Issue 2, 2008
News
Going for gold
Two Macquarie University students will experience what every
budding young sportsperson dreams of: competing for Australia
at the Olympic Games, which are being held in Beijing in August.
Grant Brits, a Bachelor of Commerce student will race in the 4x100 metres freestyle and 4x200 metres freestyle relay teams; Joel Milburn, a Bachelor of Arts – Psychology student will compete on the track in the 400 metres. A third student, Tina McKenzie, may also have a chance to compete in wheelchair basketball. McKenzie is undertaking a Bachelor of Arts with Diploma in Education.
Brits hit the headlines last year when he competed in the Grant Hackett-led 4x200 metres freestyle relay team which smashed the international short course record at the Telstra Australian Short Course Championships in August. An average day for the swimmer, who has had to master juggling intense training sessions with his university studies, would terrify most people. After rising at 4.30am he swims from 5 till 7, hits the gym until 8.15, wolfs down breakfast in the car on the way to University where he takes classes until mid-afternoon, heads back to the gym for an hour or so of cross-training before diving back into the pool until 6.30pm.
Brits credits the funding and support he has received through his Macquarie University Sport Scholarship for helping him balance his academic studies with training and international travel. These scholarships, which are offered to elite athletes across a variety of sports, provide students with financial assistance for educational or sporting expenses, academic counseling and liaison, personal development workshops and tutorials, access to sport and recreation facilities and additional funding for competition.
“Macquarie has been a great support to me on so many levels,” he said. “And my education has been extremely important to my sporting success as it has allowed me to focus my mind on something other than swimming.”
For more information on Macquarie’s scholarships visit www.reg.mq.edu.au/undergrad/current/scholarship/