November 25, 2024 • 41 mins
Join us as Marguerite, an accomplished sports and musculoskeletal physiotherapist, shares her incredible journey. Fresh from the Paris Olympic Games, she reflects on her role as team physio for the Aussie Stingers, Australia’s women’s water polo squad. With a career spanning leadership at Water Polo Australia and PhD studies at the University of Queensland, Marguerite's story is one of passion, resilience, and balancing elite sports with family life.
Step behind the scenes of elite sports through Marguerite’s eyes. She reveals the adaptability needed to manage athletes' physical demands, especially water polo players prone to hip and shoulder injuries. From psychologists to dietitians, the Aussie Stingers' support team fosters trust and mutual support, crucial to their success. Marguerite’s perspective as a former elite athlete enriches her understanding of the challenges faced by players.
Relive the Olympics through Marguerite’s personal stories of camaraderie, global unity, and memorable encounters with icons like Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz. She also shares her vision for advancing athlete health through her PhD research and Water Polo Australia’s strategies for future Games. This episode celebrates sports, community, and the enduring spirit of perseverance.
This episode of It Takes Heart has CEO of cmr Sam Miklos hosting alongside Head of Talent and Employer Branding, Kate Coomber.
We Care; Music by Waveney Yasso
More about Marguerite's Charity of Choice, Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) Centre for Ageing Dementia Research.
Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) Centre for Ageing Dementia Research
The Queensland Brain Institute is a leading neuroscience research institute, devoted to a fundamental understanding of how the brain works, from its smallest components through to the integrated networks that underpin human thought and behaviour.
Visit https://qbi.uq.edu.au/research/centres/cjcadr/about-centre for more information.
Get to know cmr better!
Follow @ittakesheartpodcast on Instagram, @cmr | Cornerstone Medical Recruitment on Linked In, @cornerstonemedicalrec on TikTok and @CornerstoneMedicalRecruitment on Facebook.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sam Miklos (00:00):
We care for the land and sea.
We care for the energy.
We care for our community.
We care.
Welcome to it Takes Heart.
(00:21):
I'm Sam Miklos and I'm KateCoomba.
We hope you enjoy theseincredible stories of healthcare
professionals making adifference in communities across
Australia and beyond.
Through our conversations, welook to celebrate the spirit of
community and care.
We acknowledge the traditionalcustodians of the land who have
long practised and sharedancient methods of healing,
providing care and support fortheir communities with wisdom
(00:44):
passed down through generations.
Kate Coomber (00:46):
Join us as we explore what it truly means to
take heart.
Sam Miklos (00:55):
So our guest today is a sports and musculoskeletal
physiotherapist who's justreturned home from the Paris
Olympic Games.
There she worked as the teamphysio for the Aussie Stingers,
our female water polo team, whocame home with a silver medal.
She has a master's, a PhD, is aworld champion rower and a
Beijing 2008 Olympian.
She has had an incrediblecareer and a job many could only
(01:17):
dream of.
Welcome Marguerite to the itTakes Heart podcast.
Marguerite King (01:21):
Thanks so much for having me.
I really appreciate theopportunity to come in here and
chat to you guys.
No, we were thrilled, to behonest.
Sam Miklos (01:28):
I don't know if you even know Kate Hamager came to
be here, but I was at a lunchwhere her husband, tom, was
speaking and early on he'dmentioned that you were over at
the games at the time and,honestly, I don't know.
Another thing that he spokeabout for the rest of the lunch
because I was so obsessed withhow do I get to his wife and get
her on this podcast so we canhear about this job.
So we are so grateful that wecan get you in and definitely
(01:50):
squeeze this episode in.
So I want to know, obviously Iwas an occupational therapist
and when I heard about your roleI thought so many healthcare
professionals would think thatthat is just a dream job.
Kate Coomber (02:01):
Imagine if you knew that was an opportunity.
Sam Miklos (02:02):
Maybe I'd still be an OT.
How did that come about?
Like?
Was this always part of yourcareer plan?
Is it a full-time job?
Do you have a couple of otherjobs, like?
How did this come to be?
Marguerite King (02:15):
I guess I currently actually have three
different roles.
So I'm the lead physio for thewomen's program for Water Polo
Australia.
I'm also the program physio forwomen's water polo at the
Queensland Academy of Sport and.
(02:37):
I'm actually a PhD student atthe University of Queensland in
the School of Health andRehabilitation Sciences.
So all of that I guess it allstarted when I graduated
undergrad physio from UQ.
I guess it all started when Igraduated undergrad physio from
UQ and I then worked for acouple of years in the acute
stroke unit at the Green SlopesHospital here in Brisbane, and I
think that that experiencetaught me a lot about human
(02:59):
emotions, really being able totrust and care for people,
really being able to trust andcare for people, and also I
think it also taught me how towork really well in a
multidisciplinary team as well.
So then after that I ended upworking in Adelaide because I
was an athlete as well on theAustralian rowing team, and then
(03:21):
I actually came back to UQ todo my sports physio masters.
I then met my husband, tom, andwe moved to Sydney where his
work was, and then worked therein private practice, mostly in
rowing.
Sam Miklos (03:34):
He was also an Olympian.
Yes yes, so a very incredibleway.
I didn't know that.
Marguerite King (03:39):
Rowing as well.
No, no, he actually went to twoOlympics for sailing.
So he went to Atlanta andSydney and he actually won a
gold medal in the men's 470 inSydney, and so Did you meet in
some like Olympian alumni?
Well, there is a particular barwhere all the Olympians go.
(04:01):
There is a back story to thiswhere I bar where all the
olympians go.
There is a backstory to thiswhere, uh, I he was actually at
the beijing olympics um, as athe head of athlete services,
and unfortunately, when we werecompeting there, we actually
didn't make it through to the afinal, and so I was on a bus
(04:22):
crying back to the villagevillage from the rowing course
because we'd spent seven yearsworking towards this goal and we
hadn't made it and everything.
I was so disappointed and heactually came and sat next to me
and I just remember thinkingwhat this guy is telling me
(04:42):
right now is exactly what I needto hear, which was your life is
not over as an athlete If youdon't get to your goals in that
moment and everything.
It doesn't devalue you as aperson.
All of that really sort of quiteheavy stuff.
But at the time that was areally pivotal moment for me
because I was just sodisappointed in what had
(05:06):
happened and everything.
So we then didn't see eachother for about three years and
then we ended up reconnectingafter about three years and yeah
, and now we have two beautifulboys, lockie and Hamish.
And yeah it's.
I'm really fortunate to bemarried to such a great man.
Sam Miklos (05:28):
And so when you then got to Sydney, then you moved
to Sydney for your husband'swork.
Then what happened?
Marguerite King (05:33):
Yeah, I actually started working in
private practice in Sydney, inNorth Sydney, as a sports physio
as a sports physio yeah, so Ijust finished my sports physio
master's from UQ and I startedworking with a lot of the
different school growingprograms.
So I started working with ShawLoretta Kiribilli in Queenwood
(05:53):
and just doing a lot ofpreventative work in terms of
sort of preventative exerciseprescription and things like
that.
And then I also started to domore sports coverage for water
polo sorry, water polo rowingAustralia mostly situated out at
Penrith.
(06:13):
And then I then got theopportunity to go away with the
under-21 rowing team as well,just before I knew I was
pregnant with Lachlan.
So I was on a water rowing tripand I was feeling really
(06:34):
morning sick.
Kate Coomber (06:35):
I'm just saying you're rowing at this point, not
the physio at this point, butstill rowing.
Marguerite King (06:41):
No, I was actually the physio for the
under 21 team at that point.
So after we had had twochildren, we decided to move
back to Brisbane.
So I'm from Brisbane, I went toschool here and uni here, and
so we bought a house and then Igot approached by Kate Watson,
who's the head of performancehealth at the Queensland Academy
(07:04):
of Sport, to go and work asactually the rowing program
physio at the Queensland Academyof Sport.
And the funny story goes whereshe gave me a phone call and
said oh look, I want you to dorowing, but can you also be the
water polo program physio?
Because you used to work with acouple of shoulder specialists
(07:27):
in Sydney and we have a reallybig problem with water polo
shoulder injuries.
And I was like, look, I don'tknow anything about water polo,
like I've got friends that arewater polo players.
Kate Coomber (07:37):
Quite different from me too.
Marguerite King (07:38):
Oh, completely, it's like I don't know if I can
do a sport that has contact init.
It's a bit scary to me.
So I know if I can do a sportthat has contact in it, like
it's a bit scary to me.
So I was like, look, I'll giveit a go.
And um, that's when I realizedthat some of the really big
challenges in water polo wereinjury management and how
(07:58):
musculoskeletal injuries wereactually um, being managed, and
also the long-term chronicissues that can occur if they
don't get managed properly inwater polo players.
And I had a moment where I wentback to Kate and I was like I
don't know if I can do this, andso she was like, no, no, I need
(08:19):
you to actually sort this out,because this is like a massive
problem, it's like one of ourhighest sports for shoulder
injuries and we don't reallyhave an answer to why it's
happening or what we can doabout it.
So that's how it all sort ofbegan, really.
