April 17, 2024 • 39 mins
Discover the secrets of masters swimming success with Stacia Kirk, as we celebrate her incredible haul of two gold and two silver medals from the Masters World Champs in Doha and Japan, on this episode of Torpedo Swimtalk Podcast Hear about Stacia's inspiring journey through preparation, competition, and the camaraderie found in the pool. Training alongside a younger squad, she shares the dynamic of her coaching relationships and the strategies that brought her to the podium. Her experiences sheds light on not just the triumphs of competitive swimming, but also the dedication required to excel in the sport.
Navigating the waters of motivation can be as challenging as the races themselves, especially in the realm of Masters swimming. Stacia balances training with life's other demands and offers a glimpse into her routine, highlighting the importance of injury prevention. Fine-tuning race skills can make or break a swimmer's performance, and we chat about the critical edge that mastering starts, turns, and underwater work can give master swimmers.
Tune in to immerse yourself in a wave of Stacia's wisdom, laughter, and an undying passion for the art of masters swimming.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello swimmers, and welcome to another episode of
Torpedo Swim Talk podcast.
I'm your host, danielleSperling, and each week we chat
to a master swimmer from aroundthe world about their swimming
journey about their swimmingjourney.
On today's episode, we catch upwith Stacia Kirk, who's fresh
from racing at the Masters WorldChamps in Doha.
(00:29):
She gives us a wonderfulperspective about competing at
Worlds and what it takes to havesuccess when you're away from
home competing.
Let's hear from Stacia now.
Hi Stacia, welcome to thepodcast and thanks for joining
(00:52):
us.
Hi Danielle, thank you, thanksfor having me.
Yeah, you're really welcome.
So you're fresh home from theMasters World Champs in Doha,
where you got two gold and twosilver.
Share with us what it was liketo compete at those World
Masters and how you mentally andphysically prepared.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
For Doha.
It was like to compete at thoseworld masters and how you
mentally and physically preparedFor Doha.
It was a little bit differentto normal worlds.
This was my fifth or sixth timetraveling over to world masters
championships.
Originally I was a little bithesitant.
Being Doha I'd never traveledto the Middle East.
I didn't know what to expect.
Doha was very surprising inthat way, in terms of training,
(01:27):
I'd just come off the back ofJapan as well, so I'd just been
over in Fukuoka six monthsearlier.
We made the decision tocontinue for another six months
after that.
I wasn't particularly sure thatI was going to, but we did it
and I'm glad that I did.
I've been enjoying a month offsince then.
It's been quite nice to be anormal human again for a month.
(01:48):
Yeah, so managed to train witha kid squad for the last 18
months for both Fukuoka and Doha, and it definitely keeps your
ego in check.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I bet it does.
You did as you mentioned.
You came off the back of Japan,which was only six months and
usually when before COVID, itwas a two-year sort of gap
between worlds.
So how did you find that sortof, you know, psychologically
getting yourself up again,because it takes a lot to get
yourself up to, to race at thatlevel?
How did you go it?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
was actually difficult, and it was more
difficult than I thought itwould be.
I thought originally that I'dcome back.
I'd be really motivated afterJapan and after you know the
swims that I'd done there.
I got home and I had a monthoff.
I wasn't planning to, but Idecided to just take it easy for
(02:40):
a little bit and a week turnedinto a month.
So then getting back in forDoha was a little bit trickier
than I'd planned.
I'm lucky I have a very goodcoach who's good at tough love,
so he managed to get me back inthe water and we had a bit of a
rescue effort.
I did open state championshipsas well just to get a bit of
(03:01):
race practice and to get thatmotivation back a little bit.
That was back in December andthen had the two months before
Doha.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, and you mentioned you, you were training
with an age group squad.
So what?
What's the closest person orkid in age to you?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Uh, so it's mainly myself, and she's now just
turned 15.
Um, the two of us trainingtogether and she's the best kid
in the world.
She's so responsible and she'stougher than me.
She just she does these setsand I don't know how she does it
, because I'm next to her,absolutely dying, and she's just
(03:38):
powering along, um, so, yeah,um, I'm quite close in age to my
coach, um, but then we've gotum Naomi, who's 15, and there's
a couple more kids that havecome up now, but they're all
around that 14 15 age groupright and is she training for
the same sort of stroke anddistance that you are?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
is that why you're working together?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
yeah, so she's age nationalsals and she's kind of
she's a born 400 IM swimmer.
I try and stick to the shorterIM, but yeah, she's same kind of
events it's.
Yeah, it's good to be trainingwith her.
We have the same kind oftraining structure.
Makes it easier on Chris.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And what pool do you base yourself out of in Perth?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So I'm out of Aquinas .
It's a private school here inPerth.
My coach has been there for acouple of years, yeah, so it's
still kind of building.
We're in the process ofstarting up a new club and
things like that.
So, 50 metre pool it's a littlebit older.
Every now and again the heaterbreaks and I refuse to get in
(04:46):
the pool.
It's good Winter it's nice andwarm.
The only bad bit is obviouslygetting into the pool.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And looking at your events that you medalled in in
Doha, you got two gold for therelays.
Talk us through the two silverthat you got in your individuals
.
What were they for and how didthose races go?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Okay.
So the two silvers were the 50breaststroke, which was a little
bit of a surprise mybreaststroke's come good in the
last six months.
We're not sure what's happenedthere, but we're going with it
and the other one was my 200 IM,which is my little baby.
I was pretty happy with both ofthe swims.
The 50 breaststroke was only0.06 outside of what I did at
(05:28):
Open States in December, so thatwas pretty much right on my PB.
I was happy with that.
The 200 IM was slightly slow,but I was really happy with how
it played out and the way thatmy splits were.
My backstroke was two secondsquicker than it usually is, so
I'm happy with that.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
How do you approach a 200?
I am, is it like flat flat outfour sprints from the start, or
do you build into it?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
uh, I tend to try and build into it.
I have a background as an agegrouper, as a butterfly, so I
try and ease into the fly, startworking in the backstroke and
then get really stuck into thebreaststroke and just bring the
freestyle home.
That's always been the way thatI've kind of approached it and
it seems to be something thatworks for me.
I know it doesn't work foreveryone, it depends on what
(06:14):
your stroke is, but for me,luckily, I've got that
background with butterfly.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yeah for sure, and I know you swim the 200 fly as
well at times, don't you?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
I have in the past.
My shoulder won't let me do itanymore, thankfully.
I tend to try and just stick tothe 100 fly these days.
But yeah, I have done the 200fly in the past at Worlds.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And also the 400 IM.
So what's the difference instrategy that you would change
from the 200 IM to the 400?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
difference in strategy that you would change
from the 200 IM to the 400?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
400 IM you have to go out a lot easier.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Otherwise you just end up in a world of hurt by the
end of it.
I did the 400 IM in Montreal atWorlds and that one.
I've been doing a lot of workon my fly just to make sure that
that first hundred could stillbe relatively quick and not take
that much energy out of me.
Again with the 400, I still tryand build through it, but just
(07:12):
not quite as intense.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
So what were the other races that you competed in
?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
So I did the 100, 200 and 400 freestyle.
I had the 400 freestyle and 50breaststroke on the same day.
So I raced the 400 freestyle atabout 11 o'clock in the morning
and freestyle and 50breaststroke on the same day.
So I raced the 400 freestyle atabout 11 o'clock in the morning
and then my 50 breaststrokewasn't until about five o'clock
at night.
So it was really similar todoing heats and finals.
So I'm very glad that I didopen states to get used to.
(07:38):
That Definitely prepared mewell.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Did you stay around at the pool or did you go back
for a bit of a rest?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I stayed at the pool.
It was easy enough to movearound in Doha, but I decided it
was probably just the best tostay at the pool.
So I found a dark little cornerand actually had a nap on the
seats.
Nice, there was a lot of little.
The place was like a rabbitwarren, so it was lots of little
hidey holes that you could goand kind of find your way around
(08:06):
into and just hide when youneeded a bit of peace and quiet.
It was a lot louder than otherworlds.
There was a lot more music, alot more kind of atmosphere than
there has been previously.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, look, they seem to sort of hold over a lot from
the elite world champs to themasters Masters, like they did
in Kazan.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, they did.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I saw they had the same sort of dais that you were
getting presented your medals onand whatnot.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, the dais was nice.
They were rushing us through alittle bit, but I guess you get
that when there's so many agegroups and things like that.
It was nice being able to justgo and see the pool, like that.
They had the screens going,things like that.
They had a commentator who wasgetting very excited at times
fantastic and dance music going.
(08:54):
It had a lot more atmospherethan it has in the past no,
that's really good.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So obviously that was a difference between um japan
and do.
