Storming to Tokyo
IT’S not often you hear Olympic athletes hoping for a typhoon during the Games but if you are a member of Australia’s provisional surfing team, that’s exactly what they are wishing for in 2020.
The surfers, Stephanie Gilmore, Sally Fitzgibbons, Owen Wright and Julian Wilson, have been attending the Team Australia Olympic training camp at Surf Australia’s High Performance Centre at Casuarina this week.
The camp has brought them together in a team environment to prepare for the
ISA World Surfing Games in El Salvador in May, which will also serve as an Olympic qualifying event. Joining the squad for El Salvador will be reserves Jack Freestone and Nikki Van Dijk.
While the Aussies have already “provisionally qualified” for the Tokyo Olympics, their confirmation will come by competing at the ISAs.
Tokyo will be the first time surfing will be an Olympic sport and the prospect of representing Australia and competing for a medal has reinvigorated Kingscliff local and six-time women’s world champ Gilmore.
“There’s no doubt that 2020 will be the busiest year of my life, with ISA games, the WSL circuit and the Olympics but it’s also very exciting,” Gilmore said. “The surf over there at Chiba isn’t that big so it would be good if a typhoon were to stay off shore to generate some decent swells.
“But I’m not sure if other athletes or Olympic officials would be happy with that.”
Gilmore said the Casuarina camp had brought the surfers together as a team under the guidance of Team Australia coach Bede Durbidge and national high performance director and former hockey Olympian Kim Crane.
“It’s also been great to surf on the Tweed Coast in conditions that are very similar to what will be normal in Japan during the Olympics,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore said she remembered watching as a 14-yearold when Cathy Freeman stormed the Sydney Olympics and thinking what a real life “super human” she was.
“Now to be part of such a huge event and to be part of a great Australia Olympic squad representing the country is mind blowing.”
Fitzgibbons, who won a gold medal at the 2018 ISA World Surfing Games, said being part of a group going to the Olympic for the first time brought back memories of her early days surfing in contests as a grommet.
The surfers will fly with the Olympic squad from Brisbane on July 21.
IT WOULD BE GOOD IF A TYPHOON WERE TO STAY OFF SHORE.
STEPHANIE GILMORE