And so what year is that?
That was in 2017.
So it's just, yeah, just afterthe Rio Olympics.
(08:42):
And so what was happening wasthere were quite a few, there
was a few water polo playersthat came back into QAS after
that Olympics and I was reallyquite shocked at how much sort
of pain and disability theyactually had on an ongoing basis
from their shoulder injuries.
(09:03):
And one of them in particular Ican think of ended up having to
retire because of her shoulderinjury and she was one of the
best shooters in the world and Ithought what a waste like, what
a waste of talent and you know.
Sam Miklos (09:17):
Is that where your research then started to
intersect?
Or yeah, Like how did that cometogether?
Marguerite King (09:22):
Yeah.
So I ended up speaking with oneof the sports engineers at QAS
at the time, amy Lewis, and Iwas like surely there has to be
something that actually measureshow much passing and shooting,
blocking and swimming that theplayers are doing.
There has to be something inbaseball.
(09:42):
There has to be something involleyball.
There has to be something inbaseball, there has to be
something in volleyball.
There has to be something outthere.
And she, because her previousresearch was on using
accelerometers, gyroscopes inwheelchair racing, and she kind
of did a bit of a search andshe's like actually there's
nothing out there for it.
Sam Miklos (10:02):
And you would have had the water challenge as well.
Marguerite King (10:04):
And the fact that the devices at that point
weren't waterproof, and so wewere kind of at a bit of a loss.
And then I realised that onecompany actually then made a
waterproof sensor, and so I waslike, hang on a minute, this
could actually work.
And so that's when we startedto trial do some dry land trials
(10:24):
work?
And so that's when we startedto trial do some dry land trials
and thankfully, one of thereally senior players, bronwyn
Knox so she's a four-timeOlympian Olympic bronze medalist
as well really worked with meas my athlete representative in
terms of, oh, this will work orthis just doesn't feel right,
you couldn't wear that in thewater.
And so that's when we startedto do things like co-designing
(10:51):
pockets to put the sensors incatsuits, working with Delfina,
who are a water polo swimwearcompany, to co-design yeah, the
pocket for the sensor, so youdidn't have to tape it on the
athlete, you could just put itin the catsuit.
Kate Coomber (11:05):
Cat suit, we're just showing us the the cat suit
.
Marguerite King (11:08):
It's just incredibly durable and being
able to to put those things inyeah, it's um, and so it meant
that if we were going to collectdata over a really long period
of time, you weren't having totape the sensor onto the
athletes and having to tape thesensor onto the athletes.
And so I think because I wasthe program physio, when I went
to the athlete group and I waslike, oh, will you wear these
(11:32):
things for 69?
Yeah, water polo sessions,please, please.
They actually said yes, and Ithink it was just because they
realised the enormity of theproblem and they also wanted to
be part of the solution, and sosome of those athletes were in
the Olympic team that just wonsilver, and so Do you think,
(11:55):
like what is the bit that youthink from there that changed
their performance?
Sam Miklos (12:01):
Like what have you learned?
Or.
Marguerite King (12:04):
Yeah, I think the way that the performance
happened was so multifactorial,I think like, literally, the
medal is like the cherry on topand there's so much, so many
bricks below that that you haveto get right.
Um, I think probably uh, acouple of things, particularly
in the last couple of months isprobably Bec Rippon's coaching
(12:28):
leadership as head coach.
I think that she sat the groupdown in January and was really
clear about what herexpectations were in terms of
how she would like this group toplay, and so, because of that
clarity of message, I thinkeveryone really got behind her
(12:50):
philosophy 100%, and when youthink about the number of people
involved with the water poloteam players, coaches, staff
it's a lot of people to havethat philosophical alignment
with.
So I think her leadership wasreally crucial in really making
(13:11):
sure that the group cametogether as it did.
I also think the amount of timeand effort Beck and our
psychologist, adele Langen, putinto again making sure that the
philosophy of both play in andout of the water, of playing and
just being around the group,was really aligned to the values
(13:37):
that the group had set out thatthey wanted to achieve.
Yeah, so which was brave andrespect.
Kate Coomber (13:43):
That's fantastic, we were going to ask.
Actually, you mentioned thecoach speaking to the team in
January.
Marguerite King (13:48):
What is?
Kate Coomber (13:48):
the lead time going into Olympics like this.
When did you secure that leadphysio role with this particular
team, knowing that you weregoing to Paris?
Marguerite King (13:57):
Yeah, I got asked to be the lead physio in
the very, very start of 2022.
So not actually that long agoand so I guess what you really
want is to make sure that you'redoing the absolute best job
possible for the playing groupthat you have and that you also
(14:18):
have really good relationshipswith all the coaches, that they
can trust you and you can trustthem, and that the players can
trust you as well, and theplayers know that you care about
them, not just as athletes, butas as people as well, because
they can.
They can feel that if you don'tlike, if you're on a support
(14:41):
staff and you're there to get atrack suit at the end.
Yeah, I bet I can see through itthe athletes know that and they
can see that, and having beenan athlete myself and seen, and
having seen a bit, a bit of that, go on I guess you're just
really conscious that you don'tdo not want to be that person.
Kate Coomber (15:03):
We talk a lot about having the right people in
health care, and I guess thisis no different in that setting
absolutely really paramount.
We were going to ask about the,the team you mentioned, their
psychologist.
You know how big is thatsupport team for that particular
team?
That?
Sam Miklos (15:18):
maybe more broadly, even the physios like how many
physios are on the water poloteam went with australia to
paris.
Marguerite King (15:23):
I actually don't actually know no one has
ever actually told me the numberof physios that went to Paris.
There were a number of physiosin the headquarters staff as
well that were then assigned todifferent sports as well.
Within women's water polo,within water polo itself,
(15:45):
there's a physio for the men'steam, and I was the physio for
the women's team, so there's oneand one.
Alongside that, in thewomen's's team, we had a
strength and conditioning coach,jordan Desbro.
We also had a doctor, dr GaryKouanis, as well, and the
psychologist, adele Adele Langan, and then we also have a
(16:05):
dietician that worked remotelywith the team as well.
Sam Miklos (16:10):
So and what's your?
What is the role that you do asa physio for the team, like
really breaking it down likewhat's a day in the life?
But then does that role shiftwhen you're here in Australia
versus when you arrive in Paris?
Marguerite King (16:24):
Yeah, I guess adaptability in elite sport is a
really good quality.
Kate Coomber (16:31):
So, which is interesting because I think
people think of, you know, highperforming athletes being very
disciplined and perhaps a bitrigid.
So yeah that's quiteinteresting.
Marguerite King (16:40):
Yeah, having that flexibility is super
important.
So, for example, in my weekhere I would be out at the
Queensland Academy of Sportthree days a week treating some
of the program athletes there,and then the other half of the
days I would usually be doingsome sort of administration for
the national program as well,and then on the other two days I
(17:05):
am meant to be doing my PhDwhich works out sometimes and
then doesn't work out othertimes as well.
So, but I'm still moving forwardwith that, which is the main
thing.
And I guess an example overseaswould be, if we're doing a
training camp, the athleteswould do a morning training
session so I might go and checktheir wellness data to see if
(17:28):
there's any reported soreness oranything that's going on toward
through the night.
Uh, you would then attendtraining and do all the taping
that they would need, if any, um, to do the session.
Uh, you then have to be reallyquite highly aware of the
intra-session content of thewater polo session, because it's
(17:49):
made up of so many differentskills, um, such as, like, they
may do a swim set, or they maydo, um, uh, like a power play we
call it extra man drill infront of the goals, and so the
water play session itself can bereally varied, and so it's
really important to actuallyhave and this is something that
(18:09):
beck does well the planningsheet of what the session
content is going to be, becauseit could be everything from a
higher swimming load to noswimming load very much, except
the warmup and a very high, say,leg work, leg sort of session
load.
So, yeah, having that, knowingthose nuances, is really, I
(18:29):
think, important.
Then we would usually treat,sort of during the middle of the
day, anyone that was needed.
We then do like another debriefto the coach about who sought
treatment, for example.
Sam Miklos (18:44):
And what sort of things would treatment be for
Like?
Is there a common injury?
Marguerite King (18:48):
Oh, okay, so probably hip injuries, shoulder
injuries, lumbar spine yeah,sometimes neck sort of tightness
and soreness from the head upswimming as well.
So that, yeah, because that canthen affect their shoulder
(19:08):
positioning and strength as well.
So, yeah, very heavy contactsport, I believe, yeah, and then
you get different things likedifferent lacerations, bruising,
you name it.
Sam Miklos (19:23):
You've got to surprise people.
Yeah, that's such a Cornealabrasions, you know.
Yeah, and probably a lothappens underneath the water
that all of us don't see.
Marguerite King (19:32):
Yeah, absolutely yeah, yeah, but I
yeah and like it's yeah, I thinkit's from discussing it with
the athletes, because obviouslyI haven't actually played water
polo.
It's just considered part ofthe game.
Sam Miklos (19:47):
And was that coming from rowing?
Yeah, did you have to get inand play a game to?
Catch some awareness.