What other things did younotice, because they were so
close together In?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
terms of well competitor numbers were a lot
less in Doha, so we were allcompeting in one pool.
That was actually really nicehaving everyone together instead
of split over two pools thatare sometimes an hour apart.
That was definitely adifference I noticed, and it was
something that I actually quiteliked.
(09:27):
In terms of difference betweensix months, I'm glad that it was
in February in Doha, given thatit was winter in Qatar at the
time, not 50 degrees in summer,because Fukuoka was anyone who
will tell you that was there.
It was stinking hot was it yes?
(09:51):
um, like 38 degrees every day,about 80 humid.
So it was a nice relief to havea little bit of a different
environment in that way.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Yeah, yeah how did you find um, like practical
things, like getting food injapan as compared to doha?
What were the sort of the goodthings you found and what did
you have trouble with?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
so I have celiac um, and japan is a big challenge for
me in terms of findinggluten-free food um.
I always book places that havecooking facilities just in case
I can't find anything.
So in both Fukuoka and Dohara Idid that.
Japan it was very much going tosupermarkets cooking my own
(10:35):
food, not being able to eat out,whereas in Doha it was
completely different.
It's still a challenge.
Every time you travelinternationally with a food
allergy or intolerance, you'vegot to be so aware of it.
But I found that it was a loteasier in Doha.
They were a lot more aware ofgluten-free things like that and
(11:00):
definitely no language barrier,so it was so much easier that's
really good.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah, yeah, and you were able to, sort of in Doha,
get out to a supermarket and getthe kind of things you needed.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yes, yeah, there was a huge supermarket right across
from the hotel, so it wasprobably about a two or three
hundred meter walk.
Um, just sucked across, grabbedwhat I needed.
It was.
The best I can compare it to isCostco.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
There was a little bit of everything and it was
total chaos, um, but they hadeverything I needed oh, that's
good, that's what you need,because I think people forget
that that is part of thatinternational experience.
When you go to world masters,you've got to think about all
those kind of things.
You know, it's not just theswimming part, it's your food
you're going to eat, it's therecovery in between, um, and
(11:46):
it's the travel to and from thepool.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
As you said, in japan one was a lot further away yeah
, um, in fukuoka it was an hourin between the two pools.
Uh, it was relatively easy toget to the main pool, but the
secondary pool was an hour on asubway and then a 15-minute
shuttle bus, which in the heatwasn't particularly comfortable,
whereas Doha it was $10 in anUber to get each way to and from
(12:11):
the pool which is so mucheasier, and I know you've been
to sort of five or six worlds.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
What was the first one that you raced at?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I did a World Masters Games in 2009, which was Sydney
.
The first World MastersChampionships was Montreal in
2014.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And so, out of the ones you've been to, which one
was your best experience, wouldyou say?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
They've all been different in different ways.
I loved Montreal because it wasmy first one.
It's been the most exciting, Ididn't know what to expect, and
also I got a six week holiday inCanada, so who'd complain?
No one.
I liked Fukuoka because I loveJapan, and it was a wonderful
(12:53):
experience to be able to go backfor a third time and see a
different part of the country.
Again, I had a three-weekholiday afterwards, so that was
good.
I joined Doha because it wascompletely different to what I
was expecting.
I feel like I've learned a lotfrom that trip, and there's
actually other places I'd liketo go back to now in the Middle
East, which is I never thoughtI'd be saying that.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
So each one has just been different how do you sort
of keep your enthusiasm andmotivation up between them to go
to?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
you know that many uh , I take a break.
Um, I'm known to take regularbreaks from swimming.
Um, as well as that, I findlittle things in between to
motivate me, so little meets ora time that I want to meet, like
reach or things like that.
There's also the social aspect.
(13:43):
Everyone knows Masters is quitesocial, so I've made some
absolutely wonderful friendsthrough Masters swimming and
they tend to keep me motivated.
I've got one friend at themoment who's keeping me
accountable for training,checking in to make sure that
I'm making it to trainingsessions and things like that,
and I'm getting tough love whenI skip them well, that's good to
(14:03):
have someone.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
That's sort of keeping you accountable, I
suppose yeah, it's really good.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Um, but definitely social aspect keeps me motivated
.
Um, you know, you end up goingto competitions just to see your
friends instead of worryingabout racing, which is always a
good thing.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Yeah, look, most of the people I speak to say that
the best thing about masterswimming is that the friends
that you make along the way youknow, one of my closest master
swimming friends I ended upliving with for two years, so
it's you know great.
And also when you go to theworlds, like you have, you
probably know a lot of thosegirls that are going up in the
age group with you, so you'reprobably sort of getting to know
them along the way as well yeah, there's some that I've known
(14:43):
for over 10 years now, um, andwe're all born in 1981, so it's
we're stuck with each other forlife oh gosh.
1981 is when I started yearseven.
Oh dear.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
I always get worried when I realize how young the
kids are that I'm training with,because they're 15.
They're born in the 2000s.
I know, I know it's scary.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I think that the thing with swimming is that it's
such a leveler.
If you love swimming, you havethat common interest.
And that's what I suppose isgreat about masters, because you
know we've got people racinglike around sort of our ages and
then people right up untiltheir 90s and people in their
20s yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I remember at my first worlds in Montreal, I saw
a 95 or 96 year old woman do a200 butterfly.
I was just in awe at it.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
She was alive at that point when I'm doing a 200
butterfly give us a bit of aninsight into a typical training
week, like how do you scheduleit all in around your work and,
um, maybe talk us through atypical training session that
you would do uh, in terms oftraining session, it depends on
the week.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Um, some weeks will be heavy aerobic work and a lot
of kilometers.
Other weeks we do a lot ofsprint work.
It really does depend on wherewe are at in the training cycle.
A typical training week for meI'm generally doing about five
sessions a week at the moment.
Before Japan that went up tosix or seven.
For a few months that wasdifficult to manage when you're
(16:18):
an an adult with you know,grown-up responsibilities.
Uh, in terms of the week, I amreally lucky with my work.
I work from home four days aweek.
I'm only in the office one daya week, so it's cut so much time
for me being able to work fromhome and have an employer.
That's so encouraging.
In that way, I'll generally goto training in the mornings, so
(16:42):
I'll train from say, 5.30 to7.30, get out of the water,
drive home, have my breakfastsitting at my desk checking my
emails and then work during theday.
In the afternoons I'll do myphysio, rehab stuff or go for a
walk, do kind of active recoverystuff, and then do it all over
(17:02):
again the next day.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Do you schedule in some strength work?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I've been a little bit stuck with that lately.
My old housemate was a strengthand conditioning coach, so
she's probably not going to betoo happy with me at the moment.
But yeah, I plan to.
I'm going to nationals inDarwin in a couple of weeks time
, so after that I'll starthitting the strength training
again.
Uh, recently it's been more ofthe yoga, pilates and physio
(17:28):
rehab exercises because myshoulders tend to be a little
bit touchy sometimes bothshoulders uh, at different times
.
Yeah, they like to alternate sowhat?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
what's the problem there?
Is it bursitis or do you have atear?
What?
What's happening?
Uh?
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I was told a few years ago, back in 2019, that
one side definitely had a Ithink it was grade two bicep
tendon tear um, so that took along time to rehab.
It was quite stubborn um and itstill flares up every now and
again if I don't do my exercises.
And the other one, I think, wasmainly bursitis and it's just
(18:07):
from.
I think it compensates for theother one, so it gets a little
bit angry about that.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Yeah, I think doing those rehab exercises is the key
to protecting those shoulders.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Oh, 100%, and I'm so lucky I've got such a good
physio here.
She's probably sick of thesight of me by now, because I
see her every couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
What kind of work do you do with her?
Is it sort of like myotherapytype stuff, or is she, you know,
adjusting things?
What do you do?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
she'll do manipulation and dry needling as
well as giving me exercises todo.
Um, a lot of it comes from.
She does a lot of thoracicmanipulation as well, because I
tend to tighten up like a brickthrough my thoracic spine.
From what I've heard from otherswimmers, it's similar for a
lot of us, yeah, so she kind ofloosens me up every couple of
(18:55):
weeks and then I go off and makea mess of myself again.
Um and my exercises everyafternoon.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I'm glad to hear that you're doing the exercises.
That's good.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Oh I turn into a mess if I don't.
So she's able to tellimmediately if I'm not doing
them.
And yeah.
I'm unable to swim, the amountof times that I've had to do
sessions that are five or sixkilometers of kick with fins on
because my shoulders have givenup on me for the day.
