It is easy for people to miss all the
elements that go into building an elite athlete and an elite team. Four years
are spent focused solely on a single goal that when all is said and done comes
down to two weeks of the biggest emotional and physical roller-coaster ride you
can ever experience. It’s less than a year out from the Rio Olympic Games and
we are getting down to the business end of things.
Our first Aussie Stingers Olympic Camp was
held over two weeks in Sydney. We were based out at Sydney Olympic Park in
Homebush. It was here that I saw my first ever senior women’s water polo game
when the girls won the Gold at the 2000 Games and one of the reasons why I got
into water polo in the first place. It was great to get a reminder of what and
why I have spent all these hours, days and years working towards. It can be
easy to forgot where it all started and get bogged down it all the hardships
and obstacles that can get in your way.
After a disappointing forth finish at the
recent World Championships we have a lot of work ahead of us both in and out of
the water. While we first week started off relatively moderate in the water,
due to everyone coming back off a break. The second week kicked up gears in the
pool and out, with plenty of meetings to discuss our plan and the processes we
hope to implement to enable us to play at our absolute best individually and as
a team.
We have a great bunch of girls involved in
this preparation process, which will be important in the coming months. Living
in each other’s pockets for the next 10 months will be one of the tests the
team will have to face. The honesty and respect that we have for one another will
endeavour to help us wade through the minefield that is team sports.
With the first camp done and dusted we are
home for a week and then it’s right back into the thick of it with a three week
camp at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra.
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