Marguerite King (19:53):
Well, I haven't actually played a game at all,
but what I started to do was toreally go and just watch a lot
of water polo and watch a lot oftraining and talk to a lot of
coaches and really just try andunderstand the different sort of
injury epidemiology of waterpolo as well.
(20:16):
So it was more just a lot ofwatching, discussing that kind
of thing, I think, more than megetting involved with the team
and having a go.
Because I think they would find,like me, swimming very, very
funny to watch.
I can say that.
Kate Coomber (20:34):
I'm sure, though, that they would.
The fact that you have beenthere competing yourself, albeit
a different sport, would reallyhelp with that team
relationship and buy-in.
Do you think that that's areally important factor, that
you've been in their shoesessentially?
Marguerite King (20:49):
Yeah, I think so.
I think it's appreciation oflike you know like, regardless
of the sport, like you know whathard training feels like and
you know that feeling of fatiguewhen you've just done three
weeks of hard training and youcan't even talk properly.
Yeah, but I think what waslovely about the staff group we
had in Paris was Rebecca Rippon,who's obviously she's an
(21:12):
Olympic bronze medalist inwomen's water polo herself.
She competed in two Olympics.
Taryn Woods she's an Olympicgold medalist in women's water
polo.
The assistant coach, eddieDennis, and he's another
Olympian from the 2000 Olympics.
Our manager was in the 2000women's water polo team.
Sam Miklos (21:33):
Is it a prerequisite or it's just the way it?
Marguerite King (21:34):
happened.
Kate Coomber (21:35):
It was just the way it happened.
What?
An incredible group.
Marguerite King (21:38):
Yeah, a really incredible group of people who
had been former athletes, and soI think that definitely
contributed to no one reallygetting too overawed by the
Olympics as a staff member,which can happen, like for sure.
Like you can see everyone sortof, so some certain people, if
(22:00):
you've never been in thatsituation before, can be a
little bit deer in headlights.
Kate Coomber (22:04):
I'd love to dive into that.
I think people are sointerested to know what's it
like, how does it feel when youapproach, when you arrive in
Europe.
I assume there's lead time,training camps, things like that
.
But once the Olympics starts,you know how does it feel.
Marguerite King (22:22):
I think I can only like speak for myself, but
it's kind of you kind of justput the blinkers on and really
stay focused on what reallymatters, because I think it's
very at the Olympics it's reallyeasy to get distracted, I think
both as an athlete and a staffmember and Adele, our
psychologist, they well she dida lot of work with our group
(22:44):
staff and athletes on beingkeeping that sort of vision
forward and being able to notget distracted when it really
counted and also being able togo through the cycles of emotion
as you do the tournament.
So, for example, women's waterpolo, we play day on, day off
with the men, and so you're sortof on this 40-year-old yeah.
Kate Coomber (23:08):
What do you do?
Sam Miklos (23:08):
in the daily time.
Kate Coomber (23:10):
Are you spectating for others?
No, You're just in the zonefocused.
Marguerite King (23:17):
Yeah, like, yeah, I didn't go and watch
anything or anything like that,and the coaches were all working
so hard during that perioddoing video analysis.
So, yeah, I think it's reallyeasy to like get distracted by
the shiny.
Shiny as Adele Corslett.
Yeah, yeah, I think it's reallyeasy to like get distracted by
the shiny shiny as AdeleCorslett yeah yeah, because
(23:37):
you're there to do a job, ohexactly.
And it's a job that everybodyathletes and staff have worked
so hard to get to that pointwhere you have the possibility
of succeeding in what you wantand you can't kind of let
different things get in the wayof that.
Yeah, which is where I thinkthe staff like a lot of the
(24:00):
staff being former athletes theyweren't overall with that
situation.
They could keep focus and thenmodel that behaviour to the
athletes as well.
Sam Miklos (24:09):
So are you all together in the village,
together Like the opening andclosing ceremonies.
Are you all still together?
And even those opening?
Kate Coomber (24:16):
ceremonies.
If you think about having to befocused, that must be a huge
distraction in itself.
That you participate in them,yeah, well, we actually didn't.
Marguerite King (24:24):
Awesome, yeah, so we actually didn't.
Sam Miklos (24:28):
Yeah, so you don't attend the staff don't attend
any, or even a spectator.
Marguerite King (24:33):
Well, I think what we did is discuss it as a
staff group and we decided thatwe wouldn't do the opening and
closing ceremonies andeverything.
Sam Miklos (24:43):
What was your reasoning behind that?
Marguerite King (24:49):
I think it was like at the start I think you're
highly aware of you've only gota finite amount of energy and
you can't spend it on you knowwhat.
Sam Miklos (25:02):
I mean.
Marguerite King (25:03):
Because going to an opening ceremony is quite
long.
It's quite.
You know, it's quite a longprocess.
Yeah, and we were starting tocompete very close to the
opening ceremony and so as agroup we couldn't really spend
that energy on that.
Kate Coomber (25:21):
And then what happens when your events are
over, your team's events areover.
What happens then?
Marguerite King (25:27):
Well, we go for essentially basically the whole
two weeks.
So we kind of watch peoplestart and then finish way before
us and everything and do theythen flip to a spectator and go
and see things in their minds,or is there that process?
Yeah, so I think the rule forthe team this time the whole
(25:50):
Olympique team was they had toleave the village within 48
hours of their event concludingand then they could come back
for the closing ceremony.
Yeah, so, and that's some, Ibelieve, just to make sure that
the people in the village, theones that are still competing,
they can stay focused, they canget enough sleep, all that kind
(26:11):
of, all those kinds of sort offactors.
Kate Coomber (26:13):
I think that makes sense because you can imagine
the mindset after you're donecompletely shifts to those who
are in the zone, who areeverything ahead of them.
You can want them out, get out.
Sam Miklos (26:22):
I'm focused.
What about you mentioned aboutyour experience and being really
disappointed?
The team did an incredible job,and then Silva is still
incredible, but is there a senseof disappointment where they're
like oh, we've been here forgold, or is it just we're so
thrilled with that?
Marguerite King (26:43):
I can't really speak for the athletes at all,
but I think that you know it'squite difficult when the last
game that you play is the gamethat you lose.
Sam Miklos (26:55):
Because they did so well, undefeated, all the way.
Marguerite King (26:59):
Exactly exactly like that group of Spanish
players.
They are quite a bit older thanour group and also they have
been in the mix trying to winthat Olympic gold medal for
three cycles, and so, yeah,that's something that else, like
(27:21):
you, have to factor in as well.
So, but I think you know, likeI don't personally, when I look
at the team winning silver, I amjust so proud of the fact that
in those really key momentswhere people, where players,
needed to do what they needed todo, there was just unwavering
(27:43):
confidence that they could do it, and also that that being able
to execute in the moment is justso hard, yeah.
Kate Coomber (27:49):
It's just like any athlete can appreciate.
Marguerite King (27:52):
So many variables and everything, and so
the fact that you knowdifferent players executed in
that moment and weren'toverruled by the situation or
anything like that, that justmakes my heart sing, because
that is just so difficult to doin any sport.
Kate Coomber (28:08):
Yeah, and credit to the support team.
By the sounds of you know, Ithink there's obviously a lot to
be proud of.
Sam Miklos (28:14):
How do you come down too?
From that I mean like,particularly because you were
there for that whole two-weekperiod undefeated, undefeated.
Kate Coomber (28:22):
And the intense process in the lead-up to even
get there.
Yeah, it's obviously incrediblyintense.
Marguerite King (28:26):
Yeah, we were away for seven weeks in total
and the last two weeks were theactual Olympics.
So we actually had a tournamentin Greece which the team won,
and I think that tournament wasAfter the Olympics oh no, this
was before the Olympics, ohsorry.
Sam Miklos (28:42):
Okay, yeah, before the.
Marguerite King (28:43):
Olympics.
Yeah, and I think thattournament was really crucial
because the first game we playedwas against Hungary and they're
a very good team and the teamwas in the first quarter we were
up like five nil and it wasjust like wow, okay, like I
think it was, there's somethinghere.
Yeah, there's something here,and I think it was.
(29:04):
That was when you could startto see everything, all the
blocks and bricks starting tocome together and everything,
and I could, yeah, you could see, you know, I think the coaches
seeing like the fruits of theirlabour, it really is well,
because I was like, oh, wow,this is, this is actually
something special, because Ihaven't seen, necessarily seen
(29:25):
the team like be so cohesive andeverything together.
Sam Miklos (29:28):
So and then at the end closing ceremony.
See you all later.
Yeah, and you've been away from.
Kate Coomber (29:34):
I assume there's a lot of people away from
children like yourself and lotsof other people away from their
families, yeah, no, absolutely.
Marguerite King (29:41):
and like staff and like, and players as well,
like they're away from theirfamilies as well.
So, and like one of the players, keisha Gofers, she had a, you
know, she had a baby this cycleand so she had been away from
her child for a period of timeand, thankfully, tulare was over
(30:01):
in Paris, you know, withKeisha's husband, scott.
So I think, yeah, the supportteam adjacent to everybody is
really really extensive.
Sam Miklos (30:15):
Yeah, can I ask one thing before we talk about, like
, where to now?