I, yeah, I don't like thinkingabout that and I don't like
(19:24):
doing it either.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
You're not a kicker, you're more of a puller.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I've become more of a puller these days Through age
group.
I was always really good atkick, but it just seems to have
dropped off.
I work on it but it's, yeah,definitely better at pull these
days.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Do you like using all the equipment that goes along
with swimming, or do you preferjust to swim without it?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Obviously, training with kids, we use a lot of the
equipment.
I'm not a fan of snorkels.
I know that they're meant to begreat, but I just spend the
whole time choking.
I did get used to it for awhile, um, but then I went
probably six months withoutusing one, and trying to get
back into actually using asnorkel without choking has been
(20:08):
a bit of an experience.
So we we tend to use prettymuch all of the equipment most
sessions and I'm interested withit like training.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
You're training with an age group program.
Do you does the coach structurein um specific sort of dive
turn work every week, or is thatjust part of the set that you
do?
Speaker 2 (20:27):
uh, a lot of the time it's integrated into what we're
doing.
Um, the last few weeks we'vedone a little bit of skills work
, I think, because it's been alittle bit of downtime, so we've
been doing a lot of turns work,a few couple of sessions on
dives, things like that.
A lot of the time our startsare very much integrated into
the session.
(20:47):
We'll definitely do starts ordives a few times a week within
our sets yeah, that's.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
That's good to hear.
I think that a lot of masterswimmers don't focus on that.
I know the squad I train withwe we never do dives until it's
maybe a week or two beforenationals.
And you know, I think you needto do that all the time because
it's an important part of therace oh, definitely.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Um, their skills and their easy wins as well, their
little skills that if you getthem right, you're miles ahead
of everyone else.
So if you get a good start,you're miles ahead of everyone
else.
So if you get a good start, agood underwater and a good
breakout, you set up really well, particularly in the shorter
events.
And I think, yeah, as masters,we get so focused on the
kilometres and working on thedistance and things like that
(21:33):
that we forget about all theselittle race skills like nailing
a start or a turn or gettingyour finish right, and they're
just the little things that wina race for you.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Absolutely, and I think turns as well.
Like you know, I see a lot ofpeople in the squad I train with
they.
You know sometimes can't bebothered doing a tumble turn, so
they'll do a touch turn.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Yeah, and streamlining as well.
You see very interestingmethods of streamlining
sometimes.
Sometimes it's a bit of astarfish experience.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Yes, exactly.
Well, I mean, look, some of thepeople, swimming masters are
still swimming double armbackstroke with a breaststroke
kick for backstroke.
I don't know how they do that.
I can't do that with myshoulders either, bringing them
both over together.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I think that would actually physically hurt me more
than doing normal backstrokeand then butterfly with
breaststroke kick.
That's another one I've seenand I've tried it.
I can't do it.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
I know, I know it's, yeah, but I suppose it's.
You know, it's what they learntwhen they were younger because
that's what it used to be, soit's hard to change.
I mean, when I swam when I wasa teenager I did one of those
backstroke touch like a flipturn.
So it wasn't a somersault likewe do now, it was sort of like a
tabletop turn.
(22:54):
Yeah, and I used to love doingthat and was good at doing it,
and then I had to change.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
I had to learn it all again oh, it's similar with the
crossover turn in I am.
I am struggling with thatmassively.
I am not at the stage where I'mgoing to start using it in
meets yet, because I'm terrifiedof getting disqualified.
I can do it on one side and itit looks like a normal turn and
I've been assured that it'slegal.
(23:20):
I come in on the other side andI flip over the lane rope so
I'm going sideways orsomething's happening, um.
So, yeah, I'm working on that,but it's been a big change from
I've just been doing the openturn at the moment, not even a
bucket turn, um.
But that's, yeah, somethingthat's on the list to work on in
the next six months or so it'sa hard turn to do.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I mean, people at the olympics and world champs were
getting disqualified in thatturn because they were turning
over onto their um stomach toosoon yeah, you go slightly too
far, you go past that 90 degreesand you, yeah, cactus yeah, and
I think they're really watchingit too.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah yeah, so I'm.
I'm nervous about turns at thebest of time, um, so getting
used to doing the crossover turnand making sure it's legal is
going to be a big thing for me,I think, yeah do you use any
video um feedback in yourtraining, or is it all verbal?
It's mostly verbal.
(24:21):
We actually did some videoanalysis for the first time a
few weeks ago.
We're still, I think, we'restill working through that at
the moment, but I think it'll bereally good to actually have
the time to sit down and have alook at that.
We haven't had a chance yet.
I'm sure there's going to bethings that my coach is going to
find that I've been doing forprobably 20, 30 years.
He's going to have fun undoingthat.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
When did you first get started in Masters?
I know you said before yourfirst World Masters was 2009.
Is that the first year you?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
were in.
So back in 2003, 2004, Istarted doing both open swimming
and Masters.
I was using Masters as a bit ofa social outlet and a bit of
just practice for starts andturns and things like that.
And then I moved to New Zealandin 2006 and had a little break
from swimming altogether, Cameback to it in 2009 when I moved
(25:19):
back to Australia and have beendoing it pretty much since then.
I think I was in the 18 to 24age group.
So the real yeah, the littlebaby age group.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Do you see yourself heading to Singapore next year?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I was thinking that I wasn't going to, partly because
I'll be top of the age groupand I've done two in a row and
it just was adding up.
But I've got a few friendsgoing and I think I'll be there
they're twisting your arm.
Yeah, the very rubber arm.
I think I get too much FOMO ifI don't go, and it's a five-hour
(25:56):
flight from Perth, so I reallydon't have an excuse not to go.
Yeah, and you add into that youknow, I've got a very
supportive employer.
I've got a good swimmingenvironment.
At the moment.
I'll probably it wouldn't betoo difficult to keep going
through until then.
So yeah, I think I'll be there.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yes, oh, that's good.
Watch out to all those peopleracing Stacia so that they know
that you're on the way.
Wait till I nail the crossoverturn.
Exactly that's gonna.
That's gonna take off time.
Talk us through your race dayso you, you get up and you have
your brekkie.
What do you have for brekkie onrace day?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
uh, so I'm a little bit different.
I know a lot of people go forcarbs and stuff.
I have an omelette, I I go fora ham, cheese and tomato
omelette with a little bit oftoast and have my supplements,
things like that.
I get quite paranoid aboutmissing my race, so I over allow
time.
(26:57):
I'll generally try and get tothe pool a couple of hours
before I'm due to race.
I get worried about gettinginto and out of racing suits as
well, so that's always fun.
Depending on the race day, I'lleither half get into my suit to
warm up or I'll go warm up inmy training bathers, do my
activation, stuff like that, andthen I'll find a little corner
(27:21):
to chill and put my earbuds inand just kind of pretend I'm not
there for a while and then,yeah, head to marshaling and off
I go so how typically, howclose to swimming, would you
warm up?
uh, I try and make it as closeas I can.
It obviously gets a little bitdifficult when you're trying to
calculate getting in and out ofracing suits as well, um,
(27:42):
because sometimes it'll take you15 minutes.
Other times it'll justmagically take you half an hour.
I try and time it so that I'mabout 15 minutes before going to
marshalling, that I'm in mysuit and ready to go.
There's been times where it'sbeen as much as an hour, though,
because I've been a little bitworried and the meat's been
running behind.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
So, yeah, um, I try and cut it as fine as I can
without causing any anxietythere's no, yeah, you don't want
to have any anxious feelingsjust before, because you've
already got enough butterflieshappening in your stomach yeah,
um.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
And in Fukuoka, before my 103, I got stuck
getting into my racing suit.
So 48 minutes into it I wasstill only halfway up my hips
and it was too hot to get thetalcum powder to work and I was
so terrified of missing my 100freestyle.
That was a come straight out ofthe change room and run to
marshalling area situation.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Well, that would have got the heart rate up, so
that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Definitely did my first 50 split definitely tells
people that.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Yeah, that's always a hard one to bring back, isn't
it when you go out too hard?
And what do you look like inthe marshalling area?
Are you someone that likes totalk to other people, or you
just like to keep to yourself?
Speaker 2 (28:57):
It depends how I'm feeling.
Sometimes I'll be quiet.
Sometimes I'll take my earbudsdown with me and just kind of
tune out.
If there's people that I knowin the marshalling area, I'll
tend to be a bit more talkative.
I'm a huge introvert so it getsa little bit scary sometimes.
If it's say world and I don'tknow anyone that's there,
that'll be earbuds in and justkind of stare at the ground.
(29:19):
But if it's say nationals, I'llknow most of the people in the
marshalling area by the time Iget there.
So there's no point taking theearbuds.
That'll be chatting to people.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Do you have?
