Switzerland 2025: Regional Records? Worlds Qualifiers?
Oh Switzerland, what a blast, as always! And with that, the 2025 qualifying season is over! This trip was full of fun, new records, and room for improvement, with eyes on the World Championship team selection next month...stay tuned!
TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) Summary
The TLDR version is that I broke my own Oceania T52 100m record twice during this trip and collected another three World Championship qualifying times, but I know I’ve got room for improvement and that I can achieve more. Read on for the details!
Student Athlete Life Is HARD
As mentioned in my last blog post, I’ve been living a double life as a student athlete recently. I haven’t talked much about it, mostly because I’ve been feeling a little sheepish about how difficult I’ve found balancing it all. But I’ve come to realize that talking about it hopefully will encourage others to take on more than they think they can, and to try to better themselves in multifaceted ways. Unfortunately, there was a required in-person university commitment that happened to land right before this trip, which impacted my travel, causing me to arrive a couple days late, not the best timing. But, c’est la vie.
Jet Lag, Pod Racing, and Heidi’s Disembodied Voice
The trip to Switzerland is always an immense full 24 hours of travel. It goes: car, plane, layover, plane, van…by the time I arrive at the hotel I can’t tell up from down or the day of the week. This time it was Melbourne to Dubai (14 hours) then getting rushed to connect to the flight to Zurich (6 hours). This layover was so tight that I barely had time for a quick pee break! Finally, once I landed in Zurich, I was greeted by one of my favourite inanimate friends, Heidi. Yes, I said inanimate. Heidi is a mysterious female voiceover that welcomes you to Switzerland while you ride the airport tram to baggage claim. Listening to her joyous welcome message and the cacophony of emphatic “moo’s” of the Swiss cows always recenters me after such a long journey and reminds me of how lucky I am to be there. Thanks for your services, Heidi. I finally got to my hotel and collapsed to sleep as soon as appropriately possible, since I had a virtual university exam the next morning! At least I used all those excess plane hours to study…and watch Star Wars Episode I: Phantom Menace as a study break…pod racing is cool!
Race #1 - Nottwil
After my morning exam, I had two days before my first event, giving me one day to set up my chair and have a roll on the track before sleeping most of the second day to try to recover from jet lag, and frankly avoid the blustery rain. Race day rolled around and the weather cleared, slightly sunny and a nice tailwind for the 100m. I didn’t feel quite myself, as I was still feeling some jet lag despite my day and a half of rest. My time of 17.30s (+1.1 wind), while a new Oceania Record, was slower than what I had hoped. My chair wasn’t going quite straight (a problem with set-up, I guess) and between that and the fatigue I was somewhat disappointed. I had to remind myself that the new regional record and World Championship qualifier #4 is nothing to scoff at!
Coach Fred and I practicing some starts in Nottwil.
Nottwil → Arbon
I love to support my teammates in the down time between my races. The whole Australian crew did an amazing job and I love seeing athletes hone their skills each year. After everyone finished up their events in Nottwil, we packed everything up before the next two competitions in Arbon. A two hour bus trip through the Swiss countryside later and we arrived at our quaint cottage style hotel (albeit not overly accessible) in Arbon on a lake bordering Switzerland, Austria, and Germany! I really do forget how isolated and giant Australia is sometimes until I'm staring across a lake at another country! We had to set up the race chairs immediately upon arrival since we only had one day before competition. The next day I joined Rooster (human athlete, not an actual rooster) to practice a few starts and flying pickups and feel how the chair was set up making sure the issues from Race #1 didn’t persist.
Teammate Rheed McCracken (black long sleeve top behind the guy in blue) racing in the 800m in Nottwil.
Australian wheelchair track team training in Arbon. Pictured (L to R: Coach Fred, Coach Lou, Ass. Coach Jamie, Mikaela (turned around), Aimee (teal chair), Rooster (blue top), Me, and Rheed
Race #2 - DJM at Arbon
The first race in Arbon was the Daniela Jutzeler Memorial (DJM) and I was far more competitive this time. The conditions were a little colder with strange swirling crosswinds so everyone was significantly slower, but my start was great and it was neck and neck between several of us until the end. I still feel like all my pieces are not quite falling into place, but having performed better in my back 40m earlier this year, I know that once they do, I’ll be battling for those podium places. Even with all this, my result was a 17.58 (+0.1), World Championship qualifier #5 achieved.
Team Trip to St. Gallen
We had two rest days between the DJM and the final competition of the Swiss trip so the team spent part of a day seeing the amazing city of St. Gallen. After navigating 7 wheelchair users through two trains, we immediately bumped into a local ice cream company giving away Australian themed ice cream bars in the train station, which seemed like fate. The city was beautiful. We navigated through the amazing architecture of the old streets, checked out the amazing St. Gallen Cathedral (built in 1755), and a delicious dinner in a restaurant lined by old cobblestone streets.
St.Gallen Fun Facts:
It was founded in 720 AD.
In 2009, the government reported it had the highest maximum radioactivity measurements of any Swiss city.
83% of the population speak German.
FC St.Gallen is the oldest football club in continental Europe.
Exploring the streets of St. Gallen.
Race #3 - Swiss Nationals at Arbon
The final competition, the Swiss National Championships, was here. Luckily, my late afternoon start time allowed a bit of a sleep in and calm morning to prepare. The weather was much warmer this time, and I even pulled out the short sleeves for the first race of the trip! My competitiveness improved again in this race, resulting in my fastest time of the trip. Racing this many times in such a short span tends to take its toll and cause diminishing performances, so I was thrilled at this performance. I finished with a 17.26 (+0.1), another new Oceania Record and my World Championship qualifier #6.
T52 wheelchair athletes racing the 100m. Sam is second closest, wearing short sleeves.
Returning Home… to take a Final Exam
While you may think having all this done and dusted would fill me with relief, you’d only be partially right. After packing up all my racing gear, I had to download a 40 page study guide (that me and my partner made during the trip) for my last final exam of the trimester to study on the plane. Which of course, was scheduled for the next day after landing back in Melbourne (yay, me!). The student athlete life never stops… well I guess it will after graduation theoretically. Anyway, I spent the flights alternating between studying and watching more Star Wars prequel movies. I actually like them, don’t @ me. Who needs sleep anyway? For those who were curious, I passed the exam the next day with flying colours and then slept the best I have in a long time.
It’s a WRAP
Overall the trip was a success for me, while I know these times are not quite my optimal, I improved throughout the competitions and stayed competitive. This trip provided me with an opportunity to practice some new strategies while travelling which seemed to overall pay off. I'm glad I was able to test them out before the next major competition. I have a long winter of training ahead of me to come out swinging at World Championships later this year (fingers crossed for selection) and a clear goal of how to achieve it. As always, stay tuned!
FAQ: What Does World Championship Qualifier Even Mean??
For athletes that have previously made a Worlds or Paralympic team, the system for selection has changed only minorly. The basic selection process is as follows:
A selection qualifier time is set based upon the times set in the finals from the last major competition (Worlds or Paralympics) for each event. This threshold is to show that you are finalist material and is usually set at about the 5th place time (of 8 finalists).
Australian Athletics then begins tracking all eligible athletes during the qualification window at sanctioned events leading into a major competition (normally from starting at the calendar year until selection, with some exceptions).
The baseline to be considered for selection is TWO times:
In your event
That meet your selection threshold time
At a sanctioned event
Have legal wind
Every qualifier beyond the two minimum bolsters your chances at being selected.