But you talked about no one'sdistracted by the shiny lights.
Is there an athlete or someonethat you saw over there that you
went?
Oh, hang on, I just need aminute.
You talked about no one'sdistracted by the shiny lights.
Is there an athlete or someonethat you saw over there that you
went?
Oh, hang on, I just need aminute.
Marguerite King (30:33):
Like I've just seen.
I don't know LeBron James walkpast?
Sam Miklos (30:34):
or are you all just really cool, like you're all so
focused?
Is it just us on the other side?
Marguerite King (30:42):
No, I definitely had a moment.
Kate Coomber (30:43):
Oh, thank, God Please share.
Marguerite King (30:48):
I was speaking to Tom on FaceTime and I was
walking down one of the roads inthe village and on that road
was the Spanish team apartmentblock and Rafael Nadal and
Carlos Alcaraz were walkingtowards me and I sort of looked
into the camera and Tom's likewhat's wrong?
(31:09):
And I'm like you know?
And then I sort of turned thecamera that way and he's like,
is that Rafael Nadal?
I was like yep.
Sam Miklos (31:20):
Yeah been cool, so focused.
Marguerite King (31:22):
So cool yeah exactly, and he was like oh my
God.
So yeah, it was yeah.
You're still human.
That was my moment where I waslike oh gosh, but I could see so
many people were coming up tohim trying to get autographs.
I was like I don't want to bethat person.
Sam Miklos (31:38):
I would have been the same yeah.
Kate Coomber (31:41):
Really True.
Marguerite King (31:47):
Maybe for like a minute.
Yeah, just seeing the two ofthem together, just like having
a chat, walking down the olympic, it's surreal.
Kate Coomber (31:50):
I imagine just all of the most high performing
athletes in the world alldescend on this one small space
essentially amazing.
I just, I just can't imagine.
You know we came into workevery day.
Everyone would be talking aboutit every single morning.
What did you see last night?
What were the highlights?
What did you do?
You know it's something thatthe entire world gets behind.
Marguerite King (32:11):
And I think it also brings an amazing sense of
solidarity to the world as well.
I think, like just being there,I was there.
When I was there I was actuallythinking there's not many
things in the world that reallybring the whole world together
yeah, and goosebumps youknow and you're sort of seeing
(32:31):
different people, especiallywhen you can see like athletes
trading pins with each otherthat wouldn't necessarily speak
for each other, you know, inother situations, and so you're
like, oh you know, there's gotto be something to you know to
say for things, something as bigas the Olympics which actually
brings the whole world together.
When there's I guess, there'sjust so much division and
(32:54):
everything like that at themoment, what did you say?
Sam Miklos (32:57):
the trading pins.
Marguerite King (32:58):
Yeah, so you get given pins, like with the
Australian Olympic team symbolson it, and each country gives
athletes and staff members pinsand there's like a pin trading
economy at the Olympics.
Wow, yeah, so where you end up.
Sam Miklos (33:19):
I thought it was more like jabs.
Yeah, that's right.
I'm sorry, we have to clarifythat.
Marguerite King (33:24):
No, just like special pins, and so you might
want a pin from Costa Rica, andso if you see a Costa Rican
athlete, you may be able to gooff and say, oh, do you have a
pin?
You know we could trade, and sothen it's like Pokemon cards.
Yeah kind of like that.
And so with the lanyard whereyour accreditation sits, you
(33:45):
actually end up adding all thepins from the different
countries around it.
So I still have my one fromBeijing.
I know Tom has his one fromSydney as well.
Sam Miklos (33:53):
We should have, and we asked you before we started.
But as part of the staff youdon't get a medal.
No, but you did get a beautifulgift from the team.
Marguerite King (34:05):
Yes, so I brought along today the Olympic
team catsuit that has all thesignatures of the team on it and
that is definitely going to beput up framed pride of place.
Kate Coomber (34:19):
Yeah, absolutely yeah, here you go.
It's just amazing, isn't itLike?
Marguerite King (34:22):
the, the fabric's amazing, isn't it?
Yeah, all the signatures.
Sam Miklos (34:28):
That would be beautiful, framed as a lovely
memory.
Marguerite King (34:31):
Yeah, and I think I loved each play's
signature on it, because itactually reminds me of all the
different journeys I've had witheach one of those plays as well
, in terms of different thingsthat they've overcome, whether
in terms of different thingsthat they've overcome, whether,
you know, in terms of injury andthose sorts of things over the
years, and so some of them I've,you know, I've been treating
(34:53):
since 2017.
So they're very special peoplein terms of how much time you've
spent with them and the sort of, you know, different hurdles
you've helped them overcome.
Kate Coomber (35:06):
Yeah, so I guess where to where to next?
You know we've got the Olympicshere in the not too distant
future.
What's?
Sam Miklos (35:16):
your role going to be.
Marguerite King (35:19):
At the moment.
I'm actually having a littlebreak from clinical work and I'm
just solely focusing on doingmy PhD at the moment because I
have my progress review exam inNovember which I have to jump
through a few hoops with andthen hopefully submit my PhD
midway through early next year,with my defence midway through
(35:40):
next year, I think.
After that probably it'sprobably more implementation
stuff around the actual researchand seeing if we could
potentially use the sensors andthat research on an ongoing
basis as a tool for coaches andathletes.
A lot of different sort ofapplied research to be done in
(36:11):
terms of strength andmusculoskeletal screening
elements in water polo, and,yeah, they're probably some of
the things that kind of sparkedjoy in me, I guess.
Sam Miklos (36:18):
Do you now start like are you now guaranteed for
LA?
Do you have to apply for aposition?
Marguerite King (36:25):
I think well, at the moment, lorinda Rugless,
who was our high performancemanager in Paris, has been doing
a lot of really extensive workwith the board of Water Polo
Australia to essentially come upwith a new strategy for Water
Polo Australia which basicallyaligns all of the programs,
whether it's pathways or highperformance, together, and so I
(36:47):
think the roles within WaterPolo Australia probably will
change.
And yeah, I'm definitely notguaranteed to go to LA, but I'm
really excited by the fact thatwe have such a strong network of
physios around Australia whocare for water players right
(37:08):
around Australia.
And probably the biggest one Iwant to shout out to is
Bernadette Petzl from the NewSouth Wales Institute of Sport,
who treats like the other halfessentially the other half of
the national team um, or treatedum during the Paris cycle.
So her work was really reallypivotal in everyone coming
together to be as available andas injury-free as possible in
(37:30):
Paris.
Kate Coomber (37:31):
And is water polo your passion now?
Sam Miklos (37:34):
Or do you feel the next generation are going to the
rowing team or something newyou know?
Kate Coomber (37:39):
like.
Is there other interest areas?
Marguerite King (37:41):
Yeah, or you don't know yet.
I don't know yet, but I thinkwhat's happened is having gone
from doing a sport that I knewso extensively, such as rowing,
to doing us, to having to get toknow a sport that I knew
nothing about, probably givesyou confidence that if you were
in a situation where you didneed to know about a different
(38:03):
sport, you could go back tofirst principles and actually
work it out or have the skillsto work out what you needed to
do.
And so I think that's what thisjourney has given me is just
and including in the PhD is justknowing, if there's a problem,
that you have the capacity andthe belief that you can find the
solution.
Sam Miklos (38:23):
So if you reflect back on your physio career, I
imagine this has been a bit of ahighlight.
But is it where you thoughtyou'd be?
If you were to tell yourgraduate physio self like one
thing, what would you say?
Marguerite King (38:35):
Uh, I probably would say just make sure you
take the opportunities that arepresented to you, like and I
think particularly as youmentioned before, like having a
family and everything.
So often I think you say you'reyou sort of second guess
yourself and doubt yourself interms of, oh, I can't do that
(38:56):
because of this, or I can't dothat because of this.
And I think it's really about,uh, shifting your mindset to
going maybe my default has to beno, I can do this and I'll work
, work it, work the rest out,rather than limiting yourself
because, oh, I couldn't bepossibly good enough for that or
(39:17):
I couldn't do that because Idon't have the right skill set.
I shouldn't apply for thatbecause of this.
So, rather than that being thatway, just really switching it
around, going, oh no, like Iwouldn't have been asked to do
that if they didn't believe Icould do it, say yes, and figure
it out later.
Yeah, that's my motto.
It's come up quite a bitactually in this series, a few
people with the same notion.
Kate Coomber (39:38):
So thank you so much for coming in today.
It's been so nice to talk toyou.
Marguerite King (39:41):
It's so fascinating we're giving away
$500 to a charity of your choice.
Where is that money going today?
I would love it to go to the UQCentre Clem Jones Centre for
Aging Dementia Research, and thereason for that is during this
cycle, unfortunately, my fatherpassed away from symptoms
(40:04):
related to dementia, and so Iknow, and he was a dentist, so
he was a healthcare professional42 years as a dentist.
So yeah, I know he would reallyappreciate that, for sure.
Sam Miklos (40:17):
Fantastic Marguerite .
Thank you so much.
I'm so grateful that we've beenable to get you in.
