Behind the news special
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HDPE/ Health and Physical Education: This program focuses on the achievements of young athletes, looking at the personal challenges and highlights of training and competing.
Coming up on this Behind the News sports special a young Aussie swimming champ plus cycling to victory! Topics include:
Swimmer
Young Crow
Young Cyclist
Arafura Games
Coming up on this Behind the News special a future Aussie swimming champ plus cycling to victory!
SWIMMER
Hi and welcome to our special look at sport, I'm Krista Eleftheriou. First today, a sport that Aussies seem to have a lot of success in: swimming. And if you've ever thought about competing in swimming at a high level, you'll know it takes dedication. Sarah found out how much dedication when she had to get up at 5AM to meet a swimmer who is training for the Commonwealth Games.
I'm here in Canberra at the Australian Institute of Sport, a place where some of Australia's top athletes come to train. But if you're going to train at this level, you have to make a few sacrifices, and one of them is getting here at 6:00 in the morning, when the temperature is below zero! Well that's exactly what Stephanie Williams has to do.
Stephanie Williams is a swimming champion. She's been competing for 5 years, and now she's training here at the Australian Institute Of Sport, or AIS, to try to improve her chances of competing at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, to be held in Melbourne.
She trains with a few other swimmers. Their coach is Doug Frost, if he looks familiar, that's because he is. He coached Ian Thorpe to win 3 gold medals at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Training at the AIS is very expensive. It costs 25 to 30 thousand dollars a year for an athlete to train here, that includes food, board, training, physio, psychology, the lot! Stephanie doesn't live at the AIS, she lives at home with her family, but one day that might change.
STEPHANIE WILLIAMS: I'm not real sure I kind of like living out of the environment ‘cos living at the AIS seems a bit like living in your training area, and having too much training probably isn't real good but I'll just have to see how I feel when I'm older.
In the meantime, there's a lot of training to do. As a middle-to-long-distance swimmer, Stephanie is concentrating on the 200, 400 and 800 metres. It takes a lot of work.
We usually swim on average 7 to 8 kilometres a training session. Yeah I get reasonably tired but I guess you just sort of adapt to it after you do it a few times.
Brave words. So what's a normal day?
I wake up at 5:30, I come to training, I go home, have breakfast, go to gym if I have to go to the gym, then I go to school at 11:00, finish school at 3:00, come back, train, go home, homework, eat, sleep, that's everyday.
Wow! I'm tired just watching all that effort. But the question you're probably all wondering, is this even all worth it? After a bit of research, I found out the answer is a definite yes.
Doug Frost, coach: I compare the way she trains to probably equal to anyone else that you know of her age that I've seen and the advantage that Stephanie has is she's got really good skills she's learnt well from her previous coaching environment and she's developed the skills to a level where I think she's got the ability to go on.
STEPHANIE WILLIAMS: I'm not real sure I'm just hoping to go to the trials and do my best and my aim is to make the team so if I do that that will be great.
It's 8:30, and Stephanie has finished her morning training session, so it's off to school. Make sure you remember her face at next year's Commonwealth Games!
YOUNG CROW
We hope to see Stephanie there.
To another top level sport now, Aussie Rules. And often, playing in the best competition means moving to another city. Sam caught up with a footy player from Melbourne who's moved in with a family in Adelaide so he can play in the AFL (Australian Football League).
Do you ever dream of playing in a national sporting competition, like Aussie Rules football? Kicking a goal after the siren? Winning the Grand Final off your very own boot? I'm here to tell you it can happen! We're going to talk to 18 year old Chris Knights, who's already on the senior players list at the Adelaide Crows!
CHRIS KNIGHTS: G'day.
G'day mate.
CHRIS KNIGHTS:How you going?
SAM: Great. So what's the story, you started playing footy, how old?
CHRIS KNIGHTS: Oh, probably started football when I was 10 years old, then just played junior football, bit of fun, and then, one thing led to another and was lucky enough to get picked up by the Crows.
SAM: How did it feel when you got that decision that you were going to be moving to Adelaide to be part of the Crows?
CHRIS KNIGHTS: Originally I was just rapt, c'mon, I got drafted and everything, but I suppose it hit that I was going to move away from my family and friends and everything, and a place that I'm used to and love, Melbourne, but I came over here and it's been fantastic."
CHRIS KNIGHTS: Hey Teresa.
TERESA: Hey, Chris, how ya going?
CHRIS KNIGHTS:Good.
SAM: So what does a trial of a family involve, is that like you have to do the dishes a couple of times?
CHRIS KNIGHTS: No, basically, it's like, meet the family, have a look around, this is going to be your room if you're going to stay here.
These are a few of my mates, and my brother and sister, got a twin brother, Brad, in the middle there, and there's another younger set of twins in the family.
FRANK: Hey, how you going guys? How are ya Chris?
SAM: How often do you have to train?
Sam
CHRIS KNIGHTS: Probably down at the Crows about 5 days a week.
SAM: At the moment you're playing in the local competition in South Australia, the SANFL, for the Eagles, what's the relationship between the Eagles and the Crows?
CHRIS KNIGHTS: I got drafted to the Eagles, so basically I play for the Eagles when I'm not playing for the Crows.
SAM: Do you have any superstitions before you go out to play?
CHRIS: I kinda always wear the same pair of jocks.
SAM: You do wash them though?
CHRIS: Yeah, I definitely wash them!
