SWIMMING INTO HISTORY
Elijah Winnington swam to Commonwealth Games’ glory in the pool last week. Now he's back to juggling studies.
WE sat down with 17-yearold Elijah Winnington to talk balancing university and being a full-time athlete.
MOST teenage students are stressing about exams or deciding on what to have for breakfast. The Gold Coast’s latest swimming star is winning gold at the Commonwealth Games
Q How do your uni classmates react when they find out you’re swimming for Australia?
A. When I made the Commonwealth Games all the guys in my tute (tutorial) were pretty happy for me and it was pretty cool seeing their reaction. But they don’t treat me like some superstar, which is good. It’s good I can still keep close friends while making bigstage swimming meets.
Q How did you balance your social life, swimming and uni going into the Games?
A. Sometimes it gets pretty hard but you’ve got to stay on top of it and prioritise things. If I have an assignment due I get on top of that before I go and socialise with my friends. Everything revolves around swimming at the moment but it comes and goes. I might have a busy period, then I’ve got time to socialise.
Q What’s your favourite place on the Gold Coast? A. My favourite place at night is the Kirra lookout. You can see the whole Gold Coast and the planes coming in to Coolangatta and I love going there.
Q If you weren’t a swimmer, what would you be?
A. A baseballer. I love it.
Q Are you feeling any pressure? A. Ever since I won my first national medal at the age of 10 I’ve had that rising star tag put on my name. Any athlete has to block out the media and put it in the back of their mind and continue to work hard for what they want to do, and not what the media says they are.
Q What’s your favourite movie?
A. Interstellar.
Q What was it like being the youngest male swimmer on the team?
A. It’s always been a goal of mine to reach this stage at this age, so I’ve always prepared for that. I’m lucky to train with guys like Alex (Graham) and Cam (McEvoy) who have been on the team for years now and they’ve brought me into the circle and I don’t really see those guys as older. We’ve all got to compete together.
Q What’s tougher — uni exam or swim meet? A. They’re both hard in their own way and you have to prepare for both just as much as the other. But I think an exam is scarier than a swim meet, just because I’m more comfortable around swim meets. The first year of uni exams are kind of daunting.
Q What’s your favourite uni study food?
A. I’d have to say a cup of tea and biscuits.
Q What’s it like competing in your home town at a major international sporting event?
A. I remember the day it (Gold Coast hosting the Games) was announced. It was always in the back of my head. When you’re 11 you always have dreams and aspirations. But it was only a few years back when I sat down and thought, hey, if I knuckle down I can make this team. And to think it’s on the Gold Coast where I was born and bred, it’s a dream come true.