Official Publication of the Victorian Institute of Sport November 2016 SPRING EDITION ISSUE 92 RIO WRAP Mack Horton CONTENTS Timothy Disken MESSAGE FROM THE CEO 03 MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER FOR SPORT 04 MACK HORTON – OUR GOLDEN ROLE 05 CATHERINE THE GREAT 06 STEELERS STEAL VICTORY 07 ALCOTT CREATES HISTORY 08 “DISKO” DANCES TO HIS OWN BEAT 09 SOCIAL MEDIA PHOTO COLLAGE 10 SPRING IN STEP FOR SMITH 12 POTT LUCK 13 TRIPPS LONG JOURNEY 14 LATEFUL EIGHT 15 RUNNING AND ROMANCE 16 BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH - LACHLAN MCKINNON 18 2 November 2016 | Credit Cover Photo: Swimming Australia Ltd Delly Carr MESSAGE FROM THE CEO ANNE MARIE HARRISON CEO, Victorian Institute of Sport As always the Olympic From a VIS perspective the following gives a quick overview of our and Paralympic Games did performances against KPIs. not let us down, providing Target Outcome that blend of breathtaking Olympic Games performances, admiration, Representation >15% 14% utter disappointment, Medals 25% 21% (gold 25%) new stars emerging with Paralympic Games compelling stories and repeat Representation >15% 21% performers with equally Medals 25% 24% (gold 32%) compelling stories. All of this happened on the world These were backed up by some leave no stone unturned to review stage and the microcosm great Top 8’s/Finalists and PB’s. all aspects of high performance that we operate in at the Of course statistics don’t tell the full sport and make the necessary story! We can ask no more of our adjustments to enable them and VIS was no different. This athletes that they arrive fit, healthy future generations to be successful edition provides an insight and in good form to compete; the in their careers. Let’s hope with to our athletes and their performances then take care of the pressure and emotion now themselves. I extend our thanks dissipating we can get on with experiences of Rio 2016 and and congratulations to the 57 constructive conversations. the many years of preparation Olympians and 36 Paralympians Away from the Games, Jacinta which brought them to for their endeavors over the 4 year Carroll continues to dominate their moment of destiny. cycle. Behind these athletes has the waterskiing world, breaking been great support provided by VIS the world jumping record twice in coaches and performance services September and becoming the first staff, contracted experts, along with woman to jump over 60m, a barrier personal coaches, clubs, SSA/NSO’s many thought was unbreakable! and of course their families. Jacinta did this whilst undertaking The observations regarding a Masters degree in Physiotherapy performances and the commentary full time and taking up a new sport on Australia’s Winning Edge (AWE) of weightlifting, epitomising our strategy which was played out in motto of “success in sport & life”. the media, was unedifying and So we look to Tokyo and of course disrespectful to Australian athletes. the road for our winter athletes They have a right to expect to PyeongChang and then the administrators will be calm and Commonwealth Games on the Gold measured in our deliberations and Coast in 2018. | November 2016 3 MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER FOR SPORT THE HON JOHN EREN MP Minister for Sport On behalf of the Victorian The performances of our VIS Olympic Isis Holt – silver, 100m and 200m and Paralympic representatives was sprint, bronze 4x100m relay Government and all inspirational and gave all Victorians Victorians, I would like great joy. Todd Hodgetts – bronze, F20 Shot Put to commend the VIS Under the watchful eye of the VIS, and your entire list some 30 Victorian athletes featured Ashleigh McConnell – gold, 4x100m 34 points freestyle relay of athletes, coaches, on the winner’s podium, bringing home a swag of medals from Rio. support staff, officials and Monique Murphy – silver, S10 400m freestyle administrators on your Who could forget Mack Horton’s 400m freestyle swim, pipping Stuart Tripp – silver, H5 time trial recent Rio campaign. Chinese rival Sun Yang for gold? And then there was Dylan Alcott’s gold Amanda Reynolds – silver, 200m medal double, acing the wheelchair KL3 canoe tennis singles and doubles. Nazim Erdem, Ben Fawcett, And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Andrew Harrison, Josh Hose, Congratulations also to: Jason Lees, Matthew Lewis and Jayden Warn – gold, wheelchair Anabelle Smith – bronze, rugby synchronised diving The achievements and performances Catherine Skinner – gold, trap of all our VIS Athletes are shooting extraordinary. As a state we are Alec Potts – bronze, archery so proud of them. (team) We love watching our athletes fly our Karsten Forsterling – silver, nation’s flag in the green and gold. quadruple sculls rowing That’s why the