Honestly, the other night wewere prepping for this and we
just kept this question, thisquestion, this question, this
question, to which Sarah saidyou can't ask all those
questions but I reckon we did areally great job at getting
through like a few of thosequestions when we were like
we'll just have a few more.
But um, you've been so real.
(40:38):
And um shout out to Tom butdidn't he move house for you as
well while you're away?
Marguerite King (40:41):
or you came back and yeah, so uh, we ended
up buying a house in june, andso we asked for a two month
settlement, and so when I cameback from the olympics, he had
moved everything into the newhouse incredible man, but yeah,
thank you to you he's the rockstar, he's the back phone.
Sam Miklos (41:02):
But um no, it's been incredible to speak to you, and
we've just loved having youhere today, so thank you.
Marguerite King (41:06):
Thank you so much, Thank you so much ladies,
thanks for listening.
Sam Miklos (41:10):
Don't forget to share, rate and review.
This allows us to reach morepeople and share more incredible
stories.
Click the follow or subscribebutton to ensure you never miss
an episode.
Thank you.
We care for the land and sea.
We care for the energy.
We care for our community.
We care.
Welcome to it Takes Heart.
(00:21):
I'm Sam Miklos and I'm KateCoomba.
We hope you enjoy theseincredible stories of healthcare
professionals making adifference in communities across
Australia and beyond.
Through our conversations, welook to celebrate the spirit of
community and care.
We acknowledge the traditionalcustodians of the land who have
long practised and sharedancient methods of healing,
providing care and support fortheir communities with wisdom
(00:44):
passed down through generations.
Kate Coomber (00:46):
Join us as we explore what it truly means to
take heart.
Sam Miklos (00:55):
So our guest today is a sports and musculoskeletal
physiotherapist who's justreturned home from the Paris
Olympic Games.
There she worked as the teamphysio for the Aussie Stingers,
our female water polo team, whocame home with a silver medal.
She has a master's, a PhD, is aworld champion rower and a
Beijing 2008 Olympian.
She has had an incrediblecareer and a job many could only
(01:17):
dream of.
Welcome Marguerite to the itTakes Heart podcast.
Marguerite King (01:21):
Thanks so much for having me.
I really appreciate theopportunity to come in here and
chat to you guys.
No, we were thrilled, to behonest.
Sam Miklos (01:28):
I don't know if you even know Kate Hamager came to
be here, but I was at a lunchwhere her husband, tom, was
speaking and early on he'dmentioned that you were over at
the games at the time and,honestly, I don't know.
Another thing that he spokeabout for the rest of the lunch
because I was so obsessed withhow do I get to his wife and get
her on this podcast so we canhear about this job.
So we are so grateful that wecan get you in and definitely
(01:50):
squeeze this episode in.
So I want to know, obviously Iwas an occupational therapist
and when I heard about your roleI thought so many healthcare
professionals would think thatthat is just a dream job.
Kate Coomber (02:01):
Imagine if you knew that was an opportunity.
Sam Miklos (02:02):
Maybe I'd still be an OT.
How did that come about?
Like?
Was this always part of yourcareer plan?
Is it a full-time job?
Do you have a couple of otherjobs, like?
How did this come to be?
Marguerite King (02:15):
I guess I currently actually have three
different roles.
So I'm the lead physio for thewomen's program for Water Polo
Australia.
I'm also the program physio forwomen's water polo at the
Queensland Academy of Sport and.
(02:37):
I'm actually a PhD student atthe University of Queensland in
the School of Health andRehabilitation Sciences.
So all of that I guess it allstarted when I graduated
undergrad physio from UQ.
I guess it all started when Igraduated undergrad physio from
UQ and I then worked for acouple of years in the acute
stroke unit at the Green SlopesHospital here in Brisbane, and I
think that that experiencetaught me a lot about human
(02:59):
emotions, really being able totrust and care for people,
really being able to trust andcare for people, and also I
think it also taught me how towork really well in a
multidisciplinary team as well.
So then after that I ended upworking in Adelaide because I
was an athlete as well on theAustralian rowing team, and then
(03:21):
I actually came back to UQ todo my sports physio masters.
I then met my husband, tom, andwe moved to Sydney where his
work was, and then worked therein private practice, mostly in
rowing.
Sam Miklos (03:34):
He was also an Olympian.
Yes yes, so a very incredibleway.
I didn't know that.
Marguerite King (03:39):
Rowing as well.
No, no, he actually went to twoOlympics for sailing.
So he went to Atlanta andSydney and he actually won a
gold medal in the men's 470 inSydney, and so Did you meet in
some like Olympian alumni?
Well, there is a particular barwhere all the Olympians go.
(04:01):
There is a back story to thiswhere I bar where all the
olympians go.
There is a backstory to thiswhere, uh, I he was actually at
the beijing olympics um, as athe head of athlete services,
and unfortunately, when we werecompeting there, we actually
didn't make it through to the afinal, and so I was on a bus
(04:22):
crying back to the villagevillage from the rowing course
because we'd spent seven yearsworking towards this goal and we
hadn't made it and everything.
I was so disappointed and heactually came and sat next to me
and I just remember thinkingwhat this guy is telling me
(04:42):
right now is exactly what I needto hear, which was your life is
not over as an athlete If youdon't get to your goals in that
moment and everything.
It doesn't devalue you as aperson.
All of that really sort of quiteheavy stuff.
But at the time that was areally pivotal moment for me
because I was just sodisappointed in what had
(05:06):
happened and everything.
So we then didn't see eachother for about three years and
then we ended up reconnectingafter about three years and yeah
, and now we have two beautifulboys, lockie and Hamish.
And yeah it's.
I'm really fortunate to bemarried to such a great man.
Sam Miklos (05:28):
And so when you then got to Sydney, then you moved
to Sydney for your husband'swork.
Then what happened?
Marguerite King (05:33):
Yeah, I actually started working in
private practice in Sydney, inNorth Sydney, as a sports physio
as a sports physio yeah, so Ijust finished my sports physio
master's from UQ and I startedworking with a lot of the
different school growingprograms.
So I started working with ShawLoretta Kiribilli in Queenwood
(05:53):
and just doing a lot ofpreventative work in terms of
sort of preventative exerciseprescription and things like
that.
And then I also started to domore sports coverage for water
polo sorry, water polo rowingAustralia mostly situated out at
Penrith.
(06:13):
And then I then got theopportunity to go away with the
under-21 rowing team as well,just before I knew I was
pregnant with Lachlan.
So I was on a water rowing tripand I was feeling really
(06:34):
morning sick.
Kate Coomber (06:35):
I'm just saying you're rowing at this point, not
the physio at this point, butstill rowing.
Marguerite King (06:41):
No, I was actually the physio for the
under 21 team at that point.
So after we had had twochildren, we decided to move
back to Brisbane.
So I'm from Brisbane, I went toschool here and uni here, and
so we bought a house and then Igot approached by Kate Watson,
who's the head of performancehealth at the Queensland Academy
(07:04):
of Sport, to go and work asactually the rowing program
physio at the Queensland Academyof Sport.
And the funny story goes whereshe gave me a phone call and
said oh look, I want you to dorowing, but can you also be the
water polo program physio?
Because you used to work with acouple of shoulder specialists
(07:27):
in Sydney and we have a reallybig problem with water polo
shoulder injuries.
And I was like, look, I don'tknow anything about water polo,
like I've got friends that arewater polo players.
Kate Coomber (07:37):
Quite different from me too.
Marguerite King (07:38):
Oh, completely, it's like I don't know if I can
do a sport that has contact init.
It's a bit scary to me.
So I know if I can do a sportthat has contact in it, like
it's a bit scary to me.
So I was like, look, I'll giveit a go.
And um, that's when I realizedthat some of the really big
challenges in water polo wereinjury management and how
(07:58):
musculoskeletal injuries wereactually um, being managed, and
also the long-term chronicissues that can occur if they
don't get managed properly inwater polo players.
And I had a moment where I wentback to Kate and I was like I
don't know if I can do this, andso she was like, no, no, I need
(08:19):
you to actually sort this out,because this is like a massive
problem, it's like one of ourhighest sports for shoulder
injuries and we don't reallyhave an answer to why it's
happening or what we can doabout it.
So that's how it all sort ofbegan, really.
And so what year is that?
That was in 2017.
So it's just, yeah, just afterthe Rio Olympics.
(08:42):
And so what was happening wasthere were quite a few, there
was a few water polo playersthat came back into QAS after
that Olympics and I was reallyquite shocked at how much sort
of pain and disability theyactually had on an ongoing basis
from their shoulder injuries.
(09:03):
And one of them in particular Ican think of ended up having to
retire because of her shoulderinjury and she was one of the
best shooters in the world and Ithought what a waste like, what
a waste of talent and you know.
Sam Miklos (09:17):
Is that where your research then started to
intersect?
Or yeah, Like how did that cometogether?
Marguerite King (09:22):
Yeah.
So I ended up speaking with oneof the sports engineers at QAS
at the time, amy Lewis, and Iwas like surely there has to be
something that actually measureshow much passing and shooting,
blocking and swimming that theplayers are doing.
There has to be something inbaseball.
(09:42):
There has to be something involleyball.