Are you a swimmer that has asuperstition before you sort of
race, Because a lot of swimmersdo.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Not so much anymore.
I used to be really fussy withwhat cap or what goggles I
needed to wear, but it's yeah,I've gotten a little bit less
fussy with that these daysbecause I've got my club cap and
things like that that I race in, and then I had the unfortunate
experience of my gogglesbreaking on the blocks in Japan.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Oh yes, that's right, tell us what happened.
400 freestyle no.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I had no inkling at all that my goggles were going
to break.
I got up on the blocks and I waspushing my goggles in just to
check to make sure that theyweren't going to fall off.
After I dived in, the nosebridge snapped right on the
plastic bit, like right here, um, and they just came falling
away.
At first I thought that maybethe little nose clip had come
(30:24):
out, so I very quickly kind ofstood up and tried to put that
back in.
And when that, when I had alook at the worst sinking
feeling in the world like it'severy swimmer's worst nightmare
to have something malfunctionlike that on the blocks um, I
turned around to the official,just held my goggles up and they
were just dangling in two partsand thankfully they called
everyone down off the blocks andnext thing, you know, I hear
(30:47):
stace from the grandstand andthese two pairs of goggles my
spare pairs just come likelooping over.
So thankfully I didn't have torace a 400 with no goggles on
thankfully, yeah, yeah, that'sgood and it's taught me to take
my spare pair to the marshallingarea with me.
Yes, yes, you forget thesethings as a master swimmer.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Yes, you do, and I always think I start off the day
taking them down, Like we justhad states a few weeks ago and I
took them down and then by theend of the last race I thought I
really don't need that littlebag that I take down and then
that's when you need it.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Yeah, you get blasé.
And then, as soon as you getblasé about it, that's when the
problems happen.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yeah, I think it's always good to have that spare
pair of goggles.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Definitely, and I always make sure I've got a
spare suit with me as well.
I've always got the spare suitin the bag because you never
know when there's going to bemishaps with that as well.
I've had that many friends likesplit suits and things like
that.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
it's just yeah anxiety inducing have you ever
used one of those um littleskirts they're like a little
silk skirt to get your suit on?
Speaker 2 (31:54):
yes, I've got a suit skirt now.
Um, I got that after Japan,after my experience before the
100 freestyle.
Uh, it value so valuable.
Um, definitely recommend anyoneget them.
Um, I cut down my time fromabout half an hour down to about
20 minutes in the first try ofusing it.
Yep, um, so I just I get thesuit skirt, I get the powder out
(32:18):
and yeah, just go to town withit well, I'm glad it's working
and it's successful for you yeah, it's definitely working do you
um over sort of in Doha.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Did you race with the same suit each day or did you
have a fresh one?
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I changed between two suits.
Uh, I've got two tier suits atthe moment.
Uh, they're both the same kindof suit, um, just one I bought
for Fukuoka and it was a littlebit older, and one I got for
Doha.
So on the days where I hadevents where I didn't
necessarily have to be in thesuit for quite so long, I wore
(32:55):
the new suit because it was verytight, um, and then relay day,
things like that I wore theolder suit because it's got a
little bit more give in it andit's, yeah, not going to cut off
circulation tell us about therelay day and how exciting that
was winning two gold medals oh,it's that one was really, really
special.
(33:15):
So we had the same four ladiestravel to Fukuoka as we did to
Doha, uh, and we got gold medalsin both the freestyle and
medley relay, in both Fukuokaand Doha.
So we were, we managed torepeat our um, yeah,
achievements, I guess, orresults, um, in Doha.
So we all never dreamed thatthat would happen.
(33:37):
Um, so we were all so excited.
We even managed to go slightlyquicker in Doha, which
everyone's pretty happy about,yeah, oh, well done.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
What?
What age group was that?
The 200 to 239?
Speaker 2 (33:49):
uh, we snuck into the 240.
Oh, so, I was the token youngerperson in the age group, um,
but the other, yeah, the otherladies are all absolutely
amazing swimmers, um, and yeah,it's such a good experience to
swim with them, not only once,but to be able to do it at two
worlds in a row.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I mean just talking about it.
I have so much FOMO because Iwanted to go to both of those
and circumstances beyond mycontrol I missed out on both.
But I'm so determined to be inSingapore next year.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Oh, you have to.
It's such a good experiencegoing to Worlds and, yeah, I
definitely recommend going toWorlds, like even for people who
even just qualify Like.
I've got a lot of friends thatwent to Fukuoka and they were
there for the experience ofbeing at Worlds and they all
said that they had the time oftheir lives as well.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
So, yeah, yeah, because I think people often
feel a little bit intimidated bythose swimmers that are going
to get the medals and be on thepodium.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
But you can still have a wonderful experience, you
know, going and just racingyourself oh, definitely, yeah,
of course, um and it, you know,swimming it's about pbs and
times and challenging yourself,not necessarily the medals and
things like that.
Um and masters, it's aboutsocial things as well, so you
(35:11):
can see your friends and, yeah,have a good experience.
You go to new countries.
You, you know, have those kindof experience that go with
travel.
Um, yeah, and I've now been toplaces that I didn't think I'd
ever go, so it's really good.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Now everyone that comes on the podcast.
I love to finish off by askingyou a deep dive five, which is
sort of your favourite thingsabout swimming.
So just give me your firstanswer that pops into your head.
What's the if someone wasvisiting WA, which would be a
good pool to swim in for them?
Speaker 2 (35:45):
I like Beatty Park.
It's always busy, but at thesame time it's got a bit of an
atmosphere to it.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
And I know you had a broken pair of goggles, but what
goggles do you normally use?
Which brand?
Speaker 2 (35:57):
I've actually still got my Amanzi ones.
I've had them for years and I'mjust, I'm used to them.
They fit perfectly.
They never fall off.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Apart from that malfunction, they've been pretty
good, you should write to themand ask for some new nose pieces
for them.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
I was tempted to send the goggles to them, but I
didn't.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
How about your favorite training drill?
Speaker 2 (36:20):
I quite like my double kick breaststroke.
I I find that that actually twokick, one pull.
I know it's a really old drilland it's a fallback, but it
helps my breaststroke.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
And what about your favorite training set?
Speaker 2 (36:34):
I'm really hoping my coach never hears this, because
it's one that I can complainabout, but I always feel like
I've achieved something.
Feel like I've achievedsomething.
Basically, we do eight 100sfreestyle on two on 130, yeah,
(36:56):
two on 130, four on 125, two on120.
And then we go into eight 50sIM order, fly back breast free
on 50, 55, 60 and 45.
Then we do 100 fin kickrecovery and we do it twice
through.
That kills me usually, but Itend to just make it and it
actually makes me feel like I'veachieved something at the end
of the session.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Yeah, that's a spicy set.
Yeah, and if you were going tobe a selector for this coming
Paris Olympics and you'reputting together your fantasy
women's medley relay, who wouldyou have on it and what stroke
would they do?
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Okay, so backstroke, obviously we've got Kylie
McKeown.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Breaststroke.
I think our last two have beenChelsea Hodges and Jenna Strauss
.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Okay, I'd probably go with Jenna Butterfly, possibly
Emma McKeon, and then Freestyle.
We've got so many Freestylers.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
I know that race at Olympic Trials is going to be
faster than the Olympic final.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
I'd possibly go with Shana Jack on that one.
Yeah, I think I'd go with thosefour.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Yeah, no good relay.
I agree with you.
I'd probably I may go for Mollydoing the freestyle, but yeah,
it's hard to choose betweenthose two.
I think they'll end up racingit.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
I think it's going to be so close.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, it'll be such a great try.
I know it'll be great to watchabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Good to watch.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Well, thank you so much for joining us today.
It's been lovely talking to youand hearing about all your
experiences in Doha and in Japanlast year.
Thank you, thanks for having meon, yeah, and wishing you a
nice resting time and thengetting back into it.
Thanks, okay, take care, okay.
Thanks Okay, take care, okay,thanks, okay, bye, bye, take
(38:48):
care, bye.
Thanks for listening in totoday's episode with Stacia.
I'm going to give her trainingset a go and if you do too, drop
us a line and let us know howyou went with it.
It really sounds like a hardone.
Till next time, happy swimmingand bye for now.
Hello swimmers, and welcome to another episode of
Torpedo Swim Talk podcast.
I'm your host, danielleSperling, and each week we chat
to a master swimmer from aroundthe world about their swimming
journey about their swimmingjourney.
On today's episode, we catch upwith Stacia Kirk, who's fresh
from racing at the Masters WorldChamps in Doha.
