WEBVTT - Olympian Elle Armit on Developing a High-Performance Mindset 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.400 We'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:06.800 on which this podcast was produced, the Gaddigle people of 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:10.440 the orination. We pay our respects to Elder's past and present. 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:16.000 It's twenty twenty four and water polo player Ellie Armett 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:20.000 is training hard for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris. 0:00:21.000 --> 0:00:25.200 The Ossie Stingers navigated a difficult Tokyo Olympics in the 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:30.000 height of COVID. After they placed fifth, Ellie needed some 0:00:30.160 --> 0:00:34.600 time out of the game, rested and recharged. She's ready 0:00:34.600 --> 0:00:39.000 to revisit the dream of winning gold. She's training from 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:43.000 five each morning, racing to her teaching job, and then 0:00:43.159 --> 0:00:49.480 back into training at night. Ellie is giving this her all, 0:00:49.520 --> 0:00:54.200 but one conversation with her coach changes everything and Ellie 0:00:54.600 --> 0:00:59.080 is dropped from the team. She's told she's not ready. 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:03.280 Ellie is standing in the way of her own success. 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:08.960 Ellie screens and cries, this is not part of the plan, 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:15.840 but she isn't ready to give up. I'm at Middleton 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:20.880 and this is head game today. Ellie Armott on developing 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:24.679 a high performance mindset and her tough road back to 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:31.559 the podium. Now, Ellie, you've had a sort of love 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:35.559 hate relationship with the sport over the years. How did 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:39.919 water polo come into your life? Was it something that 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:42.600 your mother, your father played? How did how did it 0:01:42.640 --> 0:01:43.640 come about? Yeah? 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:45.760 I started when I was quite a little in primary 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:49.280 school and I started with a modified version, the kids 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:51.280 playing like the shallow end of the pool and like 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:55.200 a smaller ball. I was quite fortunate when I was 0:01:55.240 --> 0:01:57.640 growing up in North Queensland there was a huge push 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:03.440 for development in water polo in Queensland and I just 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.080 gave it a go pretty much and fell in love 0:02:06.120 --> 0:02:06.360 with it. 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:08.160 And I played a lot of different. 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:10.679 Sports right up until I left school, but yeah, water 0:02:10.720 --> 0:02:12.280 polly was one of my main sports. 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:14.640 I think I was much. 0:02:14.480 --> 0:02:16.800 More a water athlete than I was a land athlete, 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:19.320 So it was just something I took to like a 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:19.919 duck to water. 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:23.639 Really And you say your water athlete. Were you brought 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.240 up by the beach? What did your family sort of 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:29.000 unit look like? You come from a big family where 0:02:29.040 --> 0:02:32.919 you always outdoors. How did that look Yeah? 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:33.320 Definitely. 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:37.440 I have four older brothers, so we're quite an active family, always, 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:39.720 you know, doing some sort of sport on the weekends 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:40.839 or playing. 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:41.680 With each other. In the backyard. 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:44.680 We grew up in Townsville in North Queensland, so it's 0:02:44.680 --> 0:02:46.320 on the beach, so we did a lot of surf, 0:02:46.360 --> 0:02:49.320 life saving and swimming as kids. 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:52.960 But yeah, we played up multitude of sports really, I 0:02:53.000 --> 0:02:53.600 did everything. 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:57.079 And any of your brothers into water polo. 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:58.760 Yeah, so a couple of them did play growing up. 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:01.000 One was quite good. He got to the junior os level, 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.520 but then they all went on and chose their careers 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:08.400 over their sporting endeavors. So the one that got to 0:03:08.440 --> 0:03:11.120 the Australian level, he is now a or three D surgeon, 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:13.600 so he chose that route over playing water polo. 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:17.760 Yes, I've I've learned that within within water polo there's 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:21.280 there's a second career that you that you have to 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:24.639 have right in order to obviously support yourself, support your 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:28.480 family and and to really focus on on the water 0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:32.119 polo from from a separate standpoint. So ultimately there's there's 0:03:32.160 --> 0:03:36.040 two careers there. When what what career came first to you, 0:03:36.320 --> 0:03:38.240 was it was it the water polo? Did you step 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:41.600 into the sort of the professional real of water polo 0:03:41.920 --> 0:03:45.080 before you stepped into a career or did they did 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.160 they come hand in hand I. 