There has to be something inbaseball, there has to be
something in volleyball.
There has to be something outthere.
And she, because her previousresearch was on using
accelerometers, gyroscopes inwheelchair racing, and she kind
of did a bit of a search andshe's like actually there's
nothing out there for it.
Sam Miklos (10:02):
And you would have had the water challenge as well.
Marguerite King (10:04):
And the fact that the devices at that point
weren't waterproof, and so wewere kind of at a bit of a loss.
And then I realised that onecompany actually then made a
waterproof sensor, and so I waslike, hang on a minute, this
could actually work.
And so that's when we startedto trial do some dry land trials
(10:24):
work?
And so that's when we startedto trial do some dry land trials
and thankfully, one of thereally senior players, bronwyn
Knox so she's a four-timeOlympian Olympic bronze medalist
as well really worked with meas my athlete representative in
terms of, oh, this will work orthis just doesn't feel right,
you couldn't wear that in thewater.
And so that's when we startedto do things like co-designing
(10:51):
pockets to put the sensors incatsuits, working with Delfina,
who are a water polo swimwearcompany, to co-design yeah, the
pocket for the sensor, so youdidn't have to tape it on the
athlete, you could just put itin the catsuit.
Kate Coomber (11:05):
Cat suit, we're just showing us the the cat suit
.
Marguerite King (11:08):
It's just incredibly durable and being
able to to put those things inyeah, it's um, and so it meant
that if we were going to collectdata over a really long period
of time, you weren't having totape the sensor onto the
athletes and having to tape thesensor onto the athletes.
And so I think because I wasthe program physio, when I went
to the athlete group and I waslike, oh, will you wear these
(11:32):
things for 69?
Yeah, water polo sessions,please, please.
They actually said yes, and Ithink it was just because they
realised the enormity of theproblem and they also wanted to
be part of the solution, and sosome of those athletes were in
the Olympic team that just wonsilver, and so Do you think,
(11:55):
like what is the bit that youthink from there that changed
their performance?
Sam Miklos (12:01):
Like what have you learned?
Or.
Marguerite King (12:04):
Yeah, I think the way that the performance
happened was so multifactorial,I think like, literally, the
medal is like the cherry on topand there's so much, so many
bricks below that that you haveto get right.
Um, I think probably uh, acouple of things, particularly
in the last couple of months isprobably Bec Rippon's coaching
(12:28):
leadership as head coach.
I think that she sat the groupdown in January and was really
clear about what herexpectations were in terms of
how she would like this group toplay, and so, because of that
clarity of message, I thinkeveryone really got behind her
(12:50):
philosophy 100%, and when youthink about the number of people
involved with the water poloteam players, coaches, staff
it's a lot of people to havethat philosophical alignment
with.
So I think her leadership wasreally crucial in really making
(13:11):
sure that the group cametogether as it did.
I also think the amount of timeand effort Beck and our
psychologist, adele Langen, putinto again making sure that the
philosophy of both play in andout of the water, of playing and
just being around the group,was really aligned to the values
(13:37):
that the group had set out thatthey wanted to achieve.
Yeah, so which was brave andrespect.
Kate Coomber (13:43):
That's fantastic, we were going to ask.
Actually, you mentioned thecoach speaking to the team in
January.
Marguerite King (13:48):
What is?
Kate Coomber (13:48):
the lead time going into Olympics like this.
When did you secure that leadphysio role with this particular
team, knowing that you weregoing to Paris?
Marguerite King (13:57):
Yeah, I got asked to be the lead physio in
the very, very start of 2022.
So not actually that long agoand so I guess what you really
want is to make sure that you'redoing the absolute best job
possible for the playing groupthat you have and that you also
(14:18):
have really good relationshipswith all the coaches, that they
can trust you and you can trustthem, and that the players can
trust you as well, and theplayers know that you care about
them, not just as athletes, butas as people as well, because
they can.
They can feel that if you don'tlike, if you're on a support
(14:41):
staff and you're there to get atrack suit at the end.
Yeah, I bet I can see through itthe athletes know that and they
can see that, and having beenan athlete myself and seen, and
having seen a bit, a bit of that, go on I guess you're just
really conscious that you don'tdo not want to be that person.
Kate Coomber (15:03):
We talk a lot about having the right people in
health care, and I guess thisis no different in that setting
absolutely really paramount.
We were going to ask about the,the team you mentioned, their
psychologist.
You know how big is thatsupport team for that particular
team?
That?
Sam Miklos (15:18):
maybe more broadly, even the physios like how many
physios are on the water poloteam went with australia to
paris.
Marguerite King (15:23):
I actually don't actually know no one has
ever actually told me the numberof physios that went to Paris.
There were a number of physiosin the headquarters staff as
well that were then assigned todifferent sports as well.
Within women's water polo,within water polo itself,
(15:45):
there's a physio for the men'steam, and I was the physio for
the women's team, so there's oneand one.
Alongside that, in thewomen's's team, we had a
strength and conditioning coach,jordan Desbro.
We also had a doctor, dr GaryKouanis, as well, and the
psychologist, adele Adele Langan, and then we also have a
(16:05):
dietician that worked remotelywith the team as well.
Sam Miklos (16:10):
So and what's your?
What is the role that you do asa physio for the team, like
really breaking it down likewhat's a day in the life?
But then does that role shiftwhen you're here in Australia
versus when you arrive in Paris?
Marguerite King (16:24):
Yeah, I guess adaptability in elite sport is a
really good quality.
Kate Coomber (16:31):
So, which is interesting because I think
people think of, you know, highperforming athletes being very
disciplined and perhaps a bitrigid.
So yeah that's quiteinteresting.
Marguerite King (16:40):
Yeah, having that flexibility is super
important.
So, for example, in my weekhere I would be out at the
Queensland Academy of Sportthree days a week treating some
of the program athletes there,and then the other half of the
days I would usually be doingsome sort of administration for
the national program as well,and then on the other two days I
(17:05):
am meant to be doing my PhDwhich works out sometimes and
then doesn't work out othertimes as well.
So, but I'm still moving forwardwith that, which is the main
thing.
And I guess an example overseaswould be, if we're doing a
training camp, the athleteswould do a morning training
session so I might go and checktheir wellness data to see if
(17:28):
there's any reported soreness oranything that's going on toward
through the night.
Uh, you would then attendtraining and do all the taping
that they would need, if any, um, to do the session.
Uh, you then have to be reallyquite highly aware of the
intra-session content of thewater polo session, because it's
(17:49):
made up of so many differentskills, um, such as, like, they
may do a swim set, or they maydo, um, uh, like a power play we
call it extra man drill infront of the goals, and so the
water play session itself can bereally varied, and so it's
really important to actuallyhave and this is something that
(18:09):
beck does well the planningsheet of what the session
content is going to be, becauseit could be everything from a
higher swimming load to noswimming load very much, except
the warmup and a very high, say,leg work, leg sort of session
load.
So, yeah, having that, knowingthose nuances, is really, I
(18:29):
think, important.
Then we would usually treat,sort of during the middle of the
day, anyone that was needed.
We then do like another debriefto the coach about who sought
treatment, for example.
Sam Miklos (18:44):
And what sort of things would treatment be for
Like?
Is there a common injury?
Marguerite King (18:48):
Oh, okay, so probably hip injuries, shoulder
injuries, lumbar spine yeah,sometimes neck sort of tightness
and soreness from the head upswimming as well.
So that, yeah, because that canthen affect their shoulder
(19:08):
positioning and strength as well.
So, yeah, very heavy contactsport, I believe, yeah, and then
you get different things likedifferent lacerations, bruising,
you name it.
Sam Miklos (19:23):
You've got to surprise people.
Yeah, that's such a Cornealabrasions, you know.
Yeah, and probably a lothappens underneath the water
that all of us don't see.
Marguerite King (19:32):
Yeah, absolutely yeah, yeah, but I
yeah and like it's yeah, I thinkit's from discussing it with
the athletes, because obviouslyI haven't actually played water
polo.
It's just considered part ofthe game.
Sam Miklos (19:47):
And was that coming from rowing?
Yeah, did you have to get inand play a game to?
Catch some awareness.
Marguerite King (19:53):
Well, I haven't actually played a game at all,
but what I started to do was toreally go and just watch a lot
of water polo and watch a lot oftraining and talk to a lot of
coaches and really just try andunderstand the different sort of
injury epidemiology of waterpolo as well.
(20:16):
So it was more just a lot ofwatching, discussing that kind
of thing, I think, more than megetting involved with the team
and having a go.
Because I think they would find,like me, swimming very, very
funny to watch.
I can say that.
Kate Coomber (20:34):
I'm sure, though, that they would.
The fact that you have beenthere competing yourself, albeit
a different sport, would reallyhelp with that team
relationship and buy-in.
Do you think that that's areally important factor, that
you've been in their shoesessentially?
Marguerite King (20:49):
Yeah, I think so.
I think it's appreciation oflike you know like, regardless
of the sport, like you know whathard training feels like and
you know that feeling of fatiguewhen you've just done three
weeks of hard training and youcan't even talk properly.
