Lowis sharpens up his natural javelin talent
FROM a bit of fun at high school to now on the eve of Oceania competition, Charters Towers javelin jet Nash Lowis has trekked an unlikely path.
While track and field athletes generally craft their dreams as kids in front of proud parents across regional ovals throughout the country, Lowis’ journey, which began in late high school, has been a pinch yourself moment through a hidden talent uncovered by timing and a bit of pot luck.
“I was just messing around at school in Year 10 at Charters Towers State High doing the events and javelin came out of the blue,” Lowis said.
“Before Year 10 I liked basketball and really liked touch, other than that I just loved being active.
“I ended up coming fifth (for javelin) in Queensland, so then decided I should do some training and my mum tracked down a coach.
“It’s weird, but it’s good seeing how I’ve progressed.”
While the natural talent was evident, Lowis has put the hard work in, with his training leading to a second place in Queensland in Year 11 before topping it off with a Queensland state record and a first overall in Australia to sign off on high school.
Fast-forward to August of 2018 and after producing a personal best of 75.31m to win a gold medal at the World Under-20 Athletics Championships in Finland, Lowis has entered uncharted territory.
Lining up at next week’s Oceania Athletics Championships, Lowis will do so as the 13th best thrower in Australian history after launching a five-metre personal best with an 80.10 at the ANQ Student Games earlier this month, after a third placing at the National Championships in April.
Only the second Australian to throw that distance or over this year, Lowis’ rise continues, launching him into Oceania contention.
However, Lowis said he’ll take things as they come, as he prepares to go even bigger.
“I wasn’t thinking too much about that (ANQ) competition, but it was a good competition to have. I did some good distances, and that gave me confidence leading into Oceanias,” he said.
“But everyone’s been working towards this and this year I had a good throw leading into a competition and I was expecting too much. I went in and it didn’t happen, so learning from that, I know I’ve done the work, so whatever comes will come.”
Leading the inspiration for Lowis is being able to compete against some of the best on his home deck in front of family and friends.
While some athletes get the jitters when competing in front of loved ones, Lowis said he embraced it. “Pretty much all my family and friends are up here and they’ll be all there watching,” he said.
“I had my father there when I rose to that (80.10 throw) and in the back of my head it made me want to perform a bit more. Usually you’re travelling (for competition), so it’s definitely going to help and it’s going to be a very special occasion.”
Following in the footsteps of Australian record holder (89.02m) and Townsville javelin legend Jarrod Bannister, who Lowis described as a “bloody good fella”, the sky is the limit.
However, training 20 hours a week while working two days to earn enough to scrape by, Lowis hopes he can continue his upward trajectory to attract sponsors and really raise the bar.
While he has one eye on the World Championships in Doha in October and the future, the boy from Charters Towers said he wouldn’t be taking his focus off Oceanias.
“I haven’t seen many throws from the internationals, but they’re all capable of throwing 80 metres if they hit the pocket, so it’s the luck of the day,” Lowis said.
“Doha is in the sights, but not really. ... my coach, when she talks about it, it’s almost like ‘you’re going’. She knows I’m capable and I know I’m capable, it’s just about my conditioning and it all coming together.”
Lowis will compete on Tuesday at Townsville Sports Reserve from 5.30pm.