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:50.600 Kind of stumbled into the professional sense of water polo first. 0:03:50.800 --> 0:03:53.720 When I first moved to Brisbane, it definitely wasn't on 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.760 my radar. I was just kind of cracking into the 0:03:56.880 --> 0:03:59.280 q I S squad and and trying to make the 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:01.520 national senior team. 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:02.200 And then this. 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:05.040 Chance, this opportunity came up to go play in Italy, 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.200 and I was eighteen and stari eyed, and of course 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:10.160 I wanted to go live in Italy and play professional 0:04:10.160 --> 0:04:13.160 water polo. But I don't think I actually knew what 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:15.800 that meant until I got there, and it was one 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.280 of the most humbling and hardest times of my life. 0:04:19.680 --> 0:04:22.080 But after I came home and realized that was probably 0:04:22.120 --> 0:04:24.320 a silly mistake. But we don't know those things until 0:04:24.400 --> 0:04:26.680 we look back, and hindsight is a beautiful thing. 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:31.679 I then started studying for to become a teacher. 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.040 So take me back to Italy. What happened? 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:35.919 Did you? 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.000 It was an exciting time. How did that look and 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:42.200 how did your parents and your family take to that decision? 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:46.120 Yeah, So generally what happens when you're an import in 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:48.640 one of the European leagues is someone kind of scouts 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:51.520 you somewhere along the way and kind of gives you 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:53.960 a call or your coach a call and says, hey, 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:57.919 we'd love to have her on our team. In this case, 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:00.200 there was an Australian girl already in this team. She 0:05:00.320 --> 0:05:02.120 didn't want to stay anymore. She wanted to come home, 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:04.640 so she kind of rang me and was like, do 0:05:04.680 --> 0:05:08.760 you want to take my place? We played similar positions again. 0:05:08.920 --> 0:05:09.520 We had. 0:05:11.320 --> 0:05:13.400 It was Italy and I wanted to go, and my 0:05:13.520 --> 0:05:15.480 dad used to live in Italy, so he had some 0:05:15.600 --> 0:05:18.960 family friends there that if things went south, they were 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:21.600 kind of okay with me going to them. And it 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:24.000 wasn't like I was in a foreign country with absolutely 0:05:24.000 --> 0:05:27.599 nobody around. But it was a very hard time because 0:05:27.600 --> 0:05:29.040 I did spend a lot of time on the phone 0:05:29.080 --> 0:05:31.360 to my mom crying because it was so hard. 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:32.160 And I was eighteen. 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:33.960 I had no idea, you're homesick. 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:37.000 Yeah, And I had no idea what I was doing, 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:40.200 and the coach was the typical European screaming at me 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:43.080 in Italian, and you know, it just there was just 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:46.560 like a multiputitude of things happening, and yeah, it was 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:49.200 a really very steep learning curve for me. 0:05:49.680 --> 0:05:52.200 So the psychological aspect is there, especially being an next 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:54.320 book player, like you said, so you know a lot 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:57.880 of pressure on you to perform. Everyone looking to you, 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:02.520 what's the physical sideline because you're constantly in the water, 0:06:03.040 --> 0:06:06.480 You're constantly how often are you training? What does that 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:08.760 physical side to water polo look like? 0:06:09.200 --> 0:06:12.359 Yeah, so I went to Italy a few times to 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.560 play in a few different teams, and in the kind 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:17.120 of later teams that I was in, they were a 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:20.560 bit more in the top one two of the league. 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:21.760 So they were training. 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:26.080 I think we ended up training about ten eleven times 0:06:26.080 --> 0:06:30.120 a week, so you do you know, three gym, three 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:33.440 swim and then all skills at night and games on 0:06:33.480 --> 0:06:37.440 Saturday every Saturday. So it is a quite Yeah, it's 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:39.760 a physical toll on your body, and you only get 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:43.280 one kind of day off to rest. But then again 0:06:43.320 --> 0:06:44.840 you're in a different country, so you kind of want 0:06:44.839 --> 0:06:48.520 to go explore things and see different things. But yeah, 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:51.479 the Italians and actually a lot of the European teams 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:56.080 are very physical players and very aggressive and passionate and 0:06:56.480 --> 0:06:59.080 it just comes out and they're playing. So in the 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.640 games you kind of getting kicked and hit and scratched 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:05.880 and things, as well as trying to prove that you're 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:08.080 one of the best players in your team and you know, 0:07:08.160 --> 0:07:09.080 hold the team together. 