(00:29):
She gives us a wonderfulperspective about competing at
Worlds and what it takes to havesuccess when you're away from
home competing.
Let's hear from Stacia now.
Hi Stacia, welcome to thepodcast and thanks for joining
(00:52):
us.
Hi Danielle, thank you, thanksfor having me.
Yeah, you're really welcome.
So you're fresh home from theMasters World Champs in Doha,
where you got two gold and twosilver.
Share with us what it was liketo compete at those World
Masters and how you mentally andphysically prepared.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
For Doha.
It was like to compete at thoseworld masters and how you
mentally and physically preparedFor Doha.
It was a little bit differentto normal worlds.
This was my fifth or sixth timetraveling over to world masters
championships.
Originally I was a little bithesitant.
Being Doha I'd never traveledto the Middle East.
I didn't know what to expect.
Doha was very surprising inthat way, in terms of training,
(01:27):
I'd just come off the back ofJapan as well, so I'd just been
over in Fukuoka six monthsearlier.
We made the decision tocontinue for another six months
after that.
I wasn't particularly sure thatI was going to, but we did it
and I'm glad that I did.
I've been enjoying a month offsince then.
It's been quite nice to be anormal human again for a month.
(01:48):
Yeah, so managed to train witha kid squad for the last 18
months for both Fukuoka and Doha, and it definitely keeps your
ego in check.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
I bet it does.
You did as you mentioned.
You came off the back of Japan,which was only six months and
usually when before COVID, itwas a two-year sort of gap
between worlds.
So how did you find that sortof, you know, psychologically
getting yourself up again,because it takes a lot to get
yourself up to, to race at thatlevel?
How did you go it?
Speaker 2 (02:20):
was actually difficult, and it was more
difficult than I thought itwould be.
I thought originally that I'dcome back.
I'd be really motivated afterJapan and after you know the
swims that I'd done there.
I got home and I had a monthoff.
I wasn't planning to, but Idecided to just take it easy for
(02:40):
a little bit and a week turnedinto a month.
So then getting back in forDoha was a little bit trickier
than I'd planned.
I'm lucky I have a very goodcoach who's good at tough love,
so he managed to get me back inthe water and we had a bit of a
rescue effort.
I did open state championshipsas well just to get a bit of
(03:01):
race practice and to get thatmotivation back a little bit.
That was back in December andthen had the two months before
Doha.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, and you mentioned you, you were training
with an age group squad.
So what?
What's the closest person orkid in age to you?
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Uh, so it's mainly myself, and she's now just
turned 15.
Um, the two of us trainingtogether and she's the best kid
in the world.
She's so responsible and she'stougher than me.
She just she does these setsand I don't know how she does it
, because I'm next to her,absolutely dying, and she's just
(03:38):
powering along, um, so, yeah,um, I'm quite close in age to my
coach, um, but then we've gotum Naomi, who's 15, and there's
a couple more kids that havecome up now, but they're all
around that 14 15 age groupright and is she training for
the same sort of stroke anddistance that you are?
Speaker 1 (03:58):
is that why you're working together?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
yeah, so she's age nationalsals and she's kind of
she's a born 400 IM swimmer.
I try and stick to the shorterIM, but yeah, she's same kind of
events it's.
Yeah, it's good to be trainingwith her.
We have the same kind oftraining structure.
Makes it easier on Chris.
Speaker 1 (04:22):
And what pool do you base yourself out of in Perth?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
So I'm out of Aquinas .
It's a private school here inPerth.
My coach has been there for acouple of years, yeah, so it's
still kind of building.
We're in the process ofstarting up a new club and
things like that.
So, 50 metre pool it's a littlebit older.
Every now and again the heaterbreaks and I refuse to get in
(04:46):
the pool.
It's good Winter it's nice andwarm.
The only bad bit is obviouslygetting into the pool.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
And looking at your events that you medalled in in
Doha, you got two gold for therelays.
Talk us through the two silverthat you got in your individuals
.
What were they for and how didthose races go?
Speaker 2 (05:05):
Okay.
So the two silvers were the 50breaststroke, which was a little
bit of a surprise mybreaststroke's come good in the
last six months.
We're not sure what's happenedthere, but we're going with it
and the other one was my 200 IM,which is my little baby.
I was pretty happy with both ofthe swims.
The 50 breaststroke was only0.06 outside of what I did at
(05:28):
Open States in December, so thatwas pretty much right on my PB.
I was happy with that.
The 200 IM was slightly slow,but I was really happy with how
it played out and the way thatmy splits were.
My backstroke was two secondsquicker than it usually is, so
I'm happy with that.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
How do you approach a 200?
I am, is it like flat flat outfour sprints from the start, or
do you build into it?
Speaker 2 (05:53):
uh, I tend to try and build into it.
I have a background as an agegrouper, as a butterfly, so I
try and ease into the fly, startworking in the backstroke and
then get really stuck into thebreaststroke and just bring the
freestyle home.
That's always been the way thatI've kind of approached it and
it seems to be something thatworks for me.
I know it doesn't work foreveryone, it depends on what
(06:14):
your stroke is, but for me,luckily, I've got that
background with butterfly.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Yeah for sure, and I know you swim the 200 fly as
well at times, don't you?
Speaker 2 (06:30):
I have in the past.
My shoulder won't let me do itanymore, thankfully.
I tend to try and just stick tothe 100 fly these days.
But yeah, I have done the 200fly in the past at Worlds.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
And also the 400 IM.
So what's the difference instrategy that you would change
from the 200 IM to the 400?
Speaker 2 (06:47):
difference in strategy that you would change
from the 200 IM to the 400?
Speaker 1 (06:50):
400 IM you have to go out a lot easier.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Otherwise you just end up in a world of hurt by the
end of it.
I did the 400 IM in Montreal atWorlds and that one.
I've been doing a lot of workon my fly just to make sure that
that first hundred could stillbe relatively quick and not take
that much energy out of me.
Again with the 400, I still tryand build through it, but just
(07:12):
not quite as intense.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
So what were the other races that you competed in
?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
So I did the 100, 200 and 400 freestyle.
I had the 400 freestyle and 50breaststroke on the same day.
So I raced the 400 freestyle atabout 11 o'clock in the morning
and freestyle and 50breaststroke on the same day.
So I raced the 400 freestyle atabout 11 o'clock in the morning
and then my 50 breaststrokewasn't until about five o'clock
at night.
So it was really similar todoing heats and finals.
So I'm very glad that I didopen states to get used to.
(07:38):
That Definitely prepared mewell.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Did you stay around at the pool or did you go back
for a bit of a rest?
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I stayed at the pool.
It was easy enough to movearound in Doha, but I decided it
was probably just the best tostay at the pool.
So I found a dark little cornerand actually had a nap on the
seats.
Nice, there was a lot of little.
The place was like a rabbitwarren, so it was lots of little
hidey holes that you could goand kind of find your way around
(08:06):
into and just hide when youneeded a bit of peace and quiet.
It was a lot louder than otherworlds.
There was a lot more music, alot more kind of atmosphere than
there has been previously.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Yeah, look, they seem to sort of hold over a lot from
the elite world champs to themasters Masters, like they did
in Kazan.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
Yeah, they did.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
I saw they had the same sort of dais that you were
getting presented your medals onand whatnot.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, the dais was nice.
They were rushing us through alittle bit, but I guess you get
that when there's so many agegroups and things like that.
It was nice being able to justgo and see the pool, like that.
They had the screens going,things like that.
They had a commentator who wasgetting very excited at times
fantastic and dance music going.
(08:54):
It had a lot more atmospherethan it has in the past no,
that's really good.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
So obviously that was a difference between um japan
and do.
What other things did younotice, because they were so
close together In?
Speaker 2 (09:07):
terms of well competitor numbers were a lot
less in Doha, so we were allcompeting in one pool.
That was actually really nicehaving everyone together instead
of split over two pools thatare sometimes an hour apart.
That was definitely adifference I noticed, and it was
something that I actually quiteliked.
(09:27):
In terms of difference betweensix months, I'm glad that it was
in February in Doha, given thatit was winter in Qatar at the
time, not 50 degrees in summer,because Fukuoka was anyone who
will tell you that was there.
It was stinking hot was it yes?
(09:51):
um, like 38 degrees every day,about 80 humid.
So it was a nice relief to havea little bit of a different
environment in that way.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Yeah, yeah how did you find um, like practical
things, like getting food injapan as compared to doha?
What were the sort of the goodthings you found and what did
you have trouble with?
Speaker 2 (10:13):
so I have celiac um, and japan is a big challenge for
me in terms of findinggluten-free food um.
I always book places that havecooking facilities just in case
I can't find anything.