SAM: What are your goals in terms of football, Chris?
CHRIS: I just want to want to play for the Crows consistently, and I'd love to win a flag. It's probably your dream come true to play your first AFL football match, but definitely the butterflies in the stomach will be out of control.
SAM: What are you going to do once the football days are over?
CHRIS: After football, I'll probably pursue a career in commerce.
SAM: What about for kids who are maybe aged 11, 12, 13, who love their football, what advice would you give to them?
CHRIS: At a young age just enjoy your football, have fun, maybe don't take it too seriously."
SAM: I'd like to have a bit of a kick and then maybe get your thoughts on whether or not I have a career in AFL football."
CHRIS: Alright, give us a look. Yeah, the kick's not bad, but mate, the armband has to go, you've got issues.
SAM: You serious?
CHRIS: Byron Pickett sees that, he'll just take you out in a second, mate.
Young Cyclist
Around July every year, cycling suddenly becomes very popular, thanks to the Tour de France.
The three-week race is run over a distance of more than three thousand kilometres.
So how do you prepare for a race like that?
Kerry meets a young cyclist who has high hopes.
The winner of the Tour de France and the yellow jersey, Kerry Staight!
Okay so this isn't the real Tour de France and this obviously isn't the real winner's jersey. But someone who has made a habit of winning the real thing is American cyclist Lance Armstrong.
He's just retired after winning his seventh Tour de France in a row. No other cyclist has ever done that. His achievement is even more remarkable, because he won all seven after surviving cancer. Not only has Armstrong become a cycling legend he's also a huge inspiration for up and coming cyclists like fifteen-year-old Carlee Taylor.
CARLEE TAYLOR, CYCLIST: To come back from cancer and now winning his seventh Tour de France - I just think that's fantastic.
Carlee only took up the sport three years ago, but she's already one of Australia's top junior endurance cyclists. A ranking, which has taken a lot of hard work and early starts.
CARLEE TAYLOR, CYCLIST: I do about 300 to 400 kilometres a week and I also swim and run as well, so I wake up at about five every morning.
It's not just Carlee who has to set the alarm clock. Her dad Peter, who has been racing bikes for years, helps keep her on track. Well most of the time anyway.
CARLEE TAYLOR, CYCLIST: I've crashed a few times on the track - one the first time I rode my bike. It was brand new.
Luckily her balancing skills have improved. She's won several State titles and placed at the Nationals, while studying year eleven at school.
What is the deal with the $50 note?
CARLEE TAYLOR, CYCLIST: That was my first road race I'd done and I won it. And it was the first time I'd won any money so Dad wanted to put it in there. He gave me $50 to make up for it as well.
Carlee's now set her sights on making the Junior World team next year and would like to race over in Europe, where there are more female cyclists.
CARLEE TAYLOR, CYCLIST: Women don't receive as much attention as guys. An example is like most people don't even realise there is a female Tour de France.
While the women's Tour de France started in 1984, the men's race, which is the most famous road race in the world, started in 1903. A French newspaper came up with the idea to try and get more publicity. The colour yellow was picked for the leader's jersey, because the newspaper that started the race was printed on yellow paper.
Hmm yellow's not really my colour is it? So maybe it's just as well I'm not likely to win the Tour de France. The good news is the French don't just care about the person who comes first.
Apparently coming last is also very prestigious. You even get a special name - Lanterne rouge, which means Red Lantern.
Arafura Games
Thirty different sports, thirty thousand competitors from thirty-five countries - this is the Arafura Games, held every two years here in Darwin in the Top End of Australia. The games are named after the Arafura Sea - the body of water that joins Northern Australia with South East Asia. And like the sea, the Arafura Games joins us with our neighbours in the Asia Pacific region through sport - in some rather friendly games.
Hello Australia!! Bula!
These guys are swimmers. They come from the tiny Pacific country of Fiji - which has a population of less than a million. For some of them, it's the first time they've been outside their country. And they start their games experience with the awesome opening ceremony, probably the biggest crowd they've had watching them.
PATRICIA: That was fun. We just marched out and started singing while we were waiting, it was along wait but it was fun.
RAYIELI: It's a big crowd. It's exciting to be taking part and I feel proud to be representing my country.
CALEB: This is my first international competition and my first time away from home.
Good morning, the bus is here.
It's 6 am, and the bus arrives to take the swimmers to the pool. There are three days of swimming competition all up. Experience is what these games are all about. Like many of the countries taking part, they simply don't get the chance to compete in events of this size or at this level back home.
CALEB: Back in Fiji I'm used to winning most of my races, but here I'm coming last in most of my races.
WILLIAM: My main goal is to improve my times.
PATRICIA: I hope to improve my times, make new friends and enjoy myself.
JENNIFER, COACH: We've had a few that have freaked out on the blocks. They've been petrified. But we know it's their first time and that after that it will be easy, and they see other kids in the same situation.
CALUM: On the first day I won a gold medal in the100 freestyle and yesterday I won two gold medals, one in the 50 free and one in the 50 breast.
The final results make it all worthwhile. 4 gold, 4 silver and 3 bronzes as well as 3 new Fijian national swimming records. And everyone has improved on his or her personal best times. You see, the name Arafura comes from a Portuguese word meaning "sea of gold". Maybe that gold might just come - in the form of more medals for Fiji in the future.
Well that's it for our Behind the News special about sport.
I'm Krista Eleftheriou, seeya next week.
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