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:10.920 So it's a lot of yeah, moving parts. 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:14.560 Yeah, that's really interesting because I suppose you know, you're 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:16.720 like a rabbit in the headlights as well. Like you said, 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.240 you're young, you're not and you mentioned naives. Sometimes it's 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:21.920 best to go into situations like that with a naive 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.760 mindset because you know, you deal with the situation at hand. 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:27.200 You deal with you know, with everything once it's presented 0:07:27.240 --> 0:07:31.880 to you. How did you find the pressure of being 0:07:31.880 --> 0:07:34.680 the export player and then all of a sudden, you know, 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:38.840 realizing that everything's ramping up, from the pressure on you 0:07:38.880 --> 0:07:43.160 to the training to you know, living life away from 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:47.640 Australia being homesick. How how did you deal with it? 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:48.520 How do you manage that? 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:50.880 I guess as the seasons went on and I got 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:53.520 a bit more experienced at it, you just kind of 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:55.800 learned that you can only do what you can only do, 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:59.080 so instead of kind of putting all this pressure on 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:03.360 yourself to be the amazing player, They've picked you for 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.320 a reason, So you're going to go there and play 0:08:05.360 --> 0:08:08.480 your game and and try and incorporate their tactics for sure, 0:08:08.520 --> 0:08:10.640 but yeah, you can only do what you can I do. 0:08:10.760 --> 0:08:14.000 So it's just kind of relinquishing that major pressure and 0:08:14.000 --> 0:08:15.880 then also leading into it as a challenge. 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:20.280 That's amazing because you know, to function at such a level, 0:08:20.640 --> 0:08:23.080 you sort of need that sense of confidence to realize that, 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:27.400 you know that without teaching into arrogance. I suppose of 0:08:27.880 --> 0:08:31.840 realizing that, you know, coh, you know, I'm flying through 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:34.400 the ranks here, I'm being you know, I'm playing for 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:38.559 all the top clubs in Europe, and then all of 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:42.840 a sudden you get a call from the Stiggers in Australia. 0:08:43.800 --> 0:08:45.959 When do you remember that phone call? And do you remember, 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:50.680 you know, being being called up by the national team. 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:51.600 Yeah, definitely. 0:08:51.640 --> 0:08:55.760 I remember kind of doing a tournament and the head 0:08:55.760 --> 0:08:56.360 coach was there. 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:57.000 At this time. 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.600 I was still living in Townsville and he was like 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:01.600 if are you going to move to Brisbane next year? 0:09:01.600 --> 0:09:03.480 And I was like, well, I don't know, and he 0:09:03.520 --> 0:09:06.199 was like I think you should and I was like okay, 0:09:06.240 --> 0:09:08.600 and then you know, kind of told me to move. 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:10.880 And once I moved, I was kind of accepted into 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:15.200 this QIS program. And then eventually I think in like 0:09:15.240 --> 0:09:18.240 twenty thirteen was my very first game, and I. 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:19.120 Was so nervous. 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:21.000 I got on for maybe a minute and I was 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:25.000 just shaking the entire time. But I don't really remember 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:27.240 the call that he gave me or the email that 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:30.440 I saw my name, but yeah, it just it was 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.120 just I was just happy to be there, to be honest, 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:33.480 I was just happy to sit on the bench and 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.480 watch everyone else because I was too scared to get 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:35.880 in the water. 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.320 But once you kind of get over that initial shocks, 0:09:38.360 --> 0:09:39.160 it's a lot of fun. 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:56.360 And then Tokyo comes up. That was quite an unsettling 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.800 sort of time in the world. Talk me through when 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:03.480 you first got called up to Tokyo to represent your 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:04.559 country for the Olympics. 