Blast from the past

Check out the recent list of athlete interviews with some of the former stars of deaf sport in Australia in the blast from the past section. Stay tuned for more Blast form the Past stories, which will be added regularly.

Kerry Hately - Netball

1. When did you first play netball?
I was 17 years old when I first participated in a Netball Team at Royal Park, Parkville in Melbourne, in 1970. I joined as an amateur player and over time, my skills in the sport improved greatly with intense and regular training sessions.

2. What clubs and competitions have you participated in?
I have been played Netball with many local clubs such as Royal Park, Waverley, Springvale, Dandenong, Mordialloc, Frankston, Braeside and Moorabbin. I participated in deaf netball teams at Royal Park and
Waverley (Deaf teams) and in mainstream teams at Waverley to Moorabbin.

3. What were your achievements?
My first Australian Deaf Games was held in 1971 in Perth. It was a fantastic learning experience for me. I missed the 1974 ADG due to giving birth to my second daughter. However I participated at the 1977 Australian Deaf Games was which was held in Adelaide. Despite the weather being extremely hot, we won the tournament. This was my first win. At the 1980, Australian Deaf Games in Sydney, we won the final by 1 point against Adelaide. I won the MVP award which was a great achievement. We continued to win at the 1983, 1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1997 Australian Deaf Games. I also had the opportunity to travel to South Africa with the Australian Deaf Netball Team to play in a series match tournament. Australia won the tournament.

4. What were your favourite moments?
The rivalry between Victoria and New South Wales was fun and I mostly enjoyed participating against them. I have many favourite moments as I have enjoyed participating with many team mates, both on the court and off.

5. What is your advice to the younger players of today?
Don't give up your ability to play sports. Believe that you can do it. Play all round positions. Be a tough player. Be well-prepared and help your team mates. Participate often with mainstream and deaf teams to keep you fit and improve your skills. Most important thing is to have fun.

Cindy-Lu Fitzpatrick

1. Where were you born?
Liverpool, NSW.

2. What made you choose Swimming?
During School I was doing lots of different sports such as athletics, softball, physical culture and horseback riding, and of course swimming. While we were having our school swimming carnival – one of the coaches saw me swim and approached my mother and asked whether I was interested in swimming. I then went to the club for a 2 day trial and since then I never stopped swimming until I retired in 1997.
 
3. Which was your first Swimming Club?
Cabramatta NSW.

4. Who were your role models? And why?
Bev Whitefield – Australian Breaststroke swimmer of the 1970s who won a gold medal in the 200m breastroke event at the 1972 Olympic in Munich. Also Dawn Fraser is my role model. They both attended my first fundraiser for the first World Deaf Game in Romania 1977 (now called Deaflympic Games)

5. Did you compete in mainstream competitions? If so, did you find it easy to communicate with others?
Like many other deaf people who have trouble with communicating with hearing people I learnt to lipread and had some speech therapy to help me communicate especially in one on one situations.
 
6. How did you communicate with your Coaches?
We communicated one on one all the time. This was despite still missing out on vital information because training occurred in the pool. Also some of the Coaches found it hard to communicate with me, however over a period of time, we learnt to communicate effectively especially with the use of a whiteboard where the Coaches were able to outline the training programs.
 
7. How did you feel when you were selected to compete at the Commonwealth Games?
Very happy especially when I was under tremendous pressure by the media and people who were expecting me win all my swimming races. I will never forget the feeling at that time. It was an incredible feeling to be selected and I felt very proud.
 
8. What was your training routine like?
Like everyone else, we trained for two hour in the mornings and then two and half hours in the evening, totalling 10 sessions a week. It was very tough. Training also included running exercises and weight training. Today, swimming training is far more professional now as it involves technical exercises including bio – mechanics which assists with a swimmer’s techniques.

9. What were your first wins in deaf and mainstream competitions?
My first win was at the North Rocks Deaf Swimming Carnival and at my School Zone Carnival.

10. When did you first compete at the Deaflympic Games?
I first competed at the Deaflympic Games in Romania in 1977. I was 12 years old, and won a bronze medal for the relay team. I never looked back because I went to the next 5 Deaflympic Games as a swimmer! I just LOVED it.

11. How did it feel to break world records and win medals?
I felt proud because all that hard work had paid off. I knew what I had to do every four years to train hard and hold visions of my own races in trying to beat or match world record times. This was no easy feat to win and world records. Some people had mentioned that I could win easily but they were wrong because they did not realize how much time went into my training.

12. What do you like to do outside of your sports, ie. hobbies?
 Spending time with animals is my hobby. I also love to ride horses. I was so lucky to have my mum and dad living on a farm where I was brought up with a lot of different animals. Living in the country and on a farm the experience was wonderful and full of love, laughter, good memories and hard work. I am very grateful to my parents that we lived on the farm. It really is a good experience for life.
 
13. Cindy-Lu – tell us about your family – your partner and children. What do you and your family enjoy doing in spare times?
I have my own beautiful family and partner. Rodney and I first met at the Deaflympics Denmark. He was doing a surf trip around the world surfing through Africa, Europe and then Indonesia. We have two beautiful daughters Tara is going 9y.o. and Lily is 8. Both are hearing. Tara just started join little athletics (I must ask Dean Barton Smith for some advice!). I admire his commitment and dedication. Lily wants to join along with her sister. We love camping, going to the beach and surfing as their daddy is a mad and crazy surfer. He is encouraging our girls to become next Stephanie Gilmore. I just love being mum to my girls so spare time is grabbing the opportunity to be with my family and showing them how much we love our girls.