UP THE CREEK WITHOUT OUR CRAZY CREW
There’s more to becoming an Olympic star than meets the eye, with coaches and staff often the unsung heroes
AT the top level of sport, when the difference between winning and losing comes down to mere milliseconds, you can no longer rely on natural talent or dumb luck.
Months – and sometimes years – before a key event you need to ensure your programming, nutrition, biomechanics, travel management, psychology and more are all aligned to ensure you can execute the perfect race on that specific day.
Led by our high performance director Shaun Stephens, our support team leave no stone unturned to ensure we can do just that.
They are some of the most intelligent, dedicated and genuine people in Australian sport who sometimes go completely unnoticed.
Anna Wood, who is a twotime Olympic kayaking medallist, is the head female coach and moves mountains to ensure all of her athletes are in the best position to perform at their best.
Jimmy Owens looks after the men’s team and has curated a program that I would argue has become one of the most consistently performing teams in Australian sport.
His assistant coach David Smith is an Olympic gold medallist so brings a wealth of race experience and knowledge to the team.
Shaun Caven, our resident Scotsman, coaches our highly successful Paracanoe team who are a genuine chance at winning medals in multiple events at next year’s Paralympic Games.
Backing up our on-water team are our gym coaches and bulking season specialists Glen Workman and Jesse Fleming.
With our key exercises being chin-ups, bench pull and any kinetic chain movement, they are also well aware of the importance of incorporating “curls for the girls” and “tris for the guys” into our routines.
David Aitken, affectionately known as “Data Dave”, is our biomechanist and one of the smartest guys you’ll ever meet.
Alongside Nicola Bullock, our guru physiologist, and junior performance scientist Stewie Crewe, they ensure we’re always one step ahead of our competitors with programming, recovery, technique, boat set-up, race analysis and more.
From our physio Jan
“Worms” Martin-Parker, who keeps our fragile bodies intact with endless rolls of gaffer tape, to our wellbeing manager Matt Murphy, who ensures we keep a healthy sport-work-life balance, our support team have their work cut out for them.
Add to the mix our nutritionists Greg Cox and Kerry O’Bryan, who cringe every time I admit to eating a whole packet of Tim Tams in one sitting, our psychologist Ruth Anderson, who keeps us all level-headed, and superstar managers Emma Moffet and Tahnee Norris, who have the almost impossible task of organising our busy lives, plus a host of other people, and you’ve got yourself a crazy bunch of misfits who have become like a second family to myself and my teammates.
It certainly takes a village to realise an Olympic-sized dream.
NUTRITIONISTS GREG COX AND KERRY O’BRYAN CRINGE EVERY TIME I ADMIT TO EATING A WHOLE PACKET OF TIM TAMS IN ONE SITTING