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:08.040 Yeah, so obviously the lead up was just so tumultuous 0:10:08.360 --> 0:10:11.679 and unsure, and you know, I kind of still remember 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:15.480 flying home to Townsville to be with my parents with 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.400 their quarantine and getting the message to say that the 0:10:18.440 --> 0:10:21.360 Olympics were canceled, And it still gives me chills this 0:10:21.480 --> 0:10:23.640 day that we were like but I just, yeah, I 0:10:23.679 --> 0:10:27.520 lost it. We were about to go over to Europe 0:10:27.520 --> 0:10:31.920 to play a tournament, and we were leaving Australia as 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:33.720 we got on the plane and we were flying to Dubai, 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.439 there was messages flying, you know, backwards and forwards about 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:40.560 there's someone in Italy that's super spreading COVID throughout Italy. 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:43.360 So we land in Dubai and they say to us, hey, 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:45.840 we can't go to Italy anymore because this look seems 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.000 like a health rest to us. We're just going to 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.600 chill for a second and maybe divert straight to Hungary, 0:10:50.640 --> 0:10:53.760 which is our second stop, and then we sit around 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.360 for a few hours and whatnot, and yeah, our bags 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.360 off the plane and we go get a hotel and 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.679 check into a hotel. How the next morning we get 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.719 up and our coaches are like, yeah, so Hungry is 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:06.800 off the plan as well because there's COVID there and 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:08.080 it's just not it. 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.120 So we're going to turn around and go back to Australia. 0:11:11.480 --> 0:11:12.640 So we went back to Australia. 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:16.600 We went back to our training environments, and I think 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:18.640 we went to camera for a little bit and back home. 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:21.280 And then I vividly remember what she like sitting on 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:23.280 the couch watching the news and they're going to close 0:11:23.320 --> 0:11:25.720 the borders to Queensland, and I just called my manager 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:27.120 and I said, should I be going home? 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:28.640 And she was like, yeah, get out. 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:32.800 So I left the next day, packed a bag enough 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:33.600 for like two weeks. 0:11:33.600 --> 0:11:34.920 Like I thought it was good, you know, everyone thought 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:38.760 it was two weeks. And then when. 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:40.240 I got home, I was at the airport waiting for 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:42.640 my mom to pick me up, and the message came 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:46.040 through that it was postponed, and I was just bloodgates 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.880 and yeah, it's just still emotional today actually. But then 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:53.760 we kind of just locked in and we just had 0:11:53.800 --> 0:11:56.160 to train in case there was a call one day 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:56.960 that we're back on. 0:11:57.120 --> 0:11:59.440 So we just did what everyone else did. 0:12:00.080 --> 0:12:02.000 I suppose there was a little glimmer of hope that 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:06.000 things would come about. And when they did come about, 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:09.560 can you remember that moment And was it from pure 0:12:09.760 --> 0:12:13.720 sort of you know, just that same routine to all 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:16.920 of a sudden having that spark ignited, or was it 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.200 just a case of oh, this is this is happening 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:20.760 now and not really believing it. 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:24.319 Yeah, it was a tough one because there was still obviously, 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:27.520 you know, the Japanese people didn't want the Olympics to 0:12:27.559 --> 0:12:30.000 go ahead, and there was still protests and things happening. 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:33.840 So we still weren't sure. Even though the IOC were like, yes, 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.240 the Olympics are going ahead, we weren't sure until we 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:38.520 got on the plane that it was actually happening. And 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:40.600 there was just so much protocol and things that we 0:12:40.679 --> 0:12:43.400 had to do, like go in stage in cans for 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:44.760 two weeks just to be able to get on a 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:48.360 plane to go to Tokyo and things like that. But yeah, 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.960 I think once we were like certain that it was 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:53.320 on and well, at least for us, it was going 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:54.840 to happen, we were just going to train like it 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:56.360 was going to happen, and we're. 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:57.560 Going to deal with it when we got there. 