So in both Fukuoka and Dohara Idid that.
Japan it was very much going tosupermarkets cooking my own
(10:35):
food, not being able to eat out,whereas in Doha it was
completely different.
It's still a challenge.
Every time you travelinternationally with a food
allergy or intolerance, you'vegot to be so aware of it.
But I found that it was a loteasier in Doha.
They were a lot more aware ofgluten-free things like that and
(11:00):
definitely no language barrier,so it was so much easier that's
really good.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Yeah, yeah, and you were able to, sort of in Doha,
get out to a supermarket and getthe kind of things you needed.
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yes, yeah, there was a huge supermarket right across
from the hotel, so it wasprobably about a two or three
hundred meter walk.
Um, just sucked across, grabbedwhat I needed.
It was.
The best I can compare it to isCostco.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
There was a little bit of everything and it was
total chaos, um, but they hadeverything I needed oh, that's
good, that's what you need,because I think people forget
that that is part of thatinternational experience.
When you go to world masters,you've got to think about all
those kind of things.
You know, it's not just theswimming part, it's your food
you're going to eat, it's therecovery in between, um, and
(11:46):
it's the travel to and from thepool.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
As you said, in japan one was a lot further away yeah
, um, in fukuoka it was an hourin between the two pools.
Uh, it was relatively easy toget to the main pool, but the
secondary pool was an hour on asubway and then a 15-minute
shuttle bus, which in the heatwasn't particularly comfortable,
whereas Doha it was $10 in anUber to get each way to and from
(12:11):
the pool which is so mucheasier, and I know you've been
to sort of five or six worlds.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
What was the first one that you raced at?
Speaker 2 (12:19):
I did a World Masters Games in 2009, which was Sydney
.
The first World MastersChampionships was Montreal in
2014.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
And so, out of the ones you've been to, which one
was your best experience, wouldyou say?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
They've all been different in different ways.
I loved Montreal because it wasmy first one.
It's been the most exciting, Ididn't know what to expect, and
also I got a six week holiday inCanada, so who'd complain?
No one.
I liked Fukuoka because I loveJapan, and it was a wonderful
(12:53):
experience to be able to go backfor a third time and see a
different part of the country.
Again, I had a three-weekholiday afterwards, so that was
good.
I joined Doha because it wascompletely different to what I
was expecting.
I feel like I've learned a lotfrom that trip, and there's
actually other places I'd liketo go back to now in the Middle
East, which is I never thoughtI'd be saying that.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
So each one has just been different how do you sort
of keep your enthusiasm andmotivation up between them to go
to?
Speaker 2 (13:21):
you know that many uh , I take a break.
Um, I'm known to take regularbreaks from swimming.
Um, as well as that, I findlittle things in between to
motivate me, so little meets ora time that I want to meet, like
reach or things like that.
There's also the social aspect.
(13:43):
Everyone knows Masters is quitesocial, so I've made some
absolutely wonderful friendsthrough Masters swimming and
they tend to keep me motivated.
I've got one friend at themoment who's keeping me
accountable for training,checking in to make sure that
I'm making it to trainingsessions and things like that,
and I'm getting tough love whenI skip them well, that's good to
(14:03):
have someone.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
That's sort of keeping you accountable, I
suppose yeah, it's really good.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Um, but definitely social aspect keeps me motivated
.
Um, you know, you end up goingto competitions just to see your
friends instead of worryingabout racing, which is always a
good thing.
Speaker 1 (14:22):
Yeah, look, most of the people I speak to say that
the best thing about masterswimming is that the friends
that you make along the way youknow, one of my closest master
swimming friends I ended upliving with for two years, so
it's you know great.
And also when you go to theworlds, like you have, you
probably know a lot of thosegirls that are going up in the
age group with you, so you'reprobably sort of getting to know
them along the way as well yeah, there's some that I've known
(14:43):
for over 10 years now, um, andwe're all born in 1981, so it's
we're stuck with each other forlife oh gosh.
1981 is when I started yearseven.
Oh dear.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
I always get worried when I realize how young the
kids are that I'm training with,because they're 15.
They're born in the 2000s.
I know, I know it's scary.
Speaker 1 (15:09):
I think that the thing with swimming is that it's
such a leveler.
If you love swimming, you havethat common interest.
And that's what I suppose isgreat about masters, because you
know we've got people racinglike around sort of our ages and
then people right up untiltheir 90s and people in their
20s yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
I remember at my first worlds in Montreal, I saw
a 95 or 96 year old woman do a200 butterfly.
I was just in awe at it.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
She was alive at that point when I'm doing a 200
butterfly give us a bit of aninsight into a typical training
week, like how do you scheduleit all in around your work and,
um, maybe talk us through atypical training session that
you would do uh, in terms oftraining session, it depends on
the week.
Speaker 2 (15:53):
Um, some weeks will be heavy aerobic work and a lot
of kilometers.
Other weeks we do a lot ofsprint work.
It really does depend on wherewe are at in the training cycle.
A typical training week for meI'm generally doing about five
sessions a week at the moment.
Before Japan that went up tosix or seven.
For a few months that wasdifficult to manage when you're
(16:18):
an an adult with you know,grown-up responsibilities.
Uh, in terms of the week, I amreally lucky with my work.
I work from home four days aweek.
I'm only in the office one daya week, so it's cut so much time
for me being able to work fromhome and have an employer.
That's so encouraging.
In that way, I'll generally goto training in the mornings, so
(16:42):
I'll train from say, 5.30 to7.30, get out of the water,
drive home, have my breakfastsitting at my desk checking my
emails and then work during theday.
In the afternoons I'll do myphysio, rehab stuff or go for a
walk, do kind of active recoverystuff, and then do it all over
(17:02):
again the next day.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Do you schedule in some strength work?
Speaker 2 (17:07):
I've been a little bit stuck with that lately.
My old housemate was a strengthand conditioning coach, so
she's probably not going to betoo happy with me at the moment.
But yeah, I plan to.
I'm going to nationals inDarwin in a couple of weeks time
, so after that I'll starthitting the strength training
again.
Uh, recently it's been more ofthe yoga, pilates and physio
(17:28):
rehab exercises because myshoulders tend to be a little
bit touchy sometimes bothshoulders uh, at different times
.
Yeah, they like to alternate sowhat?
Speaker 1 (17:38):
what's the problem there?
Is it bursitis or do you have atear?
What?
What's happening?
Uh?
Speaker 2 (17:43):
I was told a few years ago, back in 2019, that
one side definitely had a Ithink it was grade two bicep
tendon tear um, so that took along time to rehab.
It was quite stubborn um and itstill flares up every now and
again if I don't do my exercises.
And the other one, I think, wasmainly bursitis and it's just
(18:07):
from.
I think it compensates for theother one, so it gets a little
bit angry about that.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
Yeah, I think doing those rehab exercises is the key
to protecting those shoulders.
Speaker 2 (18:18):
Oh, 100%, and I'm so lucky I've got such a good
physio here.
She's probably sick of thesight of me by now, because I
see her every couple of weeks.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
What kind of work do you do with her?
Is it sort of like myotherapytype stuff, or is she, you know,
adjusting things?
What do you do?
Speaker 2 (18:35):
she'll do manipulation and dry needling as
well as giving me exercises todo.
Um, a lot of it comes from.
She does a lot of thoracicmanipulation as well, because I
tend to tighten up like a brickthrough my thoracic spine.
From what I've heard from otherswimmers, it's similar for a
lot of us, yeah, so she kind ofloosens me up every couple of
(18:55):
weeks and then I go off and makea mess of myself again.
Um and my exercises everyafternoon.
Speaker 1 (19:01):
I'm glad to hear that you're doing the exercises.
That's good.
Speaker 2 (19:04):
Oh I turn into a mess if I don't.
So she's able to tellimmediately if I'm not doing
them.
And yeah.
I'm unable to swim, the amountof times that I've had to do
sessions that are five or sixkilometers of kick with fins on
because my shoulders have givenup on me for the day.
I, yeah, I don't like thinkingabout that and I don't like
(19:24):
doing it either.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
You're not a kicker, you're more of a puller.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
I've become more of a puller these days Through age
group.
I was always really good atkick, but it just seems to have
dropped off.
I work on it but it's, yeah,definitely better at pull these
days.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
Do you like using all the equipment that goes along
with swimming, or do you preferjust to swim without it?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
Obviously, training with kids, we use a lot of the
equipment.
I'm not a fan of snorkels.
I know that they're meant to begreat, but I just spend the
whole time choking.
I did get used to it for awhile, um, but then I went
probably six months withoutusing one, and trying to get
back into actually using asnorkel without choking has been
(20:08):
a bit of an experience.
