09pm)

10.59am – Blake Cochrane in SB8 100m breaststroke heats (final at 9.16pm)

1-4.30pm – Karla Mostert (South Africa) in netball preliminary match

7.48pm – Men’s 100m breaststroke final (may feature Jake Packard)

8.03pm – Women’s 100m backstroke final (may feature Kaylee McKeown)

9.50pm – Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay (may feature Leah Neale)

Sunday 8 April

10.31am – Kaylee McKeown in 200m backstroke heats (final at 7.37pm)

10.46am – Jake Packard in 50m breaststroke heats (semi-finals from 8.19pm)

11.12am – Blake Cochrane in SM8 200m individual medley (final at 8.29pm)

11.19am – Ellie Cole in S9 100m freestyle heats (final at 8.36pm)

11.25am – Taylor McKeown in 200m individual medley heats (final at 9.24pm)

1-4.30pm – Geva Mentor (England) in netball preliminary match

6.30-10pm – Karla Mostert (South Africa) in netball preliminary match

6.30-10pm – Caitlin Bassett and Stephanie Wood in netball preliminary match

Monday 9 April

1-4.30pm – Caitlin Bassett & Stephanie Wood in netball preliminary match

1-4.30pm – Geva Mentor (England) in netball preliminary match

9.07pm – Men’s 50m breaststroke final (likely to feature Jake Packard)

Tuesday 10 April

10.31am – Mikkayla Sheridan in 400m freestyle heats (final at 7.37pm)

11.01am – Logan Powell in S9 100m backstroke heats (final at 8.47pm)

11.45am – Men’s 4x100m medley relay heats (may feature Jake Packard)

6.30-10pm – Karla Mostert (South Africa) in netball preliminary match

9.43pm – Women’s 4x100m medley relay final (may feature Taylor McKeown)

9.52pm – Men’s 4x100m medley relay final (mayfeature Jake Packard)

Wednesday 11 April

9am-12.30pm – Geva Mentor (England) in netball preliminary match

9am-12.30pm – Karla Mostert (South Africa) in netball preliminary match

7-10.30pm – Caitlin Bassett and Stephanie Wood in netball preliminary match

Saturday 14 April

3-7pm – Netball semi-finals (may feature Lightning players)

Sunday 15 April

11am-3.05pm – Netball final (may feature Lightning players)

- Terry Walsh