0:12:58.880 --> 0:13:01.520 But yeah, I still remember the moment my coach called 0:13:01.520 --> 0:13:03.640 me up and said I was on the final thirteen 0:13:03.720 --> 0:13:07.720 on the way to Tokyo. It was I think I 0:13:07.840 --> 0:13:11.040 was on my brother's deck and kind of overlooking towns 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:12.920 where my mum was behind me, and I said, don't 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.200 come out here until I tell you to come out here. 0:13:15.800 --> 0:13:17.800 And the minute I had hung up the phone call, 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.120 she was like by my side. So I was like, oh, 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:22.760 I'm good, yeah, actually, and she's just kind of like, 0:13:22.960 --> 0:13:25.120 what's going on? And I was like, oh, I mean, 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:27.280 and then she was just crying, So I think that 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.920 kept me really calm, so I didn't cry, but I 0:13:30.040 --> 0:13:32.880 was like such an amazing feeling to hearing those words. 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:36.720 I bet it was, And it obviously reignites the whole 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.600 reason for you doing what you were doing during lockdown, 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:45.600 and you know, continuing to be an elite athlete, which 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:48.599 is what was required of you, even you know, the 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:52.439 discipline to do that during lockdown is another level by itself. 0:13:52.920 --> 0:13:58.080 What was it like landing in Tokyo. 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:00.520 To be honest, we were so sheltered, so like we 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.720 got off the plane, we were like corraled, we were tested, 0:14:03.840 --> 0:14:06.720 and we were put onto a bus and like masks 0:14:06.840 --> 0:14:11.600 and everything, and then we got bus straight into the village. 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:14.000 You know, once we're in the village, you're not allowed 0:14:14.000 --> 0:14:16.600 to leave unless you're going to a training or game. 0:14:17.160 --> 0:14:19.760 So we didn't interact with any of the public at all. 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:22.000 The only public we saw were like kind of lining 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:25.840 the streets as we'd go to training, but they seemed 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:29.600 like happy and excited to see the Olympic buses going past. 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:33.960 So yeah, again we didn't see any kind of unrest 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:37.120 by the Japanese public, but we didn't interact with anyone. 0:14:37.160 --> 0:14:39.520 We just were in the village or at our training 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:41.480 venue and that was it or game venue. 0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.120 And what was it like training together for the for 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:46.880 the first time after such a long time of being 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:49.760 you know, by yourself, you know, having the team back together. 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:51.840 Was that was there a moment there or was it 0:14:51.920 --> 0:14:54.080 just like, listen, we've got a drop to do. We've 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.360 been out of the you know, out of it for 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:59.440 a while. We just need to get get in and 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:01.920 utilize time to crack on. And what was that like 0:15:02.360 --> 0:15:03.000 coming together? 0:15:04.120 --> 0:15:06.160 Yeah, it was different because we didn't play any international 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:10.760 games leading up to Tokyo, so the first one was 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:12.720 a bit a bit of a shock to the system. 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.560 But yeah, once you're in that Olympic village, it's so exciting. 0:15:16.560 --> 0:15:19.360 There's so much kind of happening still that you get 0:15:19.360 --> 0:15:21.320 a few days to find your feet and then it's 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:22.040 just game mode. 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:24.160 So like your game on, let's go. We're here to 0:15:24.200 --> 0:15:25.880 do a job and we're not kind of stop until 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:26.680 we have done it. 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:32.000 And do you feel like that Tokyo was you know, 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:34.880 obviously you couldn't prepare as you wished as a team, 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.480 and you know that interaction, you know, face to face interaction, 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:43.840 the energy, the you know, the the that team sort 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:47.120 of ethos that that you can't experience during lockdown or 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:52.200 when you're isolated. Did that come back straight away or 0:15:52.480 --> 0:15:55.920 did you find that you were working on that while 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:57.880 you were actually competing. 0:15:57.720 --> 0:15:59.880 It definitely we had to work on that every day 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:04.200 while we're competing, and yeah, you just lose those kind 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:06.560 of little nuances and the little touches that you have 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:08.480 with each other that you learn from playing with each 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:11.760 other over a long period of time. So we had 0:16:11.840 --> 0:16:14.360 to try and get that back quite quickly. We still 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:16.720 had lots of team meetings throughout where we were kind 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:19.320 of like what's missing, what's the where are the gaps 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:21.920 type of thing. But yeah, it's something you have to 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:23.600 work on all the time, no matter if things are 0:16:23.600 --> 0:16:24.960 going well, if things are going bad. 