So we we tend to use prettymuch all of the equipment most
sessions and I'm interested withit like training.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
You're training with an age group program.
Do you does the coach structurein um specific sort of dive
turn work every week, or is thatjust part of the set that you
do?
Speaker 2 (20:27):
uh, a lot of the time it's integrated into what we're
doing.
Um, the last few weeks we'vedone a little bit of skills work
, I think, because it's been alittle bit of downtime, so we've
been doing a lot of turns work,a few couple of sessions on
dives, things like that.
A lot of the time our startsare very much integrated into
the session.
(20:47):
We'll definitely do starts ordives a few times a week within
our sets yeah, that's.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
That's good to hear.
I think that a lot of masterswimmers don't focus on that.
I know the squad I train withwe we never do dives until it's
maybe a week or two beforenationals.
And you know, I think you needto do that all the time because
it's an important part of therace oh, definitely.
Speaker 2 (21:11):
Um, their skills and their easy wins as well, their
little skills that if you getthem right, you're miles ahead
of everyone else.
So if you get a good start,you're miles ahead of everyone
else.
So if you get a good start, agood underwater and a good
breakout, you set up really well, particularly in the shorter
events.
And I think, yeah, as masters,we get so focused on the
kilometres and working on thedistance and things like that
(21:33):
that we forget about all theselittle race skills like nailing
a start or a turn or gettingyour finish right, and they're
just the little things that wina race for you.
Speaker 1 (21:44):
Absolutely, and I think turns as well.
Like you know, I see a lot ofpeople in the squad I train with
they.
You know sometimes can't bebothered doing a tumble turn, so
they'll do a touch turn.
Speaker 2 (21:53):
Yeah, and streamlining as well.
You see very interestingmethods of streamlining
sometimes.
Sometimes it's a bit of astarfish experience.
Speaker 1 (22:06):
Yes, exactly.
Well, I mean, look, some of thepeople, swimming masters are
still swimming double armbackstroke with a breaststroke
kick for backstroke.
I don't know how they do that.
I can't do that with myshoulders either, bringing them
both over together.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I think that would actually physically hurt me more
than doing normal backstrokeand then butterfly with
breaststroke kick.
That's another one I've seenand I've tried it.
I can't do it.
Speaker 1 (22:32):
I know, I know it's, yeah, but I suppose it's.
You know, it's what they learntwhen they were younger because
that's what it used to be, soit's hard to change.
I mean, when I swam when I wasa teenager I did one of those
backstroke touch like a flipturn.
So it wasn't a somersault likewe do now, it was sort of like a
tabletop turn.
(22:54):
Yeah, and I used to love doingthat and was good at doing it,
and then I had to change.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
I had to learn it all again oh, it's similar with the
crossover turn in I am.
I am struggling with thatmassively.
I am not at the stage where I'mgoing to start using it in
meets yet, because I'm terrifiedof getting disqualified.
I can do it on one side and itit looks like a normal turn and
I've been assured that it'slegal.
(23:20):
I come in on the other side andI flip over the lane rope so
I'm going sideways orsomething's happening, um.
So, yeah, I'm working on that,but it's been a big change from
I've just been doing the openturn at the moment, not even a
bucket turn, um.
But that's, yeah, somethingthat's on the list to work on in
the next six months or so it'sa hard turn to do.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
I mean, people at the olympics and world champs were
getting disqualified in thatturn because they were turning
over onto their um stomach toosoon yeah, you go slightly too
far, you go past that 90 degreesand you, yeah, cactus yeah, and
I think they're really watchingit too.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
Yeah yeah, so I'm.
I'm nervous about turns at thebest of time, um, so getting
used to doing the crossover turnand making sure it's legal is
going to be a big thing for me,I think, yeah do you use any
video um feedback in yourtraining, or is it all verbal?
It's mostly verbal.
(24:21):
We actually did some videoanalysis for the first time a
few weeks ago.
We're still, I think, we'restill working through that at
the moment, but I think it'll bereally good to actually have
the time to sit down and have alook at that.
We haven't had a chance yet.
I'm sure there's going to bethings that my coach is going to
find that I've been doing forprobably 20, 30 years.
He's going to have fun undoingthat.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
When did you first get started in Masters?
I know you said before yourfirst World Masters was 2009.
Is that the first year you?
Speaker 2 (24:53):
were in.
So back in 2003, 2004, Istarted doing both open swimming
and Masters.
I was using Masters as a bit ofa social outlet and a bit of
just practice for starts andturns and things like that.
And then I moved to New Zealandin 2006 and had a little break
from swimming altogether, Cameback to it in 2009 when I moved
(25:19):
back to Australia and have beendoing it pretty much since then.
I think I was in the 18 to 24age group.
So the real yeah, the littlebaby age group.
Speaker 1 (25:30):
Do you see yourself heading to Singapore next year?
Speaker 2 (25:34):
I was thinking that I wasn't going to, partly because
I'll be top of the age groupand I've done two in a row and
it just was adding up.
But I've got a few friendsgoing and I think I'll be there
they're twisting your arm.
Yeah, the very rubber arm.
I think I get too much FOMO ifI don't go, and it's a five-hour
(25:56):
flight from Perth, so I reallydon't have an excuse not to go.
Yeah, and you add into that youknow, I've got a very
supportive employer.
I've got a good swimmingenvironment.
At the moment.
I'll probably it wouldn't betoo difficult to keep going
through until then.
So yeah, I think I'll be there.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yes, oh, that's good.
Watch out to all those peopleracing Stacia so that they know
that you're on the way.
Wait till I nail the crossoverturn.
Exactly that's gonna.
That's gonna take off time.
Talk us through your race dayso you, you get up and you have
your brekkie.
What do you have for brekkie onrace day?
Speaker 2 (26:37):
uh, so I'm a little bit different.
I know a lot of people go forcarbs and stuff.
I have an omelette, I I go fora ham, cheese and tomato
omelette with a little bit oftoast and have my supplements,
things like that.
I get quite paranoid aboutmissing my race, so I over allow
time.
(26:57):
I'll generally try and get tothe pool a couple of hours
before I'm due to race.
I get worried about gettinginto and out of racing suits as
well, so that's always fun.
Depending on the race day, I'lleither half get into my suit to
warm up or I'll go warm up inmy training bathers, do my
activation, stuff like that, andthen I'll find a little corner
(27:21):
to chill and put my earbuds inand just kind of pretend I'm not
there for a while and then,yeah, head to marshaling and off
I go so how typically, howclose to swimming, would you
warm up?
uh, I try and make it as closeas I can.
It obviously gets a little bitdifficult when you're trying to
calculate getting in and out ofracing suits as well, um,
(27:42):
because sometimes it'll take you15 minutes.
Other times it'll justmagically take you half an hour.
I try and time it so that I'mabout 15 minutes before going to
marshalling, that I'm in mysuit and ready to go.
There's been times where it'sbeen as much as an hour, though,
because I've been a little bitworried and the meat's been
running behind.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
So, yeah, um, I try and cut it as fine as I can
without causing any anxietythere's no, yeah, you don't want
to have any anxious feelingsjust before, because you've
already got enough butterflieshappening in your stomach yeah,
um.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
And in Fukuoka, before my 103, I got stuck
getting into my racing suit.
So 48 minutes into it I wasstill only halfway up my hips
and it was too hot to get thetalcum powder to work and I was
so terrified of missing my 100freestyle.
That was a come straight out ofthe change room and run to
marshalling area situation.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Well, that would have got the heart rate up, so
that's a good thing.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Definitely did my first 50 split definitely tells
people that.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
Yeah, that's always a hard one to bring back, isn't
it when you go out too hard?
And what do you look like inthe marshalling area?
Are you someone that likes totalk to other people, or you
just like to keep to yourself?
Speaker 2 (28:57):
It depends how I'm feeling.
Sometimes I'll be quiet.
Sometimes I'll take my earbudsdown with me and just kind of
tune out.
If there's people that I knowin the marshalling area, I'll
tend to be a bit more talkative.
I'm a huge introvert so it getsa little bit scary sometimes.
If it's say world and I don'tknow anyone that's there,
that'll be earbuds in and justkind of stare at the ground.
(29:19):
But if it's say nationals, I'llknow most of the people in the
marshalling area by the time Iget there.
So there's no point taking theearbuds.
That'll be chatting to people.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Do you have?
Are you a swimmer that has asuperstition before you sort of
race, Because a lot of swimmersdo.
Speaker 2 (29:35):
Not so much anymore.
I used to be really fussy withwhat cap or what goggles I
needed to wear, but it's yeah,I've gotten a little bit less
fussy with that these daysbecause I've got my club cap and
things like that that I race in, and then I had the unfortunate
experience of my gogglesbreaking on the blocks in Japan.