Yeah, but I think what waslovely about the staff group we
had in Paris was Rebecca Rippon,who's obviously she's an
(21:12):
Olympic bronze medalist inwomen's water polo herself.
She competed in two Olympics.
Taryn Woods she's an Olympicgold medalist in women's water
polo.
The assistant coach, eddieDennis, and he's another
Olympian from the 2000 Olympics.
Our manager was in the 2000women's water polo team.
Sam Miklos (21:33):
Is it a prerequisite or it's just the way it?
Marguerite King (21:34):
happened.
Kate Coomber (21:35):
It was just the way it happened.
What?
An incredible group.
Marguerite King (21:38):
Yeah, a really incredible group of people who
had been former athletes, and soI think that definitely
contributed to no one reallygetting too overawed by the
Olympics as a staff member,which can happen, like for sure.
Like you can see everyone sortof, so some certain people, if
(22:00):
you've never been in thatsituation before, can be a
little bit deer in headlights.
Kate Coomber (22:04):
I'd love to dive into that.
I think people are sointerested to know what's it
like, how does it feel when youapproach, when you arrive in
Europe.
I assume there's lead time,training camps, things like that
.
But once the Olympics starts,you know how does it feel.
Marguerite King (22:22):
I think I can only like speak for myself, but
it's kind of you kind of justput the blinkers on and really
stay focused on what reallymatters, because I think it's
very at the Olympics it's reallyeasy to get distracted, I think
both as an athlete and a staffmember and Adele, our
psychologist, they well she dida lot of work with our group
(22:44):
staff and athletes on beingkeeping that sort of vision
forward and being able to notget distracted when it really
counted and also being able togo through the cycles of emotion
as you do the tournament.
So, for example, women's waterpolo, we play day on, day off
with the men, and so you're sortof on this 40-year-old yeah.
Kate Coomber (23:08):
What do you do?
Sam Miklos (23:08):
in the daily time.
Kate Coomber (23:10):
Are you spectating for others?
No, You're just in the zonefocused.
Marguerite King (23:17):
Yeah, like, yeah, I didn't go and watch
anything or anything like that,and the coaches were all working
so hard during that perioddoing video analysis.
So, yeah, I think it's reallyeasy to like get distracted by
the shiny.
Shiny as Adele Corslett.
Yeah, yeah, I think it's reallyeasy to like get distracted by
the shiny shiny as AdeleCorslett yeah yeah, because
(23:37):
you're there to do a job, ohexactly.
And it's a job that everybodyathletes and staff have worked
so hard to get to that pointwhere you have the possibility
of succeeding in what you wantand you can't kind of let
different things get in the wayof that.
Yeah, which is where I thinkthe staff like a lot of the
(24:00):
staff being former athletes theyweren't overall with that
situation.
They could keep focus and thenmodel that behaviour to the
athletes as well.
Sam Miklos (24:09):
So are you all together in the village,
together Like the opening andclosing ceremonies.
Are you all still together?
And even those opening?
Kate Coomber (24:16):
ceremonies.
If you think about having to befocused, that must be a huge
distraction in itself.
That you participate in them,yeah, well, we actually didn't.
Marguerite King (24:24):
Awesome, yeah, so we actually didn't.
Sam Miklos (24:28):
Yeah, so you don't attend the staff don't attend
any, or even a spectator.
Marguerite King (24:33):
Well, I think what we did is discuss it as a
staff group and we decided thatwe wouldn't do the opening and
closing ceremonies andeverything.
Sam Miklos (24:43):
What was your reasoning behind that?
Marguerite King (24:49):
I think it was like at the start I think you're
highly aware of you've only gota finite amount of energy and
you can't spend it on you knowwhat.
Sam Miklos (25:02):
I mean.
Marguerite King (25:03):
Because going to an opening ceremony is quite
long.
It's quite.
You know, it's quite a longprocess.
Yeah, and we were starting tocompete very close to the
opening ceremony and so as agroup we couldn't really spend
that energy on that.
Kate Coomber (25:21):
And then what happens when your events are
over, your team's events areover.
What happens then?
Marguerite King (25:27):
Well, we go for essentially basically the whole
two weeks.
So we kind of watch peoplestart and then finish way before
us and everything and do theythen flip to a spectator and go
and see things in their minds,or is there that process?
Yeah, so I think the rule forthe team this time the whole
(25:50):
Olympique team was they had toleave the village within 48
hours of their event concludingand then they could come back
for the closing ceremony.
Yeah, so, and that's some, Ibelieve, just to make sure that
the people in the village, theones that are still competing,
they can stay focused, they canget enough sleep, all that kind
(26:11):
of, all those kinds of sort offactors.
Kate Coomber (26:13):
I think that makes sense because you can imagine
the mindset after you're donecompletely shifts to those who
are in the zone, who areeverything ahead of them.
You can want them out, get out.
Sam Miklos (26:22):
I'm focused.
What about you mentioned aboutyour experience and being really
disappointed?
The team did an incredible job,and then Silva is still
incredible, but is there a senseof disappointment where they're
like oh, we've been here forgold, or is it just we're so
thrilled with that?
Marguerite King (26:43):
I can't really speak for the athletes at all,
but I think that you know it'squite difficult when the last
game that you play is the gamethat you lose.
Sam Miklos (26:55):
Because they did so well, undefeated, all the way.
Marguerite King (26:59):
Exactly exactly like that group of Spanish
players.
They are quite a bit older thanour group and also they have
been in the mix trying to winthat Olympic gold medal for
three cycles, and so, yeah,that's something that else, like
(27:21):
you, have to factor in as well.
So, but I think you know, likeI don't personally, when I look
at the team winning silver, I amjust so proud of the fact that
in those really key momentswhere people, where players,
needed to do what they needed todo, there was just unwavering
(27:43):
confidence that they could do it, and also that that being able
to execute in the moment is justso hard, yeah.
Kate Coomber (27:49):
It's just like any athlete can appreciate.
Marguerite King (27:52):
So many variables and everything, and so
the fact that you knowdifferent players executed in
that moment and weren'toverruled by the situation or
anything like that, that justmakes my heart sing, because
that is just so difficult to doin any sport.
Kate Coomber (28:08):
Yeah, and credit to the support team.
By the sounds of you know, Ithink there's obviously a lot to
be proud of.
Sam Miklos (28:14):
How do you come down too?
From that I mean like,particularly because you were
there for that whole two-weekperiod undefeated, undefeated.
Kate Coomber (28:22):
And the intense process in the lead-up to even
get there.
Yeah, it's obviously incrediblyintense.
Marguerite King (28:26):
Yeah, we were away for seven weeks in total
and the last two weeks were theactual Olympics.
So we actually had a tournamentin Greece which the team won,
and I think that tournament wasAfter the Olympics oh no, this
was before the Olympics, ohsorry.
Sam Miklos (28:42):
Okay, yeah, before the.
Marguerite King (28:43):
Olympics.
Yeah, and I think thattournament was really crucial
because the first game we playedwas against Hungary and they're
a very good team and the teamwas in the first quarter we were
up like five nil and it wasjust like wow, okay, like I
think it was, there's somethinghere.
Yeah, there's something here,and I think it was.
(29:04):
That was when you could startto see everything, all the
blocks and bricks starting tocome together and everything,
and I could, yeah, you could see, you know, I think the coaches
seeing like the fruits of theirlabour, it really is well,
because I was like, oh, wow,this is, this is actually
something special, because Ihaven't seen, necessarily seen
(29:25):
the team like be so cohesive andeverything together.
Sam Miklos (29:28):
So and then at the end closing ceremony.
See you all later.
Yeah, and you've been away from.
Kate Coomber (29:34):
I assume there's a lot of people away from
children like yourself and lotsof other people away from their
families, yeah, no, absolutely.
Marguerite King (29:41):
and like staff and like, and players as well,
like they're away from theirfamilies as well.
So, and like one of the players, keisha Gofers, she had a, you
know, she had a baby this cycleand so she had been away from
her child for a period of timeand, thankfully, tulare was over
(30:01):
in Paris, you know, withKeisha's husband, scott.
So I think, yeah, the supportteam adjacent to everybody is
really really extensive.
Sam Miklos (30:15):
Yeah, can I ask one thing before we talk about, like
, where to now?
But you talked about no one'sdistracted by the shiny lights.
Is there an athlete or someonethat you saw over there that you
went?
Oh, hang on, I just need aminute.
You talked about no one'sdistracted by the shiny lights.
Is there an athlete or someonethat you saw over there that you
went?
Oh, hang on, I just need aminute.
Marguerite King (30:33):
Like I've just seen.
I don't know LeBron James walkpast?
Sam Miklos (30:34):
or are you all just really cool, like you're all so
focused?
Is it just us on the other side?
Marguerite King (30:42):
No, I definitely had a moment.
Kate Coomber (30:43):
Oh, thank, God Please share.
Marguerite King (30:48):
I was speaking to Tom on FaceTime and I was
walking down one of the roads inthe village and on that road
was the Spanish team apartmentblock and Rafael Nadal and
Carlos Alcaraz were walkingtowards me and I sort of looked
into the camera and Tom's likewhat's wrong?
(31:09):
And I'm like you know?