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:28.680 So do you think it affected your overall performance of 0:16:28.720 --> 0:16:29.800 the Tokyo Olympics. 0:16:30.040 --> 0:16:33.080 Yeah, it's really hard to say because everyone kind of 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:35.560 had a similar prep Some of the teams played games, 0:16:35.560 --> 0:16:39.760 some didn't, So yeah, it's really hard to comment whether that. 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:43.760 I mean, playing prep games might have helped us, and 0:16:43.840 --> 0:16:45.840 it usually does help in the lead up to things, 0:16:45.920 --> 0:16:48.160 but again, yeah, who's to say. 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:53.320 Yeah, where did you come in the Tokyo Olympics. We 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:56.640 got fifth, and was there a sense of excitement about 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:58.960 that or was there a sense of success considering the 0:16:59.000 --> 0:17:01.800 situation or was there a sense of disappointment where you 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:03.000 believed you could have done better. 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:05.680 Yeah, so we got bronze of the World CHAMPCE in 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:08.800 twenty nineteen, so the year before the Olympics were meant 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:11.120 to be so we were a top four projected team, 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:14.640 so we're expecting to get top four and we lost 0:17:14.680 --> 0:17:18.600 our quarter final by one. So that was a big 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:22.840 kind of heartbreak moment for us, because it's a hard 0:17:22.880 --> 0:17:24.720 thing playing a team sport. Once you lose your carter, 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:26.960 you're out of middle contention. There's no coming back. 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:30.159 But after that moment, we kind of slapped down. 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:31.480 And we're like, well, we're going to finish it the 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:33.560 best result we possibly can. So we just kind of 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:36.800 went out all guns blazing and got the best we 0:17:36.840 --> 0:17:37.480 could from then on. 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:41.240 And were you happy with your performance after after Tokyo 0:17:41.359 --> 0:17:45.160 because you fell out of love with the sport shortly 0:17:45.200 --> 0:17:50.040 after Tokyo. Was it due to the team? Was it 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:55.400 due to your personal performance? What happened there? Why did 0:17:55.440 --> 0:17:58.560 you fall out of love with something that was been 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.280 ingrained in you for such a such a long time. 0:18:02.280 --> 0:18:04.600 Yeah, So I think I did. 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.320 For my first Olympics, and for being kind of the 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:11.040 inexperienced national player that I was, I think I did 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:15.919 quite well in my position. I just it was just 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:19.399 a huge kind of two years. And then I was 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:21.679 living out of a storage unit at the time in 0:18:21.720 --> 0:18:24.440 Sydney because of COVID. I was back and forth from everywhere, 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:26.760 so I had no way to live, and just the 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:28.879 thought of having to find somewhere to live in a 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:32.080 job and all those things, I was just like, that's 0:18:32.200 --> 0:18:34.080 too hard. I'm just going to go overseas and play 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:37.200 another contract in Italy for the team i'd played for. 0:18:37.880 --> 0:18:40.080 So when I was seas and played and I just 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:42.399 don't think. And I don't know if you've heard of this, 0:18:42.480 --> 0:18:44.800 but there's this huge like thing that happens after the 0:18:44.800 --> 0:18:48.000 Olympics is called the post Olympic depression, and it hits 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:52.160 almost everybody. Yeah, so you're just going up this huge 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:55.840 high and then you just drop. And I obviously wasn't 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.000 prepared for that, and I ran overseas away from my 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.480 problems and just away from my support system and in 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:05.199 a situation that I thought, again was a lot different 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:07.840 to what I was expecting and things like that. So 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.560 it kind of hit me quite hard over there, and 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:14.000 I just kind of almost fell apart and I needed 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:16.119 to step away from water polo to see if it 0:19:16.320 --> 0:19:19.760 was water polo that was causing these feelings and emotions 0:19:19.880 --> 0:19:23.160 or if it was something else, and I just needed Yeah, 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:25.280 So I just needed some time away from the sport, 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:28.040 so I didn't leave, you know, with a tainted feeling 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:29.880 and towards it. 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:31.399 So that's what I did. 0:19:31.480 --> 0:19:34.000 I just took a step back and you know, took 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:36.480 stock of my life and saw kind of see where 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:37.120