THIS week the Commonwealth Games will start and it got me thinking who our next Batemans Bay gold medallist swimmer will be?
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Along as the community does not have an indoor pool the answer is uncertain.
Swimmers that train for the Commonwealth Games typically have six to 12 training sessions a week, swimming for long hours.
Even from a young age many successful Australian swimmers were swimming in squad classes most afternoons a week, before and after school.
A UK study into competitive swimming squads found that athletes hoping to get to Olympic or Commonwealth gold train harder and younger than any other sporting event.
“Elite swimmers begin competitive training earlier than in any other sport,” said a Leeds University representative.
“By 11 or 12 they are spending up to 27 hours a week in the pool. By comparison, the England netball development plan recommends no more than four-and-a-half hours of training at the same age.”
For a Batemans Bay teenager this is impossible, because for the entire winter period, pools are shut.
They must travel to either Narooma or Ulladulla to continue training.
This week I had the opportunity to meet with Eddy Hogan a young 13-year-old girl from Sunshine Bay.
Her dedicated family travel with her to Ulladulla so that she can train during the winter in their indoor pool facility.
Eddy is modest girl who simply loves to swim and is humble about her abilities.
She is lucky enough to have a family who believe in her and are helping her achieve her goals, travelling more than 200 kilometres a week so that she can train.
Her family is anticipating the start of the Hanging Rock Indoor Aquatic Centre and hope that by the time she is 15 she will be able to swim locally.
Let’s hope by 2015 we have an indoor pool so that more teenagers like Eddy can chase their dreams.
- Kate Ryan