And then I sort of turned thecamera that way and he's like,
is that Rafael Nadal?
I was like yep.
Sam Miklos (31:20):
Yeah been cool, so focused.
Marguerite King (31:22):
So cool yeah exactly, and he was like oh my
God.
So yeah, it was yeah.
You're still human.
That was my moment where I waslike oh gosh, but I could see so
many people were coming up tohim trying to get autographs.
I was like I don't want to bethat person.
Sam Miklos (31:38):
I would have been the same yeah.
Kate Coomber (31:41):
Really True.
Marguerite King (31:47):
Maybe for like a minute.
Yeah, just seeing the two ofthem together, just like having
a chat, walking down the olympic, it's surreal.
Kate Coomber (31:50):
I imagine just all of the most high performing
athletes in the world alldescend on this one small space
essentially amazing.
I just, I just can't imagine.
You know we came into workevery day.
Everyone would be talking aboutit every single morning.
What did you see last night?
What were the highlights?
What did you do?
You know it's something thatthe entire world gets behind.
Marguerite King (32:11):
And I think it also brings an amazing sense of
solidarity to the world as well.
I think, like just being there,I was there.
When I was there I was actuallythinking there's not many
things in the world that reallybring the whole world together
yeah, and goosebumps youknow and you're sort of seeing
(32:31):
different people, especiallywhen you can see like athletes
trading pins with each otherthat wouldn't necessarily speak
for each other, you know, inother situations, and so you're
like, oh you know, there's gotto be something to you know to
say for things, something as bigas the Olympics which actually
brings the whole world together.
When there's I guess, there'sjust so much division and
(32:54):
everything like that at themoment, what did you say?
Sam Miklos (32:57):
the trading pins.
Marguerite King (32:58):
Yeah, so you get given pins, like with the
Australian Olympic team symbolson it, and each country gives
athletes and staff members pinsand there's like a pin trading
economy at the Olympics.
Wow, yeah, so where you end up.
Sam Miklos (33:19):
I thought it was more like jabs.
Yeah, that's right.
I'm sorry, we have to clarifythat.
Marguerite King (33:24):
No, just like special pins, and so you might
want a pin from Costa Rica, andso if you see a Costa Rican
athlete, you may be able to gooff and say, oh, do you have a
pin?
You know we could trade, and sothen it's like Pokemon cards.
Yeah kind of like that.
And so with the lanyard whereyour accreditation sits, you
(33:45):
actually end up adding all thepins from the different
countries around it.
So I still have my one fromBeijing.
I know Tom has his one fromSydney as well.
Sam Miklos (33:53):
We should have, and we asked you before we started.
But as part of the staff youdon't get a medal.
No, but you did get a beautifulgift from the team.
Marguerite King (34:05):
Yes, so I brought along today the Olympic
team catsuit that has all thesignatures of the team on it and
that is definitely going to beput up framed pride of place.
Kate Coomber (34:19):
Yeah, absolutely yeah, here you go.
It's just amazing, isn't itLike?
Marguerite King (34:22):
the, the fabric's amazing, isn't it?
Yeah, all the signatures.
Sam Miklos (34:28):
That would be beautiful, framed as a lovely
memory.
Marguerite King (34:31):
Yeah, and I think I loved each play's
signature on it, because itactually reminds me of all the
different journeys I've had witheach one of those plays as well
, in terms of different thingsthat they've overcome, whether
in terms of different thingsthat they've overcome, whether,
you know, in terms of injury andthose sorts of things over the
years, and so some of them I've,you know, I've been treating
(34:53):
since 2017.
So they're very special peoplein terms of how much time you've
spent with them and the sort of, you know, different hurdles
you've helped them overcome.
Kate Coomber (35:06):
Yeah, so I guess where to where to next?
You know we've got the Olympicshere in the not too distant
future.
What's?
Sam Miklos (35:16):
your role going to be.
Marguerite King (35:19):
At the moment.
I'm actually having a littlebreak from clinical work and I'm
just solely focusing on doingmy PhD at the moment because I
have my progress review exam inNovember which I have to jump
through a few hoops with andthen hopefully submit my PhD
midway through early next year,with my defence midway through
(35:40):
next year, I think.
After that probably it'sprobably more implementation
stuff around the actual researchand seeing if we could
potentially use the sensors andthat research on an ongoing
basis as a tool for coaches andathletes.
A lot of different sort ofapplied research to be done in
(36:11):
terms of strength andmusculoskeletal screening
elements in water polo, and,yeah, they're probably some of
the things that kind of sparkedjoy in me, I guess.
Sam Miklos (36:18):
Do you now start like are you now guaranteed for
LA?
Do you have to apply for aposition?
Marguerite King (36:25):
I think well, at the moment, lorinda Rugless,
who was our high performancemanager in Paris, has been doing
a lot of really extensive workwith the board of Water Polo
Australia to essentially come upwith a new strategy for Water
Polo Australia which basicallyaligns all of the programs,
whether it's pathways or highperformance, together, and so I
(36:47):
think the roles within WaterPolo Australia probably will
change.
And yeah, I'm definitely notguaranteed to go to LA, but I'm
really excited by the fact thatwe have such a strong network of
physios around Australia whocare for water players right
(37:08):
around Australia.
And probably the biggest one Iwant to shout out to is
Bernadette Petzl from the NewSouth Wales Institute of Sport,
who treats like the other halfessentially the other half of
the national team um, or treatedum during the Paris cycle.
So her work was really reallypivotal in everyone coming
together to be as available andas injury-free as possible in
(37:30):
Paris.
Kate Coomber (37:31):
And is water polo your passion now?
Sam Miklos (37:34):
Or do you feel the next generation are going to the
rowing team or something newyou know?
Kate Coomber (37:39):
like.
Is there other interest areas?
Marguerite King (37:41):
Yeah, or you don't know yet.
I don't know yet, but I thinkwhat's happened is having gone
from doing a sport that I knewso extensively, such as rowing,
to doing us, to having to get toknow a sport that I knew
nothing about, probably givesyou confidence that if you were
in a situation where you didneed to know about a different
(38:03):
sport, you could go back tofirst principles and actually
work it out or have the skillsto work out what you needed to
do.
And so I think that's what thisjourney has given me is just
and including in the PhD is justknowing, if there's a problem,
that you have the capacity andthe belief that you can find the
solution.
Sam Miklos (38:23):
So if you reflect back on your physio career, I
imagine this has been a bit of ahighlight.
But is it where you thoughtyou'd be?
If you were to tell yourgraduate physio self like one
thing, what would you say?
Marguerite King (38:35):
Uh, I probably would say just make sure you
take the opportunities that arepresented to you, like and I
think particularly as youmentioned before, like having a
family and everything.
So often I think you say you'reyou sort of second guess
yourself and doubt yourself interms of, oh, I can't do that
(38:56):
because of this, or I can't dothat because of this.
And I think it's really about,uh, shifting your mindset to
going maybe my default has to beno, I can do this and I'll work
, work it, work the rest out,rather than limiting yourself
because, oh, I couldn't bepossibly good enough for that or
(39:17):
I couldn't do that because Idon't have the right skill set.
I shouldn't apply for thatbecause of this.
So, rather than that being thatway, just really switching it
around, going, oh no, like Iwouldn't have been asked to do
that if they didn't believe Icould do it, say yes, and figure
it out later.
Yeah, that's my motto.
It's come up quite a bitactually in this series, a few
people with the same notion.
Kate Coomber (39:38):
So thank you so much for coming in today.
It's been so nice to talk toyou.
Marguerite King (39:41):
It's so fascinating we're giving away
$500 to a charity of your choice.
Where is that money going today?
I would love it to go to the UQCentre Clem Jones Centre for
Aging Dementia Research, and thereason for that is during this
cycle, unfortunately, my fatherpassed away from symptoms
(40:04):
related to dementia, and so Iknow, and he was a dentist, so
he was a healthcare professional42 years as a dentist.
So yeah, I know he would reallyappreciate that, for sure.
Sam Miklos (40:17):
Fantastic Marguerite .
Thank you so much.
I'm so grateful that we've beenable to get you in.
Honestly, the other night wewere prepping for this and we
just kept this question, thisquestion, this question, this
question, to which Sarah saidyou can't ask all those
questions but I reckon we did areally great job at getting
through like a few of thosequestions when we were like
we'll just have a few more.
But um, you've been so real.
(40:38):
And um shout out to Tom butdidn't he move house for you as
well while you're away?
Marguerite King (40:41):
or you came back and yeah, so uh, we ended
up buying a house in june, andso we asked for a two month
settlement, and so when I cameback from the olympics, he had
moved everything into the newhouse incredible man, but yeah,
thank you to you he's the rockstar, he's the back phone.
Sam Miklos (41:02):
But um no, it's been incredible to speak to you, and
we've just loved having youhere today, so thank you.
Marguerite King (41:06):
Thank you so much, Thank you so much ladies,
thanks for listening.
Sam Miklos (41:10):
Don't forget to share, rate and review.
This allows us to reach morepeople and share more incredible
stories.
Click the follow or subscribebutton to ensure you never miss
an episode.
Thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com