Just the [Archival] Facts PLC and the Olympics: Annabelle Williams

This is the final article in a series about staff and students who have been members of Australian Olympic Teams.

For the Record “Victory is what happens when 10,000 hours of hard work meet one moment of opportunity,” is Annabelle Williams the saying I live by, explains Annabelle Williams. The saying has served her well: this Years at PLC: Paralympian swimmer earned a Bronze Medal at the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008, 2001 – 2006 Bronze at the 2006 Commonwealth Games and Silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. She School Vice Captain is now poised to represent at the Paralympic Games in London. Sport: Swimming Annie, a PLC Sydney student from 2001 to 2006, credits her Sports teacher Mrs Julia Dangar Competitions: for encouraging her to fully commit to a career in swimming. “Without her I don’t know if I would Commonwealth Games, Melbourne, 2006 ever have had the honour of representing Australia,” she wrote recently. Annie also credits her Bronze Medal 50m Freestyle PLC swimming coach Pancha Thambo as “amazing”. Paralympic Games, Beijing, 2008 Bronze Medal 100m Butterfly However, she didn’t set out to be a swimmer. In Year 5 she became quite serious about World Short Course Championships, Rio de Janeiro, 2009 athletics. “My mum, who also attended PLC, was a fantastic runner so I naturally thought I would Silver Medal 100m Butterfly follow in her footsteps,” Annie relates. “Unfortunately I developed stress fractures in both my Commonwealth Games, Delhi, 2010 shins and in 2004, when I was in the preparation squad for the Athens Paralympic Games, was Silver Medal 50m Freestyle S9 told I was unable to continue running due to the severity of my stress fractures.”

This is when swimming captured her spirit. Her first major challenge came in Year 12 when she was selected for the Commonwealth Games. The rigorous training schedule, in addition to a big study load and serving as School Vice Captain were demanding. Annie – and indeed everyone at PLC – was thrilled when she won a Bronze Medal for the Women’s 50m freestyle S9 event (predominantly athletes missing either their arm below their elbow or their leg above their knee).

Many current students and staff remember her return to school from Melbourne. This is how Annie recollects that day in March 2006: I was greeted on my first day back at school by Dr McKeith who took my Dad aside and spray painted their hair green and gold!! I couldn’t believe what was happening! The day had been declared Green and Gold day and the school hall was covered in posters, balloons and streamers, the students were wearing green and gold and my Year 12 classmates had formed a guard of honour down the middle of the hall. The Year 12 Common Room was encased in green and gold too! It was so overwhelming and humbling. It brings tears to my eyes even now!

Scenes from “Green and Gold Day”, 23 March 2006 Annie believes that the skills she developed during Year 12 – time management, persistence, dedication and goal setting – were the right skills necessary to qualify for a Paralympic team. “I owe a huge amount to PLC for the results I have had since leaving the school,” she states.

These skills have helped her both in and out of the pool. Since leaving PLC Annie has not only completed a double degree in Law and International Relations at Bond University, but she has also continued to attain success in competitive swimming, earning medals at the Beijing Paralympic Games in 2008, the 2009 World Short Course Championships, and the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

On the block In the stands “cheering on the Aussies”, Photo from Australian Commonwealth Games, Melbourne, Training while at Bond University, Gold Coast, Queensland Women's Health 2006 Photo from Gold Coast Panache Magazine, June 2008 Magazine, August 2008

During university her typical training day meant waking up at 4:45am, jumping into the pool at 5:15am, training until 7:30am, then heading straight to uni for 6 hours and then back to the pool by 4pm for another 6-8km training session. And of course there were also gym sessions, running, physio, massages and dieticians. Few would argue with Annie when she declares “Getting up early every morning to dive into a freezing-cold pool and stare at a black line for two hours has taught me dedication, persistence and dealing with pressure”! Annie was selected for the 2012 Australian Paralympic Team in March 2012. She describes the process: The selection of the swimming team is very objective and very cut throat! You have one chance to qualify! If you’re having an off day or not feeling well, bad luck! The team is always selected based on the results at the national championships. This year the national champs were held in Adelaide in late March. I was required to finish in the top 2 positions in my classification (S9 – predominantly athletes missing either their arm below their elbow or their leg above their knee) and also swim under a (very competitive) qualifying time. The qualifying time was a time which would place me in the top 3 swimmers in the world based on last year’s (2011) world rankings! Thank goodness I got there!

At the moment her focus is on the Paralympic Games in London, where she will participate in the 50m and 100m freestyle, the 4 x 100m freestyle relay and the 4 x 100m medley relay. Prepared and optimistic, Annie reminds us all that the best part of the Games is not the medals, but “the wonderful people with different disabilities doing great things”. We wish her well; we’ll certainly be cheering!

Sources: Information from Annabelle Williams, Aurora Australis, Australian Women’s Health Magazine, August 2008; Gold Coast Panache Magazine, June 2008; Australian Women’s Weekly Magazine, September 2008; Wikipedia.