Victorian Government William Lockwood, Joshua proudly donated $775,000 to support Dunkley-Smith, Joshua Booth – our athletes at the Rio Olympic and silver, coxless fours rowing Paralympic Games. Carol Cooke – gold, T1-2 cycling Victoria has some of the highest road race and time trial sporting participation rates in the nation and I have no doubt even Timothy Disken – gold, 100m S9 more Victorians will be donning their freestyle, silver 50m S9 freestyle, sports gear and signing up to local bronze 200m S9 individual medley clubs after watching their heroes in Alistair Donohoe – silver, C5 action at Rio. cycling time trial and 4000m I look forward to joining all Victorians individual pursuit in celebrating even more inspiring Jessica Gallagher – bronze, B 1km sporting achievements thanks to track cycling time trial the VIS. 4 November 2016 | OUR GOLDEN ROLE Mack Horton’s sensational 400m freestyle victory, early in the afternoon on that first Sunday of Rio Dr Elaine Tor - action, lit-up Australia’s An Extra Kick at Rio Photo Credit: Swimming Australia Ltd Delly Carr Olympic campaign. VIS Biomechanist, Dr Elaine Tor, worked closely with Mack in the lead up to the Australian Championships in Adelaide and the Rio Olympics four months later. The 20 year old from Melbourne Interestingly, while Victorians have Between that Adelaide meeting, when Mack became a household name enjoyed great success in other swam the third fastest 400m in history, and “overnight”. sports such as rowing, cycling and the Games Elaine and coach Craig Jackson track and field, we haven’t won Of course coaches and staff at the came up with a secret weapon. many swimming golds. Perhaps it’s VIS weren’t as surprised as the rest After drilling down into the performances of related to the climate! of the nation because they realised Mack’s main opponents they identified key that the “overnight success” had When Leisel Jones was based in opportunities emerging for the 20 year old been many years in the making. Melbourne she became the only VIS scholarship holder to gain water on the others. Horton was still at school when he VIS athlete to win an individual They planned carefully where he would turned heads on the international swimming gold medal at the change gear whilst holding his stroke and, stage by sweeping all four Olympic Games. perhaps most important of all, they decided freestyle titles from 200m-1500m During the 18 months prior to the to add an extra kick to his final turn. at the World Junior Swimming Games “Mack the Knife”, as he was Championships in Dubai in 2013. Mack would kick three times, instead of his invariably dubbed by the media, usual two. Barely out of his teen years when spent one day a week at the VIS working on his technique in the Check out what happens at that last turn - go he was selected for Rio the feeling to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_ pool and his strength in the gym. was he might win gold in 2016, but lmX-YmyrY. he should be swimming quicker in Five days a week he was across the You’ll see arch rival Sun Yang narrowly Tokyo four years later. road at MSAC. leading as they approach the wall but when Well, we didn’t have to wait for A number of VIS staff helped Coach Mack surfaces after the turn he’s clearly in Tokyo to see the young man come Craig Jackson prepare Mack for front and it was a lead he never relinquished. of age. Australians were still his Rio campaign, in particular, It took four months to perfect that extra kick! Strength and Conditioning Coach settling in to their Rio TV viewing Elaine and the team also focused on other John Tascone, Sport Scientist Nick patterns on day one at the pool aspects of the turns. Mack’s turns were too when Mack stormed home in a Owen and Biomechanist Dr Elaine shallow and he was pushing off into a “wall thrilling finish to snatch the gold Tor (see sidebar). of drag”. The team worked with him to turn medal from the favourite, China’s Tascone spent hours working deeper so he was travelling faster while Sun Yang. on Mack’s strength so that he using less energy because he wasn’t fighting against the drag. They even developed a would have maximum rebound He joins an illustrious list of world first App with Victoria University and Australian champions to win the when he turned, while Owen has Superinteractive which gave instantaneous Olympic 400m title, including been in Mack’s corner for the last readings of wall contact times. Murray Rose, Brad Cooper and Ian few years. So can we quantify the success of the turn Thorpe. Each of them rightly feel in their improvements? Rose defended his 1956 Melbourne own way that they contributed Mack’s longer race, the 1500m, provides crown at the following Olympics in to a victory that has already more opportunity for broad analysis.