Home where heart is for Illawarra Olympians

By Greg Ellis
Updated November 6 2012 - 3:00am, first published December 23 2011 - 9:59am
Ryan Gregson, Maureen Wright, Petrina Price, Ron Lord and Casey Eastham get together at the Illawarra Olympic team appeal.
Ryan Gregson, Maureen Wright, Petrina Price, Ron Lord and Casey Eastham get together at the Illawarra Olympic team appeal.

How do you spend Christmas if you are training as hard as you can to make the London Olympics in July?Some of the Illawarra's most likely 2012 Olympians emphasise the importance of family.High jumper Petrina Price has already competed at Olympic level for Australia and knows exactly what she has to do to give herself the best shot at gold.She generally trains three hours a day but has only just made it back to that level after a serious injury in 2010."A week before I was to fly out for the Commonwealth Games I ruptured my Achilles tendon," she said. "I had to have surgery ... training is finally back on track." Now in a position to have another chance at representing Australia, she trains in Canberra but will be home for Christmas."I usually always get Christmas Day off and on Boxing Day I have got a really steep driveway at home so ... I might be doing a couple of reps up my driveway. "It is important to find that right balance. Your whole life can't revolve around training. That would do your head in." Hockey star Casey Eastham, 22, is also an experienced Olympian who knows the importance of spending times like Christmas with her family. She is driven by knowing she has the support of her family and the community, so will continue to train hard through the festive season. But taking some time out, she returned from Perth yesterday."We have 10 days off over Christmas but off is not off," she said. "We will be doing running and gym work. Hopefully I will be joining my cousins for a Christmas roast." Casey said she would probably go for a run on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. With only limited time off it was important to make the most of every family opportunity, she said. Casey joked the most exercise her cousin (runner) Ryan Gregson was likely to do on Christmas Day was run from his bedroom to the Christmas tree."It is nice to have a bit of time off," she said. "It helps you refocus. Family to me makes such a difference to how I compete." Ryan said he did a lot of altitude training for the 1500m, which meant living on top of a mountain for weeks at time. But there was nothing more important than being at home with family at Christmas. "I generally have one easy day a week so I will shuffle my week around so that it is on Christmas Day," he said.And it wasn't quite as Casey suggested. "I will get up about 6am and get a run out of the way, then be opening some presents and spending time with the family." Swimmer David McKeon said he and sister Emma would also spend Christmas Day with their family. They recently drew global attention winning gold at the FINA World Cup series in Singapore. David trains at the University of Wollongong pool but will take at least one day off this week to be with family.

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