ABOUT STEPHANIE: FROM ANN

LAST UPDATED: AUGUST 2004

Well, it’s almost a year since I have updated ‘From Ann’, where has the time gone?

Stephen and I have just returned from Canberra where Stephanie has just been nominated to the 2004 Australian Olympic team for Athens along with Allana, Danielle, Lisa, Monettte and Melissa, with Karen reserve. What a very emotional time for everyone concerned, I don’t think we have ever been so stressed!

It is an exhausting process for everyone concerned, and of course there is still a lot of hard work leading up to Athens for the gymnasts and coaches, but we know that Stephanie is definitely looking forward to the challenge ahead. She has had a fantastic 12 months competing in many international events, the highlight being the World Championships in Anaheim in 2003, which seems like only yesterday.

What a fantastic experience it was for the girls to achieve the Bronze medal for Australia, to see the looks on their faces as they realised the outcome! A lovely gesture was for Peggy to present Lisa with her Bronze medal after the awards ceremony. It was an emotional time for all the girls and their coaches, and fantastic to be part of such an historical event for Australia.

After World’s we continued on to Mexico for a well-earned family holiday, (except for Nathan who was still attending University at home), where we could relax and enjoy some sunshine before heading back to our Aussie winter. Of course, one of the first things that Stephanie wanted to do was to have her hair braided, which took about 3 hours to make all the plaits (see photo on this site). She also put some of her artistic talent to use, other than sport, and found some ceramic painting to do whilst she relaxed by the pool. We also ventured out to see of some of the local culture and ancient historical sites of the Mexican people, and overall had a wonderful time.

On our way back to Australia we stopped over at Dallas Texas to catch up with the Deutsch family, Iris, Neil, Hannah and Jonathon, who have always been wonderful in supporting the Aussie girls when they have competed at WOGA. Stephanie has become great friends with Hannah who competes at Level 10 for WOGA and Jonathon, who loves anything about Australia. Stephanie again celebrated her birthday with the Deutsch’s, when she competed with the Australian team in January this year.

Stephanie also competed in her first Grand Prix competition for Australia in Glasgow, and was excited to make the bars final, after which she flew home briefly to prepare to return overseas to compete with the Australian team in Marseille, France at the Trophee Masillia. The girls were billeted with French families for a few days, and learned a little more about the French culture and language which is a wonderful experience.

One of the highlights for Stephanie earlier this year was to represent Australia in Hawaii at the Pacific Alliance, the last time being as a junior when she competed in Vancouver Canada, where we first met Kate Richardson’s family, (who has just been selected to Canada’s Olympic team) and have kept in touch with them ever since. This time, however, we decided not to travel to Hawaii and sent our good wishes with Stephanie instead. She had a fantastic time, enjoyed having some fun on Waiikki beach and managed to fit in some shopping as all girls must do!

It wasn’t long before the upcoming Australian Nationals, so Stephanie re-focused again to get ready for this important competition, as it was also the first Olympic trial, and a very nervous time for us as well. Stephanie’s grandparents decided that they would like to visit some relatives in Sydney and support Stephanie in her upcoming trial also, so her Uncle Bruce drove them all up. Not only that, but our friends Bronwyn and Karen and their two young daughters Amy and Caitlin who also do gymnastics flew to Sydney from Melbourne to lend their support. We have all appreciated so much the support given to Stephanie from friends and family over the years.

Stephanie had a fantastic competition, other than a hiccup on bars, and achieved 2nd AA, and 1st on Beam. With time to fill in-between competitions, Stephen and I looked around some of the Sydney Olympic venues. It’s amazing to think that these Olympic Games were held nearly 4 years ago, and now we have Athens just around the corner. It was interesting to see the names of hundreds of volunteers outside the Olympic stadium, and to look inside the swimming venue where World records were broken, and the Olympic cauldron.

With only a few weeks home in Melbourne before Stephanie was to travel to Canberra for the 2nd Olympic trial, we decided to squeeze in a good luck farewell at home for her with about 70 family and friends, and decorated the house with Olympic posters and Australian and Greek flags. Stephanie was very surprised, and everyone had a wonderful afternoon!

Also, at the gym we organised a small farewell party for Aleea, Monette, Karen, and the two Stephanie’s to wish them good luck for their final trial in Canberra, as those selected to the team would not be returning home before the Olympics. It is great to see the positive relationships that have developed between the younger gymnasts with the older gymnasts via a “buddy system” as they encourage each other in their upcoming competitions.

Stephen and I decided to drive to Canberra for the trial, and instead of filling in time by having lots of coffee while we wait for competitions to begin, we had a fantastic lunch at a winery in Canberra with families and friends of the girls that were trialling, some of whom we had not met before, as we discussed our similar fears and hopes for them. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely, as did my friend Caroline from Melbourne who wanted to fly up from Melbourne to support Stephanie; it was a great day out!

Stephanie had two good days of competition at the second Olympic trial, and it was great to see her bars coming together at last. So after two days of a very tense competition, we nervously waited at the AIS theatrette for the announcement of the Australian Olympic team whilst we watched highlights of the Sydney Olympic Games. As Stephanie’s name was announced, it was with a sense of relief, excitement, and apprehension for what lies ahead, but at the same time, our thoughts were with Aleea, Lynne, Belinda, Nicky and Steph L who also have trained many hours aiming to be part of this team. It is a very difficult process, not only for the girls concerned, and their coaches who put in many hours of work over many years, but their families as well.

Stephanie began her gymnastics career at age 4, in a rec class at Jets Gym in Eltham with Bryan Doody before joining Ross Bouskill and Katie Watts in an Elite squad. She then progressed with Katie to join with Simone Greig at Bulleen, then Michelle de Highden and Qu Derui at MLC, and finally to VHPC/VIS at Prahran with Mark Carlton, and Tracey Penaluna, and now with Misha Barabach and Tracey, and of course, National Coach Peggy Liddick. They have all had a huge input over the years into helping Stephanie aim to reach her gymnastics potential, plus the people behind the scenes that also keep these athletes in peak condition, such as physios, masseurs, nutritionists, psychologists etc.; a big thank you to all!

So now, as Stephen, Nathan and I look ahead to Athens with much excitement and anticipation, (and a lot less dollars). We know how many years of commitment and dedication it takes, not only from the people mentioned above, but from Stephanie, and our family to reach this stage. A gymnastics life certainly has its share of ups and downs, as does life in general, but as Stephanie, and the other members of the Australian Olympic gymnastics team compete in Athens for Australia, we wish them every success, a fantastic time, and many wonderful memories!

BACK TO TOP  HOMEPAGE