So last night when I left you we were headed to dinner and then off to the rugby game. Although it was VERY cold I had a lot of fun and it was interesting to learn a little bit about another sport that is played in America, but certainly not to the extent that it is here in Australia. This morning we had to be up early for breakfast and our first lecture of the day, which was give by a nutritionist named Adam who works for the AIS. He gave us just over an hour presentation on the importance of not only a healthy diet, but also a nutritious one. He stressed the importance of carbohydrate build up before intensive training sessions and competition as well as the importance of protein after such sessions for recovery purposes. Adam also did an excellent job in covering the various supplements that the various nutritionists and dietitians find acceptable and beneficial to be used as well as which ones are banned here in Australia. I found his lecture to be the first meaningful presentation since we arrived in Canberra.
After our stop in the Theaterette for Adams lecture we made our way to the visitors center where we began an official tour of all the training facilities on campus. We began in the aquatics center, made our way to the strength and conditioning building, the volleyball practice courts, and then the gymnastics facility. The aquatics center had an excessive amount of technical equipment to time and monitor the athletes capabilities. Currently only 20 specific athletes are allowed access to the pool at any time.
The next building we got to explore was the strength and conditioning facility. This facility had more weights than about three gyms combined back home and they were also much nicer. In this one room there was a strip of floor which was actually the same piece of track that Usaine Bolt set his world record on in the 100m dash. Needless to say this piece of track is worth a great deal of money.
The next major section of this building held the volleyball courts. There are two practice courts in this facility and according to our tour guide none of the Australian mens volleyball players have ever been under 6'5". Unfortunately in 2004 the women's volleyball team was cut from the national rankings because of the lack of performance, so they are no longer supported by the AIS. Up in the viewers section where we were taking our tour was a net that was set at the height of the actual net on the floor. I couldn't even reach the top even if I jumped. Another interesting thing about the first court is that it is the same court that was used in the Sydney Olympics. They rolled up the court and placed it on this new gym floor. It also set a new standard for courts worldwide.
Our next stop on the tour was the gymnastic facility where we were lucky enough to see the athletes actually in training. One of the athletes I got a picture of on the balance beam was the World's gold medalist and is their best hope in a medal at the London Olympics, Lauren Mitchell. Their training did not look very intense overall, but very demanding as far as mental preparation and skill.
The final stop of our tour was back to the visitors center where they have a room to try out different olympic athletes skills and games, which we got to play in for a while.
After our tour we had a short break before lunch, and then after lunch was our 90 minute training session with two women's olympic basketball players. We began our session with a good warm up and then quite a few ball handling skills. Then a few various shooting drills such as layups, 3 point shots, and free throws. After all of the technical stuff we got to have some fun. We played a few rounds of knock out, and then split up into teams to play a little 5 on 5. I forgot how much I lack in hand-eye coordination. Good thing I played soccer for so long I would have never lasted in basketball.
Another quick break and then we were able to take a quick tour of the SSSM (Sports Science and Sports Medicine). This facility houses all of the on site doctors as well as physiotherapists, biomechanists, and massage therapist. This facility is very well equipped and the turn around for almost all of their tests is 24 hours. Unfortunately, because the physiotherapy department conducts research we were unable to take photos in this facility. After a tour of this building it was another short break and then off to dinner. Since this was the first day I had done a lot in a couple of days by the time dinner rolled around I was hungry. At 7PM we had a lecture with one of the actual AIS athletes and how they train on site. The athlete that spoke to us was Shane Mark Alexander and he is on the men's Australian volleyball team. Since volleyball is not a huge sport here in Australia Shane and his fellow teammates travel to Europe to play in their leagues for 8 months (always in the winter) and then spend the next four months in Canberra at the AIS (also in the winter). Many of these guys have not seen a summer in over 5 years. I couldn't even imagine. Cutting my summer short these past two weeks has been depressing let alone 5 years. Luckily, the Australian mens team just in the past week qualified for the olympics, so they will be one of twelve teams competing for a medal. I know who I will be going for as long as they aren't against the USA.
After a very fun and entertaining Q&A with Shane it was back to the rooms for a movie and bed. Another busy day ahead tomorrow. Goodnight!
No comments:
Post a Comment