Speaker 1 (29:56):
Oh yes, that's right, tell us what happened.
400 freestyle no.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
I had no inkling at all that my goggles were going
to break.
I got up on the blocks and I waspushing my goggles in just to
check to make sure that theyweren't going to fall off.
After I dived in, the nosebridge snapped right on the
plastic bit, like right here, um, and they just came falling
away.
At first I thought that maybethe little nose clip had come
(30:24):
out, so I very quickly kind ofstood up and tried to put that
back in.
And when that, when I had alook at the worst sinking
feeling in the world like it'severy swimmer's worst nightmare
to have something malfunctionlike that on the blocks um, I
turned around to the official,just held my goggles up and they
were just dangling in two partsand thankfully they called
everyone down off the blocks andnext thing, you know, I hear
(30:47):
stace from the grandstand andthese two pairs of goggles my
spare pairs just come likelooping over.
So thankfully I didn't have torace a 400 with no goggles on
thankfully, yeah, yeah, that'sgood and it's taught me to take
my spare pair to the marshallingarea with me.
Yes, yes, you forget thesethings as a master swimmer.
Speaker 1 (31:08):
Yes, you do, and I always think I start off the day
taking them down, Like we justhad states a few weeks ago and I
took them down and then by theend of the last race I thought I
really don't need that littlebag that I take down and then
that's when you need it.
Speaker 2 (31:22):
Yeah, you get blasé.
And then, as soon as you getblasé about it, that's when the
problems happen.
Speaker 1 (31:27):
Yeah, I think it's always good to have that spare
pair of goggles.
Speaker 2 (31:30):
Definitely, and I always make sure I've got a
spare suit with me as well.
I've always got the spare suitin the bag because you never
know when there's going to bemishaps with that as well.
I've had that many friends likesplit suits and things like
that.
Speaker 1 (31:45):
it's just yeah anxiety inducing have you ever
used one of those um littleskirts they're like a little
silk skirt to get your suit on?
Speaker 2 (31:54):
yes, I've got a suit skirt now.
Um, I got that after Japan,after my experience before the
100 freestyle.
Uh, it value so valuable.
Um, definitely recommend anyoneget them.
Um, I cut down my time fromabout half an hour down to about
20 minutes in the first try ofusing it.
Yep, um, so I just I get thesuit skirt, I get the powder out
(32:18):
and yeah, just go to town withit well, I'm glad it's working
and it's successful for you yeah, it's definitely working do you
um over sort of in Doha.
Speaker 1 (32:31):
Did you race with the same suit each day or did you
have a fresh one?
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I changed between two suits.
Uh, I've got two tier suits atthe moment.
Uh, they're both the same kindof suit, um, just one I bought
for Fukuoka and it was a littlebit older, and one I got for
Doha.
So on the days where I hadevents where I didn't
necessarily have to be in thesuit for quite so long, I wore
(32:55):
the new suit because it was verytight, um, and then relay day,
things like that I wore theolder suit because it's got a
little bit more give in it andit's, yeah, not going to cut off
circulation tell us about therelay day and how exciting that
was winning two gold medals oh,it's that one was really, really
special.
(33:15):
So we had the same four ladiestravel to Fukuoka as we did to
Doha, uh, and we got gold medalsin both the freestyle and
medley relay, in both Fukuokaand Doha.
So we were, we managed torepeat our um, yeah,
achievements, I guess, orresults, um, in Doha.
So we all never dreamed thatthat would happen.
(33:37):
Um, so we were all so excited.
We even managed to go slightlyquicker in Doha, which
everyone's pretty happy about,yeah, oh, well done.
Speaker 1 (33:45):
What?
What age group was that?
The 200 to 239?
Speaker 2 (33:49):
uh, we snuck into the 240.
Oh, so, I was the token youngerperson in the age group, um,
but the other, yeah, the otherladies are all absolutely
amazing swimmers, um, and yeah,it's such a good experience to
swim with them, not only once,but to be able to do it at two
worlds in a row.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
I mean just talking about it.
I have so much FOMO because Iwanted to go to both of those
and circumstances beyond mycontrol I missed out on both.
But I'm so determined to be inSingapore next year.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
Oh, you have to.
It's such a good experiencegoing to Worlds and, yeah, I
definitely recommend going toWorlds, like even for people who
even just qualify Like.
I've got a lot of friends thatwent to Fukuoka and they were
there for the experience ofbeing at Worlds and they all
said that they had the time oftheir lives as well.
Speaker 1 (34:40):
So, yeah, yeah, because I think people often
feel a little bit intimidated bythose swimmers that are going
to get the medals and be on thepodium.
Speaker 2 (34:50):
But you can still have a wonderful experience, you
know, going and just racingyourself oh, definitely, yeah,
of course, um and it, you know,swimming it's about pbs and
times and challenging yourself,not necessarily the medals and
things like that.
Um and masters, it's aboutsocial things as well, so you
(35:11):
can see your friends and, yeah,have a good experience.
You go to new countries.
You, you know, have those kindof experience that go with
travel.
Um, yeah, and I've now been toplaces that I didn't think I'd
ever go, so it's really good.
Speaker 1 (35:26):
Now everyone that comes on the podcast.
I love to finish off by askingyou a deep dive five, which is
sort of your favourite thingsabout swimming.
So just give me your firstanswer that pops into your head.
What's the if someone wasvisiting WA, which would be a
good pool to swim in for them?
Speaker 2 (35:45):
I like Beatty Park.
It's always busy, but at thesame time it's got a bit of an
atmosphere to it.
Speaker 1 (35:52):
And I know you had a broken pair of goggles, but what
goggles do you normally use?
Which brand?
Speaker 2 (35:57):
I've actually still got my Amanzi ones.
I've had them for years and I'mjust, I'm used to them.
They fit perfectly.
They never fall off.
Speaker 1 (36:06):
Apart from that malfunction, they've been pretty
good, you should write to themand ask for some new nose pieces
for them.
Speaker 2 (36:13):
I was tempted to send the goggles to them, but I
didn't.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
How about your favorite training drill?
Speaker 2 (36:20):
I quite like my double kick breaststroke.
I I find that that actually twokick, one pull.
I know it's a really old drilland it's a fallback, but it
helps my breaststroke.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
And what about your favorite training set?
Speaker 2 (36:34):
I'm really hoping my coach never hears this, because
it's one that I can complainabout, but I always feel like
I've achieved something.
Feel like I've achievedsomething.
Basically, we do eight 100sfreestyle on two on 130, yeah,
(36:56):
two on 130, four on 125, two on120.
And then we go into eight 50sIM order, fly back breast free
on 50, 55, 60 and 45.
Then we do 100 fin kickrecovery and we do it twice
through.
That kills me usually, but Itend to just make it and it
actually makes me feel like I'veachieved something at the end
of the session.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
Yeah, that's a spicy set.
Yeah, and if you were going tobe a selector for this coming
Paris Olympics and you'reputting together your fantasy
women's medley relay, who wouldyou have on it and what stroke
would they do?
Speaker 2 (37:30):
Okay, so backstroke, obviously we've got Kylie
McKeown.
Speaker 1 (37:36):
Breaststroke.
I think our last two have beenChelsea Hodges and Jenna Strauss
.
Speaker 2 (37:43):
Okay, I'd probably go with Jenna Butterfly, possibly
Emma McKeon, and then Freestyle.
We've got so many Freestylers.
Speaker 1 (37:56):
I know that race at Olympic Trials is going to be
faster than the Olympic final.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
I'd possibly go with Shana Jack on that one.
Yeah, I think I'd go with thosefour.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Yeah, no good relay.
I agree with you.
I'd probably I may go for Mollydoing the freestyle, but yeah,
it's hard to choose betweenthose two.
I think they'll end up racingit.
Speaker 2 (38:19):
I think it's going to be so close.
Speaker 1 (38:21):
Yeah, it'll be such a great try.
I know it'll be great to watchabsolutely.
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Good to watch.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Well, thank you so much for joining us today.
It's been lovely talking to youand hearing about all your
experiences in Doha and in Japanlast year.
Thank you, thanks for having meon, yeah, and wishing you a
nice resting time and thengetting back into it.
Thanks, okay, take care, okay.
Thanks Okay, take care, okay,thanks, okay, bye, bye, take
(38:48):
care, bye.
Thanks for listening in totoday's episode with Stacia.
I'm going to give her trainingset a go and if you do too, drop
us a line and let us know howyou went with it.
It really sounds like a hardone.
Till next time, happy swimmingand bye for now.
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